Your 2009 Little League World Series Schedule

The Little League World Series really is a double-edged sword for me. I love it because the baseball that you see is pure, exciting to watch, and is a great change-up to watching the majors, but on the other hand, now that I'm a college student, it's bad because I don't have the time to watch all the games that I used to between packing up and attending some mandatory pre-class activities that are a part of my job. Believe it or not, I missed watching the LLWS last year almost as much as I missed home. Odd, I know. Anyway, with special thanks to Scotty05 of the506 and Little League Online, here are your participants and this year's 2009 Little League World Series schedule (announcers included)! (I know that JP is cracking down on people who use information on his site without express permission, I have re-typed everything and formatted it to my own style, I hope that this is good enough, if not, I'm too afraid to ask his permission mainly because I don't think he knows that I exist, and I would like to keep it that way if at all possible ;-)) (all times eastern)

Pool A
Mid-Atlantic - Staten Island, New York
Northwest - Mercer Island, Washington
Southeast - Warner Robins, Georgia
Midwest - Urbandale, Iowa

Pool B
New England - Peabody, Massachusetts
West - Chula Vista, California
Southwest - San Antonio, Texas
Great Lakes - Russellville, Kentucky

Pool C
Caribbean - Willemstad, Curacao
Japan - Chiba City, Japan
MEA (Middle East-Africa) - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Latin America - Maracaibo, Venezuela

Pool D
Europe - Ramstein AFB, Germany
Mexico - Reynosa, Mexico
Canada - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Asia-Pacific - Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei

August 21
Staten Island, NY vs. Mercer Island, WA 1:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade
Chinese Taipei vs. Germany 3:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser_
Urbandale, IA vs. Warner Robins, GA 5:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Peabody, MA vs. San Antonio, TX 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)

August 22
Canada vs. Mexico 11:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Curacao vs. Venezuela 1:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Warner Robins, GA vs. Staten Island, NY 3:00 (Lamade Stadium - ABC - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Saudi Arabia vs. Japan 6:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Russellville, KY vs. Chula Vista, CA 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN2 - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)

August 23
Urbandale, IA vs. Mercer Island, WA 12:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Russellville, KY vs. San Antonio, TX 2:00 (Lamade Stadium - ABC - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Chinese Taipei vs. Canada 3:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Chula Vista, CA vs. Peabody, MA 6:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Curacao vs. Japan 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN2 - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)

August 24
Germany vs. Mexico 12:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN2 - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Venezuela vs. Japan 2:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Warner Robins, GA vs. Mercer Island, WA 4:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Curacao vs. Saudi Arabia 6:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Staten Island, NY vs. Urbandale, IA 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)

August 25
Saudi Arabia vs. Venezuela 12:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN2 - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Germany vs. Canada 2:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
Russellville, KY vs. Peabody, MA 4:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orel Hershiser)
Mexico vs. Chinese Taipei 6:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN2 - Sean McDonough and Orestes Destrade)
San Antonio, TX vs. Chula Vista, CA 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN2 - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)

August 26
Mexico vs. Japan 4:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orestes Destrade)
San Antonio, TX vs. Staten Island, NY 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)

August 27
Curacao vs. Chinese Taipei 4:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Gary Thorne and Orestes Destrade)
Warner Robins, GA vs. Chula Vista, CA 8:00 (Lamade Stadium - ESPN - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)

August 29
International Championship: Mexico vs. Chinese Taipei 12:00 (Lamade Stadium - ABC - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)
U.S. Championship: San Antonio, TX vs. Chula Vista, CA 3:00 (Lamade Stadium - ABC - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)

August 30
Consolation Game: Mexico vs. San Antonio, TX 12:00 (Volunteer Stadium - ESPN - Karl Ravech and Orestes Destrade)
World Series Championship: International Champion vs. United States Champion 3:30 (Lamade Stadium - ABC - Brent Musburger and Orel Hershiser)

Ah, Sean McDonough is now working with the Little League World Series! That's way, way, way, way, way better than Karl Ravech and Dave Ryan, who served as Destrade's partner last year (Ryan did the weekend games) and while admittedly I used to like Dave Ryan, now it seems like he is trying too hard to get a memorable Gus Johnson-esque call at every possible moment, something he did not do a few years ago. Sean McDonough is the man as is Gary Thorne who I think works really well at the LLWS (and hockey). As far as analysts go, I generally enjoy Destrade although I could do without Hershiser (I miss Harold Reynolds!!!!!!). Oh, and why does ESPN/ABC constantly insist on shoving Brent Musburger down our throats at the very end of the event? He's pointless at the LLWS. Pointless. At least Thorne and McDonough call some other baseball (Orioles TV and CWS, respectively). But Musburger does not and it often shows during the broadcasts. And sadly, these are the championship boradcasts.