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Tampa Has Little League Legacy Of Hitting It Big

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Despite having to leave for Williamsport, Pa., the next morning for the Little League World Series, Citrus Park's Levi Gilcrease was still taking batting practice before the league's going-away party.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

Updated: 08/14/2008 12:23 am

TAMPA - Players for the Citrus Park All-Stars have been whisked away to Williamsport, Pa., to Olympic-style village housing, to a hometown parade, to the national media spotlight and, finally, to Friday's opening-round game at the Little League World Series.

"It's all happening pretty fast," Citrus Park player Kevin Merrell said. "I guess this is something we'll remember forever."

Forget the guesswork.

It's a fact.

Six previous Tampa-based teams have advanced to Williamsport, although the last trip was by Northside Little League in 1989. Most of those players have hung up the cleats, moving on to careers and families. Occasionally, the memories flicker.

With Citrus Park's success, those feelings are practically aflame.

"Getting to Williamsport ranks with anything I've done in baseball," said Tampa businessman Ty Griffin, an Olympic gold medalist and first-round draft choice who played shortstop on the 1980 Belmont Heights team that finished runner-up to Taiwan. "Man, that was the time of our lives."

Larry Rodriguez, a postman and longtime youth coach, still has the caps and T-shirts he wore for West Tampa Little League in 1969, when it finished third in Williamsport.

He watched on television this past week when Citrus Park won the Southeast Regional, assuring its trip, and felt immense pride.

"Another team from Tampa. ... It's amazing," Rodriguez said. "Those kids are going to feel like kings. They're part of our fraternity."

A fraternity of success.

Boston Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash was part of last season's World Series championship team. At Florida State University, he played in the College World Series.

For sheer excitement and fond memories, though, nothing really compares with the 1989 season, when he played second base for Northside.

Accomplished major-league teammates, hearing about Cash's pedigree, have asked him the question.

You played in Williamsport? What was that like?

"It was like riding this gigantic wave," Cash said. "With the kids, we were caught up in the excitement of playing. For the parents, I think it was a nerve-racking thing. I think I remember my mom going through some Tums and Rolaids in a lot of those games.

"And what a stage we were on. There's just something about Little League. It seemed like we were featured on TV every night. You wish it lasted forever."

But it doesn't.

Sometimes, the end is harsh.

Griffin still has a plaque - Belmont Heights: Second in the World - that makes for a nice conversation piece.

It still gnaws at him.

"It should say First in the World," Griffin said.

Midway through the game, Belmont Heights was leading, seemingly in control. Then an error let in two runs. Taiwan held on, 4-3.

That Belmont Heights team included Griffin; Gary Sheffield, who has accumulated Hall of Fame-level statistics in 21 major-league seasons; Derek Bell, who earned a World Series ring with the Toronto Blue Jays; and Maurice Crum, a future first-team All-America linebacker at the University of Miami.

Crestfallen, they returned to Tampa and it became a hero's welcome.

On Top Of The Big Apple

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, swept up by the civic pride, invited the Belmont Heights players to New York. As they sprinted onto the field at Yankee Stadium, the sellout crowd stood and cheered.

"They told us to run out and stand by the Yankee player at our position," Griffin said. "I was a shortstop, but I wanted to stand by Reggie Jackson, so I ran to right field. There were three or four of us out there with Reggie, and he shook our hands.

"We had that, we took a tour of the city, saw all those tall buildings, the subway, all those people. And then we had to come home - and go to school. I'm telling you, you could blink your eyes and wonder if that actually happened. But it did."

Tampa's Little League Heritage

Tampa's teams made their mark on Williamsport. They still talk about West Tampa right-hander John Tagliarino, who set a record with 22 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. They marvel at imposing Belmont Heights left-hander Vance Lovelace and the duo from 1980, Sheffield and Bell, who became major-league teammates.

"We know our area has produced some real talent, and we know there's a heritage at the Little League World Series," Citrus Park manager Joe McGuire said. "We want to represent that in the best way we can. Just keep doing what we've been doing. Just keep it simple."

Maybe as simple as a 54-year-old Little League pledge, dating to the Eisenhower administration, that is still recited before each game.

I trust in God. I love my country. And will respect its laws. I will play fair. And strive to win. But win or lose, I will always do my best.

And all these years later - with Citrus Park's success igniting some happy memories - the former players from Belmont Heights, West Tampa and Northside will always remember.

How could they forget?

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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