Aaron Judge and Juan Soto stopped to sign autographs for hordes of adoring little players.
Giancarlo Stanton gave advice to a young baseball player on a bus ride before a game.
Gerrit Cole attended a Little League player’s practice and gave his approval.
And Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells rolled down a grassy hill on flattened cardboard boxes as dozens of children cheered them on.
Indeed, the MLB Little League Classic had arrived.
In a scene reminiscent of the Beatles’ arrival at JFK Airport in February 1964, the Yankees played rock stars Sunday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, before facing the Detroit Tigers at historic Bowman Field.
It was the first time the Yankees participated in the Little League Classic, a special regular-season game held in the Little League World Series host city each year in conjunction with the annual youth baseball tournament.
And they clearly had fun.
“When I first came out in the stands, I could see the field,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters.[A little-league] The game was running. I thought, “This is really cool.”
The festivities included Yankees players sharing a bus ride with Little League players, then sitting in the stands to watch a game before their own.
And you think you’re excited when you meet your idols⁉️ #LittleLeagueClassic pic.twitter.com/8FoOegO2PL
— Play Ball (@PlayBall) August 18, 2024
Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was traded to the Yankees from the Miami Marlins three weeks ago, captured the unique atmosphere with a personal camcorder.
“It’s really cool,” Chisholm said.
The amazed children beamed, smiled, sang and even I screamed with pure joy because they created unforgettable memories with Judge, Soto, Cole, Stanton, Volpe, Chisholm, Jose Trevino, Carlos Rodón and others.
“I bet you hit a lot of home runs, huh?” Soto told another passenger on the bus“You should! You have huge hands like the judge.”
Juan Soto took the microphone at #LittleLeagueClassic! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/IPvFyLqu7M
— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2024
Sunday marked the seventh edition of the Little League Classic, which began in 2017 and has been held every year since, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Williamsport in 2018.
The games are not played on a Little League field, but rather at Bowman Field, the 2,366-seat stadium of the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League, which is a major league-sized stadium.
The Yankees’ presence added another layer of New York flair to this year’s Little League World Series, where a Staten Island team — South Shore Little League — is among those competing.
Sunday’s game was the last of a three-game series between the Yankees and Tigers, who played – and split – the first two matchups at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday and Saturday.
A rainy forecast threatened the trip, but the Yankees and Tigers traveled to Williamsport as scheduled for the nationally televised game on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.”
“You ask a lot of someone you’ve given a lot of,” Judge told ESPN children’s correspondent Pepper Persley on the bus. “I’m just trying to do my part and give back to the next generation, so hopefully when these little guys are in the big leagues here in a few years, they’ll do the same thing.”
