July 22, 2009
Opening ceremony, ticket details announced
 Little League International board of directors chairman Dennis Lewin. |
Ticket prices will remain the same as in years past. Adult series passes, good for all 23 games, are $35 (that’s only $1.52 per game). Student series passes are $25. Both are on sale now at Mansfield Stadium and will also be on sale beginning July 25 at Leadbetter’s Super Stop convenience stores in the Greater Bangor area. Day passes, which will be $10 for adults and $5 for students, will be available at the gate during the series.
Opening ceremonies will be Saturday, Aug. 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m. and will again feature music by the Bangor Band, the Parade of Champions, and a fireworks display. Throwing out the first pitch this year will be members of the 1989 Bangor West Little League team, which won the state championship that year in a statewide televised game. The team included Owen King, author Stephen King’s youngest son, and Matt Kinney, who went on to be drafted by the Boston Red Sox and later pitched for the Minnesota Twins. Kinney is currently pitching for the San Francisco Giants’ AAA affiliate, the Fresno (Calif.) Grizzlies.
Dave Mansfield, president of the Mansfield Stadium committee, was the manager for that team and organized the 20-year reunion.
“They are directly responsible for all the kids that have been able to play here over the last 17, 18 years and for on, for this facility to be built and to be available to the city of Bangor and to be able to have it forever,” Mansfield said today. “And hopefully that’s what we’ll do.”
While Kinney went on to pitch at Mansfield Stadium playing for Bangor High School, Jair Jurrjens, who pitched for the 2002 World Series champion Curacao team, is now pitching for the Atlanta Braves. He is scheduled to pitch tonight against the Giants.
 Prices for this year's World Series passes are $35 for an adult all-series pass, $25 for a student all-series pass, $10 for an adult day pass, and $5 for a student day pass. |
World Series fund-raising co-chairman Doug MacDonald reminded the news media at today’s conference of the need for the community to continue supporting the series, which has called Bangor home since 2002. It costs $175,000 annually to cover operating expenses. The biggest expense is housing, feeding, and transporting the nine visiting teams. Sponsorship opportunities are still available, he said.
“Two of the best things about the tournament, to me, are we have 10 teams coming here, nine of which are either coming from different countries from around the world or different regions of the United States,” MacDonald said. “So we’re able to expose our community to these other people. And the other thing that pleases me most about the tournament is that we have a regional or a Greater Bangor team that actually gets the opportunity to play in the tournament. That’s a great thing for our kids.”
Little League International board of directors chairman Dennis Lewin, who summers in nearby Orland, said the televised championship game gives the area exposure for attracting tourism.
“It was our great privilege to be able to involve ESPN in doing this event on a national basis,” Lewin said. “It brings great attention to the city of Bangor. We think that’s terrific. And we look forward to it being here for many years to come with the great support we’ve had for all these years.”
Bangor City Council chairman Gerry Palmer said the city is open to all kinds of hospitality during the week-long event.
Baseball, he said, “is an important game. It’s been around for a long time, and it’s a pure sport that just continues to be a great experience for people. If you’re having a hard time in business or hard time in your personal life, if you can sit in the stands and watch a baseball game, I guarantee it will take some of the sting off of a bad siotuation. And if you’re having a great day, then a baseball game only makes it greater.”
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