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Did you know Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis played in the Little League World Series?

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Did you know Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis played in the Little League World Series?

The Little League World Series, an international baseball tournament for 12-year-old players kicking off in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on Aug. 14, has been the start for many professional athletes.

Several current and former Major League baseball players participated in the games in their youth, including Tampa Bay Rays Manager Kevin Cash, Tampa native and World Series champion with the Florida Marlins Gary Scheffield, and Florida native and World Series winner with the Boston Red Sox Jason Varitek.

So did former NHL player and current president and general manager for the New York Rangers Chris Drury, NASCAR driver Austin Dillon, and Mo’ne Davis, the first girl to pitch a shutout and the first Little League player to make the cover of Sports Illustrated during a tournament.

Also: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis congratulates Lake Mary Little League team

Florida got a team in the Little League World Series this year after Lake Mary won the Southeast Region against Tennesee Tuesday, Aug, 6.

“Congrats to Lake Mary on earning a spot in the Little League World Series,” DeSantis posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Good luck in Williamsport!”

Lake Mary is now the fourth Central Florida team to make it to the World Series, although none have won yet. They’ll be facing Sioux Falls on at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14.

Did Ron DeSantis play baseball?

Long before he became a rising star in Republican politics, DeSantis was a ballplayer.

DeSantis grew up steeped in baseball in Dunedin, home of Toronto Blue Jays spring training for over 40 years. He played third base and pitched on the team that made it to the Little League World Series quarterfinals in 1991.

He went on to play for Dunedin High School. While there, the team handed future St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Rick Ankiel — who was 13-0 with a 0.00 earned run average at the time — his first loss of the season in 1997. Dunedin High School went on to the Class 5A state championship but lost 13-0 to Barron Collier High School.

“We contended for the state title every year,” DeSantis said in a 2001 interview with Yale Daily News. “We played and practiced in the Toronto Blue Jays spring training stadium. I have not played on a field even close to that nice since I left. It was big time.”

At Yale University, DeSantis was captain of the Bulldogs baseball team where he played in the outfield and batted .313 all four years and .336 his senior year. In 1998 he was named Rookie of the Year. But he had other plans for his future.

DeSantis never lost his love for the sport. As a congressman he played for the Republican team in the charity games against a Democratic team. In 2017, he left the practice field at the home of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team just moments before a gunman opened fire, injuring five people including then-House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalice.

During his brief presidential run, and on the same day former President Donald Trump was arrested in Georgia on felony charges in connection with attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state, DeSantis made a campaign stop at Iowa’s Field of Dreams to throw a few balls and answer questions.

DeSantis was accused of racism last year when he called basketball players “freaks of nature” compared to baseball players. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) he was asked why he loved baseball so much.

The governor called baseball a “meritocracy” where anyone willing to put in the work could succeed… unlike basketball.

“Whereas I kind of viewed basketball as like ‘these guys are just freaks of nature,'” he said. “They’re just incredible athletes. In baseball, you know, you have some guys that might not necessarily be the best athletes, but maybe they’ve got, you know, that slider that nobody can hit, or they have the skills that allow them to compete at the highest level.”

Critics called it dog-whistling and racist, comparing it to the bigoted stereotype that predominantly Black teams are “athletic” and predominantly white teams are “skilled.” Supporters claimed it was a harmless observation and liberals were reading too much into it.

Did Ron DeSantis’ team win the Little League World Series?

DeSantis’ Dunedin team fought its way to the series quarterfinals in 1991, ultimately losing to the Danville, California team 5-4.

“We were like local celebrities for a while,” he told Yale Daily News. “We were the lead story in the local newscasts and on the front page of the Tampa area papers.”

They came back through the losers’ bracket and dominated Saudi Arabia 23-7. One of DeSantis’ four hits was a home run and he struck out 11 players in five innings, according to the Tampa Bay Times. But the team was eliminated in the next round against the Dominican Republic 3-2.

Danville went on to lose the series 11-0 to Taiwan.

Last year, DeSantis told Piers Morgan it was a formative event.

“And that was really the first thing that I had ever done in my life that was outside of my little provincial upbringing. and so I think it really helped me,” he said. “Just be willing to shoot for the stars.”

Does Ron DeSantis have a baseball card?

He does! It was part of a set celebrating the Dunedin Little League All-Stars of 1991. There’s also a limited edition GAS DeSantis card that was issued when DeSantis announced his presidential candidacy in 2023.

Before the announcement, the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC sent out baseball cards depicting him at bat with his gubernatorial stats on the back.

DeSantis was a baseball card collector in his younger days. He talked passionately about the hobby with Outkick in 2023, telling the host he did keep his 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. card as a souvenir.

What channel and how to watch, stream the 2024 Little League World Series

The games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC), or you can stream the games on ESPN+ and on the ESPN App.

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