Chicago Celebrates JRW Little League Heroes

27 Aug, 2014

Tens of thousands of people lined Chicago’s streets on Wednesday to cheer on an all-African-American Little League baseball team whose U.S. championship has brought pride to a city struggling with crime and budget problems.

The Jackie Robinson West team of 11- and 12-year-olds from Chicago’s South Side beat a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, last week to become the top U.S. team in the World Series played in Pennsylvania, but lost the international final to South Korea on Sunday.

Thousands of supporters wearing the team color of yellow packed Millennium Park for a rally to greet the players, who drove through town waving to crowds from the top of a double-decker bus as news helicopters flew overhead.

Through the month of August excitement built over the team. Little League games became ubiquitous on Chicago sports bar televisions as people watched Jackie Robinson West – named for the player who broke the color barrier in the major leagues in the 1940s – advance in the tournament.

Nielsen ratings reported that 422,000 viewers tuned into the Aug. 21 game, much higher than regular viewership for the struggling Cubs and White Sox baseball teams and higher than many games featuring the popular Blackhawks hockey team.

Local media reported that more than 800,000 Chicago viewers tuned into the final game on Sunday.

Reuters

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