STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Little League Baseball's most dominant member is back.
Taiwan, whose teams won 17 Little League World Series titles between 1969 and 1996, is rejoining Little League, officials at the South Williamsport-based organization were to announce today. Fifteen leagues on the island will be eligible to play their way through the Asia region and into the Little League World Series.
"It's terrific to have them back," said Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of Little League Baseball Inc.
After teams from Taiwan won the series in 1995 and '96, Little League officials said they would more strictly enforce league residency rules, which had long been a problem in Taiwan. Public schools in Taiwan were often larger than their American counterparts, allowing leagues to draw from a larger talent pool.
Critics also said Taiwan was allowing teams to practice out of season.
Taiwan withdrew from Little League in April 1997, saying it could not meet Little League's requirements.
"They didn't want to cause anybody any embarrassment or any problem. That's why it was very easy to leave the door open and ... tell them, 'When you get the structure in place to meet that regulation, we'll be happy to get you back in the Little League program."'
Taiwan had 35 approved leagues when it withdrew. Keener said the 15 leagues approved for the 2003 season all come from smaller schools, but that officials in Taiwan were hoping to develop leagues that would allow their larger schools to play while still meeting Little League regulations.
Chris Day, of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
In Cranston, R.I., residents have not forgotten Cranston Western Little League's 13-3 loss to a Taiwanese team in the 1996 Little League World Series final. Mayor Stephen Laffey, alluding to Taiwan's problems with residency rules, said the Taiwan was "stacking the deck."
Still, Laffey said, he was glad to see Taiwan back in the organization.
"I think you have to forgive transgressions," Laffey said. "If they really are going to give a serious effort to show sportsmanship and they've learned their lesson, then the city of Cranston is happy to forgive and move on. Hopefully, we'll meet them again."
Taiwanese teams dominated the Little League World Series for years, with 17 championships and two runners-up since 1969, when Chinese Taipei Little League beat Briarwood Little League of Santa Clara, Calif., 6-0.
But that dominance aroused suspicions that Taiwan was cheating.
Fans booed in 1973 when Tainan, in southern Taiwan, cruised through the Little League World series, winning its three games by a combined score of 57-0, including a 12-0 rout of Tucson, Ariz., in the title game.
After Taiwan's fourth consecutive championship in 1974, Little League excluded foreign teams for one year, saying that Taiwan and some other teams were training out of season.
Two years after foreign teams returned, Taiwanese teams won five consecutive titles, from 1977-81.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The Robert Morris men's basketball team received a national letter of intent from Christopher Gooden of Houston. The 6-foot-1 point guard played at Eastfield Junior College in Dallas, where he averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists last season. He will have two years of eligibility left at Robert Morris.
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Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson will fight at Staples Center on June 21, but they won't be facing each other. Staples Center President Tim Leiweke struck a deal with promoter Gary Shaw to hold a doubleheader at the arena, featuring a WBC defense by Lennox Lewis against Kirk Johnson with an undercard headed by Mike Tyson in a non-title bout woth Oleg Maskaev, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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Defending Ivy League champion Pennsylvania will play host to Duquesne on Sept. 20, highlighting a 10-game football schedule next season for the Dukes. Penn marks the first-ever Ivy League opponent for Duquesne, the four-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion. The Dukes open the season Aug. 30 at Bucknell. They also will renew their series with Robert Morris, facing the Colonials on Nov. 15 at Rooney Field. Other nonconference games include a home contest Sept. 13 against Butler and a road game Nov. 1 at Morehead State. ( Schedule, C8 )
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Carolina Courage midfielder Hege Riise, one of Norway's best players, tore ligaments in her right knee Saturday against Boston and will be sidelined for as much as seven months. A two-time All-WUSA selection and one of three finalists for the 2002 MVP, she is considered by many as the world's best playmaking midfielder. TENNIS
In Houston, a change of surface presented no problem for Andre Agassi, who took just 47 minutes Tuesday to beat Croatian Zeljko Krajan in the first round of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, 6-0, 6-3.
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Lawyers for the WNBA and its players' union met yesterday to put the finishing touches on a new collective bargaining agreement. OFF THE FIELD
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