Little League® Mourns the Passing of Former Little League Baseball ...

Little League® International mourns the passing of Al Trautwig, 68, legendary sports broadcaster who covered the Little League Baseball® World Series (LLBWS) broadcaster from 1986-90.

A Long Island native, Trautwig grew up serving as stick boy for the New York Islanders in their early days in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a ball boy for the New York Nets. After graduating from college, his decades-long career in sports broadcast began in the 1980s when he handled play-by-play for USA Network’s coverage of the NHL before becoming the host of SportsNite on ABC Sports.

Before making a name for himself in sportscasting, Trautwig played baseball on the fields of Garden City South Little League in West Hempstead, New York, and in 2018 was able to reunite with his coach, Joe Van Wiegh, in the community where it all started.

In 1986, Trautwig made his way to Williamsport as an on-air broadcaster for the LLBWS where he sat in the booth alongside names like Johnny Bench, Lynn Swann, Becky Dixon, Reggie Jackson, Jim Palmer, and Mike Adamle. During those historic summers, Trautwig called big moments like the 1989 Little League Baseball World Series Championship when National Little League (Trumbull, Conn.), featuring former professional hockey player Chris Drury, defeated Kang-Tu Little League (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) in front of a crowd of 40,000 fans. 

In 1989, Trautwig signed on for his more than three-decade-long career with MSG Network, covering the New York Yankees pre-and post-game shows, Knicks basketball games, and Rangers hockey games. Known for his versatility in sports coverage, Trautwig also covered 16 Olympic games for NBC, ABC, and CBS. Trautwig’s hard work led to him winning 28 New York Sports Emmys and four National Emmys throughout his career and he was named New York Sportscaster of the Year in 2000.

Trautwig is survived by his wife, Cathy, and their son Alex (Kara) Trautwig, and he will be missed by all those who knew him, including many in the Little League community.