MLB's Manfred visits Little League World Series

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) Hours after Major League Baseball Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred took the ice bucket challenge in Manhattan, he visited the Little League World Series.

A former Little Leaguer, Manfred said a diverse group of players such as the Philadelphia team and star 13-year-old girl pitcher Mo'ne Davis sends a message that baseball is a wide-open sport.

''Fifty years ago people would have had a list of things women couldn't do that was as long as your arm, and they're doing every single one of them today, '' Manfred said Wednesday night about an hour before Davis took the mound against Las Vegas. ''I'm not betting against the gender. I think it's a really great story for Little League.

''It's really a great story for diversity and equality, and I think we should embrace it and hope that she continues to develop,'' Manfred said.

''It's just a great story for us. The area in Philadelphia from which they come is where we want to be so much stronger. There's a 100 positives about this story.''