The Washington Nationals will face their NL East rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2023 MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA. Major League Baseball made the announcement prior to this year’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.
Next year’s game will be the Nationals’ first neutral site game since moving from Montreal in 2005.
The game will be played August 20, 2023 at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. ESPN, ESPN Radio, the ESPN App and ESPN Deportes will broadcast the game nationally.
The annual game is part of the Little League World Series festivities. Players of the MLB game will be in attendance earlier in the day of a LLWS game. Then, players, coaches and the families of the Little League World Series will fill the 2,000-seat Historic Bowman Field to watch the Nationals and Phillies.
The game will be considered a home game for the Nats. MLB players are given a chance to revisit the same grounds of Williamsport, PA that they played as little leaguers. In fact, Robert Hassell III, the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, played on separate teams in the Little League World Series in 2013 and 2014 (h/t Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post.)
This will be the Phillies’ second appearance in the Little League Classic which began in 2017. The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals played in the inaugural classic. The Phillies played the New York Mets in 2018. In 2019, the Pirates went against the Chicago Cubs. Last year, the Los Angeles Angels faced the Cleveland Guardians.
