Times have changed for Taiwan in Little League World Series

It wasn't that long ago that teams from Taiwan were untouchable at the Little League World Series. From 1969-81, teams from Taiwan won eight times, and U.S. teams couldn't even come close most years. Two New Jersey teams were the only American squads to win the LLWS in that stretch.

Somewhere along the line, the tables have turned. Parkview Little League from Chula Vista, Calif., continued a streak from U.S. teams, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to beat Taoyuan County, Taiwan, 6-3. Before Sunday, teams from Taiwan were 6-0 against teams from California at the LLWS, and had outscored their counterparts by a combined 69-5.

Not anymore. Perhaps it's the price of progress - baseball was the sport in Taiwan back in the 1970s and 1980s, with year-round programs drilling fundamentals while American kids were dabbling football, soccer, basketball and other sports.

In a 1991 Sports Illustrated story, a former Taiwan little leaguer explained why his country's teams were so good every year.

"At the time, I felt those American kids don't play seriously," says Wu Chunliang, who shut out Tucson, Arizona, 12-0 in the 1986 championship game. "They don't concentrate. They're having fun. We really play baseball. It comes from ourselves. If we lose, there must have been something wrong."

Baseball is still Taiwan's favorite spectator sport, but basketball rivals the sport in popularity as a participatory sport. No team from Taiwan has won the LLWS since 1996. In fact, only two Taiwanese teams had even qualified for the World Series since Taiwan’s last Little League World Series title in 1996.

Chula Vista was the dominant team at the tournament this year, hitting a LLWS-record 19 home runs. Their potent lineup couldn't be contained by the 225-foot fences, even though they didn't hit any homers Sunday. Chula Vista's giant Luke Ramirez, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound 13-year-old, was intentionally walked twice by Taiwan, but shortstop Andy Rios went 3-for-3 and turned a key double play with the bases loaded in the fifth inning Sunday.

California has the most titles among U.S. states with six.

New to the site: Little League World Series champions, from 1947-2009.