2000 Youth Team Sports

On May 27, 2000, the U.S. Postal Service issued four 33-cent Youth Team Sports commemorative stamps at Disney World Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The set featured baseball, basketball, football, and soccer. These popular youth sports were chosen to celebrate physical activity, social interaction, cooperation, and teamwork.

The baseball stamp depicts a batter watching an approaching pitch while a catcher and umpire await its arrival. Based on a photograph by Bob Wickley, the design captures the anticipation of a pitch in mid-flight.

The text accompanying the issue highlighted Little League Baseball, founded in 1939 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and its annual World Series, connecting the stamp to a longstanding tradition of community youth baseball.

Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, designed the stamps using photographs of young athletes. Alongside Wickley’s baseball photograph, the set used images by William Sallaz for basketball, Mike Powell for football, and Zoran Milich for soccer. The stamps went on sale nationwide on May 28, the day after their first-day ceremony.

A total of 88,000,000 stamps were issued across the four designs, representing a combined face value of $29,040,000. Of these, 22,000,000 featured baseball, with a total face value of $7,260,000 at 33 cents each. The baseball stamp is cataloged as Scott 3402.