The "Knowing When To Quit" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a story in the online edition of our local newspaper that had the title that read: "Missing the LNP Tournament this year?  Here's a look back at its 74-year history." The LNP Tournament is a yearend baseball tournament for youth baseball with three categories of Midget-Midget (12 and under), Jr. Midget (14 and under) and Midget (16 and under).  The tournament was canceled this year since most youth baseball seasons were canceled due to the Coronavirus.  The LNP Tournament is the same end-of-the-year tournament as the New Era Tournament years ago.  Today there is only one daily newspaper while years ago there were two daily newspapers, the morning Intelligencer and the evening New Era.  

Early headline in the Lancaster New Era

Both have been condensed into one daily which is delivered in the morning and is known as the LNP.  This year's tournament was to celebate it's 75th season.  That's many, many Lancaster youth who have been involved over the past 75 years.  I played in the tournament beginning when I was 12 years old in 1956.  

Headline in 1952

Both my sons played in it quite a few times over the years and now my grandson has partici- pated in it a few times.  I coached teams in the tournament four years and my son Derek coached teams in the tournament a few times.  The tournament began in 1946 when the New Era sports editor George Kirchner started the event.  At the time he called it the "New Era Tournament."  

The 1946 New Providence team that won the very
first New Era Tournament championship.

The tournament was intended to provide something to keep young boys out of trouble, while also getting them interested in sports and providing games for a general audience to watch.  At first, any team could enter by filling out a form and return it to the newspaper office.  65 teams played in the first tournament which was just for boys between the ages of 12-14.  A few younger boys were allowed since they had played on the teams during the summer.  

New Era sports editor George Kirchner

A record crowd of 7,250 people showed up at Lancaster's Stumpf Field on the Fruitville Pike to watch the final game.  Lancaster's minor league club played their games in the stadium.  A few other years saw games being played at the field, but the field has now been reduced in size and is no longer used for the tournament.  Mount Joy's Kunkle Field has taken over as the major field for the two younger groups while Clipper Stadium, home of the minor league Lancaster Barnstormers is used for the 16 and under teams.  In 1952 a young girl who played on one of the teams was not allowed to participate in the boys-only tournament.  Seems she was one of the better players on the team and very upset she couldn't play.  Today, girls are part of the tournament, but I'm not sure how many may have played in it since then.  

When I played and when my oldest son began to play baseball, the winner of the tournament was taken to a big league game in either New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore.  

My grandson's team that won last years Under 14 Tournament.

Recently, the wining team have been treated to a game at the local Clipper Magazine Stadium.  Jackets are also awarded to the winning team.  The one jacket I received when I coached had my name reading across the chest pocket as Coach Woops instead of Coach Woods.  

The team I coached that won the 16-under championship.

To this day I wish I hadn't complained and gotten a new jacket, since everyone now calls me Coach Woops.  Both my sons as well as my grandson have won the tournament as a player, but I only won as a coach.  Tens of thousands of youth have participated in the tournament, including more than 100 players who have gone on to play baseball professionally in some capacity.  Of those, 18 went on to the Major Leagues with 16 as players, one as a coach and one as an umpire.  The list follows:

Bob Duncan - Pitched four innings for the Los Angeles Angels in 1961.
Nelson Chittum - Pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox from 1958-1960.
Jim Weaver - Pitched for the California Angels from 1967-1968.
Jim Todd - Pithed for the Oakland A's, Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners from 1974-1979.
Matt Watson - Outfielder who was in and out of the majors from 2003-2010 with the Mets and A's.
John Parrish - Pitcher who spent a decade in and out of the majors from 2000-2010, playing for the New York Mets and Oakland A's.
Don Wert - Third basement for the Detroit Tigers, 1963-1970.
Mike Sarbaugh - Third base coach/infield coach for the Cleveland Indians from 2013- present.
Jeff Bianchi - Shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2012-2013.
Travis Jankowski - Outfielder for the San Diego padres and the Cincinnati Reds from 2015-present.
Chris Heisey - Outfielder, in and out of the majors from 2010-2017, playing for Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Washington.
Cam Gallagher - Catcher for the Kansas City Royals from 2017 to present.
Gene Garber - Pitcher for the Pirates, Royals, Phillies and Braves from 1969-1988.
Tom Herr - Second baseman for the Cardinals, Twins, Phillies, Giants and Mets from 1979-1991.
Bruce Sutter - Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cubs, Cardinals and Braves from 1976-1988.

Following are a few articles I found that were in the Lancaster Newspaper.  Had a good time searching the archives, trying to find information about the teams we all played on as well as the teams my son and I coached.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

PS - The two following photos are from the July 25, 1991 Lancaster New Era.  My Manheim Township Sertoma Midget team had captured the Lancaster New Era Championship after trying for 6 straight years.  The same team had beaten us the previous 5 years, but we managed to win in my last game as a youth coach.  What made it bittersweet was beating the Lancaster Township team which was coached by my wife's cousin, Bobby Nonnenmocher who had pitched in professional baseball in the 1960s. Click on images to enlarge them so you can read the captions.