Andy Lowenthal Steps down as WPPA President.

Andy Lowenthal ends his term as president of the Welles Park Parents Association tonight. He will be replaced by John Anderson, who is currently serving as one the associations vice-presidents. Jim Coffman and Tony Pellikan will be the new vice-presidents and Mike Bernard will serve as secretary. These four and Andy, as president emeritus, will make up the executive committee.

Unless you have been president of this league, or worked closely with the president, it is impossible to imagine the time and effort required to do this job. Andy has handled the job with grace, diplomacy, and humor.

I'm sure John will do a great job.

Thank you Andy and good luck John.

12 Year Old Travel Team Goes to Cooperstown!

The Welles Park 12 & under travel team is head to Cooperstown. They will spend a week playing baseball against teams from around the country and visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. The team is made up of players from the house league teams, who tried out last fall. They have played a number of games this season against other area travel teams. They used fundraisers to raise money to help defray the cost. I wish them a lot of luck and hope they have a great time.

World Series Winners by League!

Junior League Champs-The LA Dodgers
Minor League Champs-The Colorado Rockies
Major League Champs-The NY Yankees
Senior League Champs-The Ohio State Buckeyes
Liberty League Champs-The Corpus Christi Hooks

Congratulations to all of the players and coaches.

Season Ends with Exciting Minor World Series Game at Picnic!

For the first time in more than a decade the final game of the season was played on the day of the league picnic. As a huge crowd looked on, the Minor Rockies defeat the Minor Red Sox in the third game of the World Series. The Red Sox furious seventh inning rally fell just short, as the Rockies held on.

Thousands of players and parents packed Welles Park for the traditional season ending league picnic. Trophies and other awards were handed out to all of the participants. Great food and a lot of fun was enjoyed by all.

Thillens Was a Success. Liberty League About to Start

The WPPA had a great weekend at Thillens. The weather was super and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were many thrilling games in all of the leagues. Attendance was great!

The Liberty League had its draft on Wednesday evening and games should be starting in about 10 days. All of the Liberty games are played at Rogers Park. This is a great league with some fine young men playing some top-notch baseball. If you get tried of watch the Cubs and Sox lose games, come to Rogers Park, at least you will get your money's worth.

The WPPA Drafts have happened and practice will begin soon!

All of the leagues have held their drafts, except for Liberty. Soon the coaches will be notifying the players on their teams and they will start to hold practices. You should hear from your child's coach by April 10th. Let me know if you haven't and I will see what I can find out.

The Snow Has Melted!!!

Finally after months of snow cover, the fields at Welles are bare. Now they are just muck, but that is an improvement. Won't be long until the grass is green and the first signs of kids returning from hockey, basketball and soccer are seen. Great time of the year, especially after a very long winter.

Umpire Training Starts Wednesday March 3rd!

The WPPA umpire training starts Wednesday March 3rd. The training will be held at the Amundsen High School gym from 7:00pm-9:00pm on the first four Wednesdays of March. Training is open to anyone 13 years old or older who wants to umpire in any of Welles Park's baseball leagues this summer. The training is free but you must sign-up prior to attending. The course will be taught by professional umpires Josh Locks and Dave Ducat. Call me to sign up (773-719-5895).

Travel Team Tryouts Schedule

Tryouts for the 9 and under Travel Team will be held Saturday Feb. 20th, 2:30-4:30 at Amundsen High School Gym and Sunday Feb 21st, 12:30-2:30 at BASH Sports Academy.

Tryouts for the 12 and under Travel Team will be held Sunday Feb. 14th and 21st, 6:30-8:00 at the Bulls and White Sox Training Academy, 6200 River Bend Drive. Lisle, IL. and Sunday Feb 28th, 9:00-10:30am at Bash Sports Academy, 2617 W. Fletcher ST. Chicago, IL.

For details, contact information, and other Travel Team information go to the WPPA website.

Still some openings in Major, Senior, and Liberty!

As expected the Welles Park youth baseball's three younger leagues Rookie, Junior, and Minor filled up fast on Saturday. The three older leagues Major (11 & 12yr olds), Senior (13 & 14yr olds) and Liberty (15-18yr olds) still have some openings.

New Player Registration this Saturday 10:00am-1:00pm

New player sign-up is this Saturday (Jan. 30th.). For the younger leagues this is your one and only chance to register. Rookie, Junior, and Minor will fill up very quickly. Starting at six o'clock in the morning, WPPA representatives will pass out wrist bands to people in line. A wrist band does NOT guarantee your child will get in the league, but it does hold your place in line so you can go home until 9:00-9:30. Because of the large number of returning players, the number of open spots in the younger leagues is very small. The WPPA does everything it can to help the people who want their children to play, but it can only accommodate a limited number new players.

The WPPA's Mount Rushmore

In its twenty year existence, the WPPA has had four presidents. They are (from left): Gene Sims, founder and president first six year; Andy Lowenthal, current president; Jim Price, 3rd president for four years, and Max Griffin, 2nd president for eight years. All three of the former president at still active in program.

Welles Park Youth Baseball Registration January 23rd and 30th

Even though the fields are covered with snow and the temperatures are below freezing, it is time to start planning for Welles Park baseball. A couple of things have changed this year; there is on-line registration for all returning players and the registration dates have been moved up a week.

The following information is from the Welles Park Parents Association's website, wppabaseball.com. Please visit the WPPA website for complete information on registration.

Returning Player Only Registration:

On-line registration begins Saturday, January 16th and ends January 27th. This is only for returning players, all new players must register in person.

In-person registration for returning players is January 23rd and 30th from 10:00am to 1:00pm at the Welles Park Fieldhouse, 2333 W. Sunnyside.

Returning players are guaranteed a spot only if the register on January 23rd or on-line.

New Player Registration:

No on-line registration.

In-person registration is January 30th from 10:am to 1:00pm at the Welles Park Fieldhouse, 2333 W. Sunnyside.

Because of the demand for the limited spots available, people line-up very early. WPPA Board states it will distribute wristbands at 6:00am to all people in the order they are in line. After receiving a wristband, you may leave and return around 9:15am and get in line in order of your wristband number. Having a wristband DOES NOT guarantee your child will get into the league.

For me, the WPPA sign-up always signals the begining of the end of winter. It make me happy to see fellow coaches, parents, and of course, the kids for first time since the season-ending picnic.