While the District 7 Little League tournament crowned yet another champion last week, the tourney was not without controversy, as two towns once again waged war over player eligibility and other matters not pertaining to baseball – and it took a ruling, then a counter-ruling to clear up the whole scenario.
Here’s what transpired. West New York National, the eventual champion, was set to face North Bergen in the semifinals last Thursday, but representatives from North Bergen approached District 7 Administrator Gene Klumpp to say that they had proof that WNY National was using an illegal player who no longer lived in West New York.
Klumpp said that he first reviewed the paperwork and realized that the unnamed West New York player did live in Florida, making him ineligible.
North Bergen wanted a forfeit win in a game that it lost to West New York National in the tournament.
WNY National head coach Danny Luis maintained that the youngster was always eligible. He did move to Florida with his father seven months ago, but returned during the Little League regular season.
“He’s been playing in this league since he was five years old,” Luis said. “His father played in the league and so did his two older brothers. He was eligible to play with us from the beginning and we let everyone know that.
We had all the paperwork and we sent it to Bristol (the Little League’s Eastern Regional headquarters). We had to prove that the kid was eligible.”
At the same time, WNY National officials questioned the eligibility of North Bergen’s charter. North Bergen, which only returned to Little League play in 2004 after many years of participating in Amateur American Baseball Congress (AABC) Cal Ripken Bambino baseball, was being questioned whether its two All-Star teams played under Little League geographical restrictions.
So you had one town raising a protest about one player’s eligibility and you had another town questioning the other’s league status.
As it turned out, the officials in Bristol overruled the decision made by Klumpp. The kid from West New York remained eligible and the tournament moved ahead after a two-day delay.
“Some people don’t want to play by the rules and when I have to enforce the rules, then there are problems,” said Klumpp. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years and I play by the books. As far as I’m concerned, I did what I had to do. They then proved to Bristol that the kid was legal and sent that paperwork along. West New York went on and won the games on the field. It’s now like beating a dead horse. It’s a dead issue. The tournament is over.”
Still, the tournament was held up in a sea of paperwork and red tape. It caused allegations and illegalities flying back and forth across Kennedy Boulevard.
“We’re too close and know too much about each other,” said Luis, who said an eligibility issue was raised by North Bergen against a West New York National player last year as well. “We have to stop doing this. We should spend the time working more with the kids.”
Klumpp agreed.
“It kills me,” Klumpp said. “The only thing this does is hurt the kids. These are adults bringing up this stuff and the kids get punished for it. It really would have killed me if we had to totally stop the tournament (which was being considered until the West New York player was deemed eligible). The one thing anyone can say about me is that I’m fair and that I’m doing the right thing. It’s a shame that the same people keep trying to take advantage of my fairness.”
No one could ever question Klumpp’s integrity. It’s not even an issue and shouldn’t be. But here’s to hoping that both sides learned their lessons from these ridiculous allegations and perhaps next year, officials from both North Bergen and West New York’s Little Leagues can concentrate on baseball more instead of legal mumbo jumbo, because this snafu bordered on the absurd…
The fourth annual Michael Tanner Memorial Golf Outing, held at Valley Brook Golf Course in River Vale last Thursday, was a resounding success for St. Joseph of the Palisades High School, which raised more than $25,000 for the school’s athletic programs.
The sold-out event brought 144 golfers out to honor the great St. Joseph three-sport athlete who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Several members of the Tanner family, including his mother, Mary, were on hand to greet the golfers.
One of the highlights of the day was a hole-in-one by Walter Olsewski on the 10th hole, a par-4 hole no less. Incredibly, it was not one of the holes that featured such prizes as a Mercedes Benz, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or a $10,000 cash prize. All Olsewski got for his achievement was a hearty handshake and a lot of smiles. Paul Cambria shot the low round of the day, a 72, to win the outing’s trophy.
Organizers called the event their best ever, which is a good thing for the school to raise much-needed funds for their sports teams, but an even better way to remember a great friend and athlete…
– Jim Hague