OUR History
Bob Jones Tournament
Who Was Bob Jones?
Bob Jones was President of Bridgeport LL and died in office. Tony Marra named the "First Place Tournament" after him. When we created D27, we kept the name until Bridgeport moved to District 22. Then we started calling it the Major League "Team" Tournament since Bridgeport is no longer in our District. But the name still sticks.
What is the Bob Jones Tournament?
The Bob Jones Tournament is a District 27 Special Games Tournament for Regular Season Major League Teams (i.e. 11-yo and 12-yo teams) who play on the 46-60 field. It is not technically an "All-Star Tournament" because kids are not selected, entire regular season teams are selected. This is considered an Invitational tournament. Leagues are encouraged to finish their playoffs early enough in June to allow participation here.
Each league is allowed to enter 1 or 2 of their regular season teams (no substitution or sharing of players) and we play a single elimination tournament. The best part of this is that it includes players of all skill levels because they are regular season teams. Several kids get to represent their league in this tournament who may never get to play in an All-Star tournament.
Some leagues only submit 1 team, some do 2 teams using either the regular season champ and tournament champ, or the 2 teams that played in the final of their in-house end of season tournament.
John Klein Tournament
Who Was John Klein?
Before District 27, many of our leagues were part of the old District 23 -- John Klein was a mainstay and dedicated volunteer from Chester Valley Little League. He provided significant support at the old "B" tournament at Chester Valley. The majority of the tournament games were played at the Chester Valley VFW and Monument Avenue fields. John was always there and was a great asset to then ADA of Special Tournaments, Charlie Hemingway and the District in managing this tournament. John would have all three fields going at once for most of the day. Right before he passed away then District 23 Administrator, the late Tony Marra, and his staff visited John during his final days and presented him with a banner and advised him the tournament would be named in his honor.
Al “Pappy” Patton 8 to 10 Year Old International BB Memorial Tournament
Who Was Al "Pappy" Patton?
The Al Patton Memorial Tournament was established in 2001 in recognition of the many contributions that Al “Pappy” Patton made to Little League. In addition to an Umpire Award each year at our annual banquet, Pappy’s influence has been recognized by the 8-10 YO International Baseball tournament that bears his name.
Pappy served as Assistant District Administrator under Tony Marra’s leadership for District 23 and continued when it split to form District 27 for many years. For 62 years, Pappy volunteered as an umpire and offered umpire consulting for both Little League, Pony League, and Legion Ball. He was instrumental in founding and building several leagues, including Coventry where the tee-ball field was named in his honor.
In 1957, Pappy was assigned to the Williamsport World Series, where he served as 1st base umpire. This was both the first time that a team outside the US, from Monterrey, Mexico, competed and the first and only perfect game ever pitched in World Series Championship history. This game inspired a major motion picture, “The Perfect Game” (2009).
Since Pappy valued the importance of giving recognition, he was one of the founders and was instrumental in the organization of the Little League World Series Umpires Alumni International, an organization that recognizes umpires that call all World Series Championship games.
In 1984, he was inducted in the PA Sports Hall of Fame for all his many contributions. He continued dedicating his time and serving Little League until his passing in 2001.
