A few days ago over lunch I had the opportunity to ‘catch up’ with friend and broadcast partner Tom Speicher. Our conversation included how strange these next two weeks will be without the Little League World Series. He then suggested it would be interesting to learn how the Little League Uncles are handling this series-less August.

Suggestion taken.

I reached out to a few of those dedicated volunteers and this week I will begin to share some of their thoughts, beginning with Gary Whiteman a relative ‘rookie’ Uncle with four year of service. In his own words Whiteman reveals what being a Little League World Series Uncle means to him.

“I grew up in South Williamsport and Little League has been a part of my life since I can remember. Before I was old enough to play, my brother was playing and my Dad was coaching. Baseball was, and is my first love. I sold programs and then sodas at the Little League World Series growing up, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was on the hill with my friends. As I became an adult, I had the opportunity to ‘stay home’ and work for the Williamsport Bureau of Police. During that time, I became the Chief of Police. This gave me an opportunity to work with Rex Lowmiller and Jim Ferguson in the security side of the LLWS, having Williamsport police officers assist in the Series.

“I became interested in becoming a volunteer when I saw the enjoyment my father got from being an usher. Being the outgoing guy that he was, he developed friendships with fans, other ushers and the Little League staff. He bought pins every year to give to young fans, traded some for his grandkids (my kids) and just thoroughly enjoyed the ten or eleven days he spent at the Little League complex.

“I always loved and respected Dad and thought about how much fun it could be to spend those two weeks with him, but I didn’t think the usher gig was for me. I had fellow co-workers (Willie Weber), Little League teammates (Lee Miller) and local businesspersons (George Girio) all friends of mine who were LLWS uncles, and they suggested that I apply. I made application, received an interview and was selected for the 2016 LLWS. It has been one of the best opportunities I have ever been given.

“Being an Uncle gives you the opportunity to make the LLWS the best possible experience for your team. It allows you to present South Williamsport/Williamsport and Lycoming County in the best possible light for the world to see. But most importantly, it gives you the opportunity to be an up-close witness to the truest form of sport imaginable, to the joy and heartache of the game through the eyes of a twelve-year old. It restores in me a youthfulness that is missing in my life the other 50 weeks. When you put your team on the bus at the end of the series, it is like a pin going into a balloon. I think you run off adrenaline for a good bit of the time.

“In 2017, my team from Maracaibo, Venezuela, walked onto Volunteer Stadium and lay down in the green grass just to experience the feel. I don’t remember if it was a player or a coach, but someone told me that it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. You never have the opportunity to hear those kinds of things when you coach your own kids because they are fortunate enough to play on those kinds of fields with freshly cut green grass all their lives.

“The opportunity to witness young people, young athletes, and their coaches make their arrival at the finish line of an incredible journey is truly incredible. Often you have the opportunity to watch a group work together in such a way that you know that the Little League World Series experience is about so much more than baseball.

“This August feels like what this April, May, June and July felt like. It is UNUSUAL! These two weeks in August have for the past four years been exhilarating and exhausting; the hustle and bustle of the first days at the Grove, getting the kids their gear and scheduling practice times. Building relationships during the Series can lead to lifelong friendships, and this year we will all miss out on that. Those relationships extend from President Keener all the way down the hill to the parking attendants at the park to hotel managers and local merchants. We are all going to miss out on the good things that we get to experience for these two weeks.

“I am going to try and fill the void by doing some things I haven’t gotten to do in a couple years. I’m going to help my daughter get ready for college, something that has fallen on her mom since I started as an Uncle. I look forward to playing a little golf with my son and finish some of those COVID projects at home that we started while we couldn’t do anything else.”

Fellow Uncle Pete Lupacchino offered his own suggestion as to how the void could be filled.

“Maybe we can get a small group of us to go over to Lamade Stadium, sit in the stands and play Sweet Caroline on a radio and talk about what we are missing.”

Although I am not in the Uncle’s fraternity, here’s a thought. Perhaps the Uncles should contact Little League officials and ask to use Lamade Stadium for a softball game. The United States Uncles could square off against the International Uncles on August 30, the date the World Series championship game was to be played. It would be great fun and camaraderie and would certainly give them something to talk about.

(Next week we’ll visit with other LLWS Uncles).