Jeff Hutchins, better known by his peers as simply ‘Hutch,’ is a giant of a man with a truly giant of a job — Director of Public Safety for Lycoming County. This entire article could be filled up with just describing the responsibilities that fall under his watch. His vast area of responsibility is absolutely
READ MOREWhen local sports legend Bill Byham passed away in late May 2017, his unpublished novel — offering relevant life lessons through the prism of junior-high football — could easily have died with him. The manuscript of “Bucky Deacon’s Dilemma,” pecked out on a typewriter during summers by the pool, had languished for decades since Byham
READ MOREWelcome, April — hope for warmer weather, green grass and flowers, and a most welcomed new baseball season! It’s been a rough past twelve months, and we all look forward to better days ahead. Among those annual rites of spring are increased activities on the area youth baseball, softball and soccer fields. Much of which
READ MOREOn the day before Christmas all through the house Things were being shut down, it felt like a louse The weather was pouring, snow melting away Sending cascades of water down my driveway Church services were cancelled, people stayed home If you did leave your house there was nowhere to roam Then came some sports
READ MOREIf ever we would want a year to end, 2020 is the year. Even Stephen King would not have been able to imagine such a hodgepodge of disasters coming one after the other; a presidential impeachment (remember that?), a pandemic, city riots, an undercount census, major event cancellations, massive economic, social and educational shutdowns, travel
READ MOREFollowing a summer of COVID-caused cancellation and the uncertainty of professional baseball’s future in Williamsport, the November 30th announcement of the formation of the new MLB Draft League was welcomed news for area baseball fans. Although it was not included on the weather bureau’s forecast of that day, some of the windy conditions may have
READ MORETwo weeks ago the baseball world received the sad news that Yankees legendary pitcher Whitey Ford had passed away. Ford once saw action at Bowman Field as a member of the Eastern League’s Binghamton Triplets, but Ford was not the only member of the Yankee dynasty era of 1947 to 1964, several others did as
READ MOREAs I was preparing this week’s column, 9:31 a.m. unceremoniously passed by on the September 22 morning, bringing with it the fall equinox and the first day of autumn. As a big fan of summer, this annual occurrence has never been a cause for celebration for me, but this year is a bit different. After
READ MOREIn the United States, sports reflect life. When I lived abroad, I often had to help the interpreters who would be translating for the Americans who would visit because they inadvertently used so many sports metaphors and did not realize it. Those not familiar with the game of baseball have no idea what is meant
READ MOREBaseball recently suffered the loss of two of its brightest stars from the 1960s and 1970s, and another piece of childhood dropped away with the deaths of Tom Seaver and Lou Brock. Both Seaver and Brock visited the Little League World Series. Seaver in 1988 and Brock in 2006. It was during Brock’s appearance in
READ MOREOn the day our treasured Bowman Field was to be filled with happy Little Leaguers and excited fans about to witness the fourth annual MLB/Little League Classic game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, the revered city landmark on West Fourth Street stood silent. The same condition existed at LLB’s Lamade and
READ MOREIt was great catching up with my good friend Steve Keener recently. My intention was to ask him some questions for my column this week. Our conversation covered everything from family to baseball, to how blessed we are to call the West Branch Valley our home. Of course, most of our chat was about everything
READ MOREIn our ongoing world of “won’t be’s” we are ever aware that there won’t be motorcycles rumbling across Lycoming County commemorating the lives lost on 9/11; no mummers marching through the streets of South Williamsport this Halloween, nor a championship Little League game played at Lamade Stadium this Sunday. However, there are a whole lot
READ MOREIf this was a normal year, on Wednesday, August 19th, Fourth Street in Williamsport would have been packed with thousands of onlookers gathering to watch the Little League World Series Grand Slam Parade. As we all know, of course, this is definitely NOT a normal year, so there were no crowds because there was no
READ MOREThis year there is an aching void in our summer sports calendar, and that is the absence of the annual Little League World Series due to COVID-19. We at Webb Weekly thought we would try in a small way to fill a little of that void by providing some memories of those involved in holding
READ MOREThis August, the Little League® International Complex will look much different without the smiling faces and exciting cheers that surround the Little League Baseball® World Series, but members of the Williamsport community will still have the opportunity to bring those smiles to the faces of others as Little League International joins together with the American
READ MOREA 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
READ MOREWest Tokyo did what no one but the Japanese thought they could do, win the Little League World Series, But much to the surprise of the more than 27,000 fans, West Tokyo won the 1967 classic Saturday at Howard J. Lamade Memorial Field 6-1 over Chicago, Illinois. In winning the world championship for 11 and
READ MORENormally, this is the time of year I welcome the world to Williamsport for the playing and festivities of the Little League World Series. Hopefully, next year my column is just that. Can you imagine a year ago if one of those seers of the future would have told you where our Nation would be
READ MOREThose of you familiar with Little League Baseball, particularly those who may be umpires or have some understanding of baseball rules, may be aware of the organization’s publication ‘Making the Right Call.’ The booklet provides case studies; presenting various baseball situations and invites the reader to make what they think may be the right call.
READ MOREFor almost 40 years, the Hiawatha Riverboat has been plying the local waters of the Susquehanna River from its home at Susquehanna State Park in the city’s west end. The pleasure cruises of this fine craft were in doubt for a while this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Hiawatha officials from River Valley
READ MORE? With Lycoming County going green, many area Little Leagues are now scrambling. I mentioned to you a few weeks back that everything was at a complete standstill. Little League International had just pulled the plug on the 2020 World Series, and the future was unknown. Unprecedented territory for Williamsport’s favorite pastime. There have been
READ MOREDespite our current ‘social distancing’ and ‘yellow’ directives, one thing remains constant; ‘people do talk.’ It has now been three weeks since Little League International President and CEO Steve Keener put out the word everyone thought was coming but still didn’t want to hear — the cancellation of the 2020 World Series. Although social conversations
READ MOREBy Scott Lowery While the news media accounts of the Little League World Series sent around the world, each August carry the dateline Williamsport, PA; as all the locals know since the late 1950s, it is South Williamsport that calls the Series home. As the Borough Manager & Public Safety Director of the host community,
READ MOREImagine a scenario where there is a fire down the street where you live, and you were told you had to abandon your home as a preventive measure. And after some time passes, and the fire appears to be under control, you ask when you can return to your home, and you are told that
READ MOREThe announcement was not a surprise. Most folks were hoping against hope that it wouldn’t come. But Little League International President & CEO Steve Keener’s April 30 pronouncement that this year’s World Series and related regional tournaments would not be played will leave a huge void not only in our community but around the world.
READ MOREI finally got the call from the bullpen kids. Heading back to work tomorrow morning. I really enjoyed my time away. Taught school, played some hoops and fished every single day. 41 straight. My little sidekick took the news rather hard. Jensen has been my best buddy throughout it all. I am going to miss
READ MOREWhile watching a recent TV show, the near irrelevancy of the once-popular encyclopedias was a subject of discussion. In today’s fast-paced technology-driven world with information available at the touch of a finger or voice command, it is easily understood how those once familiar door-to-door knowledge salesmen are now a thing of the past. To a
READ MOREAdding to the grimness of what we all have been dealing with, the weather outside was dreary and raining as the dawning of another day of homebound isolation dawned upon us. Jean, entering the bedroom as I was pulling myself out from under the covers, glanced up at the bookcase over our bed and asked,
READ MOREIf you attended a high school basketball game during the recently completed season, you most likely would have heard student cheering sections erupt with the phrase ‘you can’t do that’ when an opposing player violated the playing rules. Nothing malicious, it was just a fun-loving jab letting an opponent know he/she messed up. Sports, whether
READ MOREWith the high school basketball season rapidly winding down, South Williamsport’s players sat despondently in a quiet locker room as their hopes for a playoff berth took another hit. Standing before them that Friday evening, the Mountaineers coach, Rob Houseknecht, stood stoically — momentarily silent. When he began to address his team, he spoke in
READ MOREIt was with great sadness last week when it was learned that two of the “Baggy Pants Boys of 1939,” Bill Bair and Al “Sonny” Yearick had died. They were two of the thinning ranks of the boys who played on those first three Little League teams 81 years ago. Bill and Al were two
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