The four teams that compete in the league are named for men who can be considered Mount Rushmore figures of New Orleans AAABA baseball – Louis “Rags” Scheuermann, for whom the field at Kirsch-Rooney is named and who coached New Orleans to a title 70 years ago, starting this city’s only other three-year title run Skeeter Theard, an assistant coach from 1965-2000, Jean Faust, Doug’s father who was an assistant from 1972-97 as well as long-time New Orleans franchise representative Ray Pelleteri.Īll four men are deceased but the presence of their spirit will be as palpable in Johnstown as the Boosters’ familiar green and gold uniforms. Hair should not reach below the shoulders.” The “league policies and procedures” that participants in the league receive at the start include the following rule: “Players should be clean-shaven at all times throughout their time in the league. The players immediately are introduced to the “culture” of the program – the history of success and the traditional expectations for behaving like champions on and off the diamond.Įven personal grooming is part of the culture for grooming personnel to compete in Johnstown.

The New Orleans Boosters’ All-American Collegiate League, which began play in June at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium, annually produces the team that will compete in Johnstown. “These guys handle themselves well and carry the New Orleans name in good standing up there. “They know that they’re going to get a squad that is not only good players, but just good people,” Zimmermann said.

The locals’ “love for the New Orleans squad” transcends baseball, according to Paul Zimmermann, who played on the 1971 championship team, watched his son play on the 2009 championship team and has been a spectator in Johnstown for the last several years. He and the other Johnstown rookies were a bit skeptical that the reception would be as grand as it was being described. Infielder Jake Kaufmann was told before making his Boosters debut last summer “that it’s like the Yankees coming to town.” So we make sure that they understand the importance of that before we go up there.”įaust and other Johnstown veterans try to prepare the players, who range in age from seniors in high school to college players that were younger than 22 as of May 1, for the hoopla that will surround their weeklong stay. “And all the guys that went before them are going to be reading the press clippings and want to see the scores and they want to have pride in the New Orleans Boosters. “We teach them about the history of all the guys that have gone before them,” Boosters coach Doug Faust said. CDT on Monday in Johnstown, Pennsylvania against an opponent to be determined, is comprised mostly of players with little or no Johnstown experience.īut the 77 th edition of the team will attempt to do what this franchise has done for generations – reach new heights while standing on the shoulders of those who preceded them. New Orleans, which will play its first game in the tournament at 11 a.m. The Boosters, who have won five of the last seven titles, prevailed in 2019, 20, and the tournament was not held in 2020 because of COVID. Washington also won three straight (1997-99) and Baltimore, which no longer competes in the AAABA, won three straight from 1989-91, four straight titles from 1980-83 and a record six straight from 2003-08. Now the 2023 version of the team called the Boosters can add a new entry to the Crescent City franchise’s many accomplishments by winning a fourth consecutive national championship. It has won 378 games, and its 18 national championships are second only to Baltimore’s 29 titles. NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans franchise has won the most games all time in the All-American Amateur Baseball Association.

Jewel quest game 2015