The AAABA Tournament traditionally has had many ties to baseball’s Fall Classic over the years whether it be Joe Torre, Bruce Bochy, Orel Hershiser or Reggie Jackson.
This year is no different. The Washington Nationals have two players and two off-field contributors who have ties to the Johnstown tournament.
The following appeared in Mike Mastovich’s Sunday column in The Tribune-Democrat:
AAABA ties to Series: The AAABA Tournament will have ties to the Washington Nationals in the World Series.
Johnstown’s Pete Vuckovich is a special assistant to the general manager for the Nationals. Vuckovich, who won the 1982 American League Cy Young Award and pitched in the World Series for the Milwaukee Brewers, was part of four Johnstown AAABA Tournament representatives from 1969 to 1972, including three years with Monte Carlo. Vuckovich was inducted into the AAABA Hall of Fame in 1996.
Nationals first baseman Matt Adams played for Altoona Johnston Realty in the AAABA Tournament from 2006 to 2008.
Washington right-handed pitcher Tanner Rainey played for the New Orleans Boosters in 2013.
Jack McKeon, hired by the Nationals at age 88 as senior advisor to the general manager, was a catcher on the Newark South Amboy team in 1948 and was inducted into the AAABA Hall of Fame in 2011.