Willie Putnam Memorial Baseball Tournament

The 2012 tournament will be held July 20-22, 2012.

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The 30th annual Willie Putnam Memorial Baseball Tournament will be held July 20, 21, and 22, 2012 at fields in Cape Vincent and Chaumont, New York. Forty teams from around Northern New York and Eastern Ontario are expected to participate.

The first Willie Putnam Memorial Baseball Tournament was held in 1983, a year after the death of our twelve year old son, William ("Willie"). It was originally meant to be a one-time event for the boys and girls in the 10 - 12 year old divison of the Thousand Islands League. However, due to the positive response we decided to hold a second tournament in 1984. The tournament has continued to grow in size and popularity over the years. Teams have visited from as far away as Quebec and New Hampshire to participate.

We've tried to create an exciting event for the children and their families. We emphasize that this is a fun tournament and we ask coaches to be sure that each team member plays at least two innings per game.

The tournament is organized into round robins of four teams each. This makes it possible to seed the teams by ability. There are first and second place trophies in each round robin. After every game each team chooses an M.V.P. from the opposing team and that youngster receives a small trophy.

The team (players, coaches and fans) that demonstrates the best sportsmanship and attitude receives the mayor's trophy, which is the largest trophy given.

Through the kindness of many sponsors, each child receives gifts. These vary from year to year. Each year the children have received gifts from Walmart; in the past the Syracuse Sky Chiefs have also donated souvenirs. In addition, every participant receives a souvenir baseball from the Putnam family, with help from Lodge #496 of the Watertown Elks.

One member of each participating team wins a bicycle and helmet. The bicycles are donated by various local businesses and individuals to whom we are extremely grateful. Each coach, assistant, umpire, and volunteer receives a Willie Putnam Tournament cap.

Our tournament is completely volunteer-driven and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us throughout the years!

In 2000 we also began giving each player a Willie Putnam Memorial Tournament tee shirt, thanks to generous gifts from Valentine's Nice & Easy Grocery Stores, Aamco Transmission, Purcell Construction, Neighborhood IGA Express, Walrath Accounting Services, Tibbles Roofing, and Keruskie Construction.

We thank all of our sponsors, neighbors, and friends for their gracious support in having made the tournament possible over the years. We look forward to many more years of fun and sportsmanship!


The 2012 tournament will be held July 20-22, 2012. . . . The 30th annual Willie Putnam Memorial Baseball Tournament will be held July 20, 21, and 22, 2012 at fields in Cape Vincent and Chaumont, New York. Forty teams from around Northern New York and Eastern Ontario are expected to participate. The first Willie Putnam Memorial Baseball Tournament was held in 1983, a year after the death of our twelve year old son, William ("Willie"). It was originally meant to be a one-time event for the boys and girls in the 10 - 12 year old divison of the Thousand Islands League. However, due to the positive response we decided to hold a second tournament in 1984. The tournament has continued to grow in size and popularity over the years. Teams have visited from as far away as Quebec and New Hampshire to participate. We've tried to create an exciting event for the children and their families. We emphasize that this is a fun tournament and we ask coaches to be sure that each team member plays at least two innings per game. The tournament is organized into round robins of four teams each. This makes it possible to seed the teams by ability. There are first and second place trophies in each round robin. After every game each team chooses an M.V.P. from the opposing team and that youngster receives a small trophy. The team (players, coaches and fans) that demonstrates the best sportsmanship and attitude receives the mayor's trophy, which is the largest trophy given. Through the kindness of many sponsors, each child receives gifts. These vary from year to year. Each year the children have received gifts from Walmart; in the past the Syracuse Sky Chiefs have also donated souvenirs. In addition, every participant receives a souvenir baseball from the Putnam family, with help from Lodge #496 of the Watertown Elks. One member of each participating team wins a bicycle and helmet. The bicycles are donated by various local businesses and individuals to whom we are extremely grateful. Each coach, assistant, umpire, and volunteer receives a Willie Putnam Tournament cap. Our tournament is completely volunteer-driven and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us throughout the years! In 2000 we also began giving each player a Willie Putnam Memorial Tournament tee shirt, thanks to generous gifts from Valentine's Nice & Easy Grocery Stores, Aamco Transmission, Purcell Construction, Neighborhood IGA Express, Walrath Accounting Services, Tibbles Roofing, and Keruskie Construction. We thank all of our sponsors, neighbors, and friends for their gracious support in having made the tournament possible over the years. We look forward to many more years of fun and sportsmanship!	2012 Rules Directions from Canada Directions from Watertown More Information

2012 Information For more information or to offer comments, please write Margaret Putnam Brennen at margaretbrennen@yahoo.com. More information on the Thousand Islands Baseball Conference is available at http://www.schellman.org/wp2011