Sacramento Labor Day Charity Tourney a Huge Success

By Alan Van Ness, League President (Edited by Steve LaMontia-Carlentini)

Too many people helped make this happen to list. This year, our charity was the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home.  I also need to single out the umpires who have been outstanding all year.

This league created its own SMSBL UMPIRE SYSTEM and currently includes 90 umpires, and hopefully will continue to grow. We played 57 games, covered with two umpires per game, and three for the 25+ National and American Championship games. Mike Egan and Eric Ferrari have been the glue to this successful attempt at SMSBL umpiring.

After this tournament, we have completed 735 games this year. I have wanted the SMSBL to be self-sustaining, and this year proves it’s possible.

On to baseball, the most exciting games of the seven Championships were the 25+ National and American. The National division saw the powerful Sacramento Red Sox, who dominated everyone in pool play. In the final, they had to hang on in the 9th inning versus the Sac Angles (yes, Angles) to win 8-7. They are the Angels during the season, but their jerseys were spelled wrong, so for humor they stuck with Angles. These are two of the best teams in the SMSBL.

In the 25 American, there was a nail-biter with the Sac Space Cowboys holding on to beat San Jose Phillies, 2-1. This meant a lot to them as they lost the Championship last year 3-2. In most of the other games, the scores were pretty lopsided. We have eight parks and 10 fields to coordinate. I sent a thank you to all our outside park managers.

The raffle had $1 and $5 prizes, with about 40 prizes. The prizes included in the silent auction were an NFL Hall of Fame Jersey signed Roger Craig, along with a Ty Cobb item.  Each went for $400 in the silent auction.

The Charity we selected this year was Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home. We raised $3,000 from the raffle and silent auction. More importantly, some players who needed personal help were able to receive it. So that was far more important and valuable than money.

As always, I must thank my wife Teena Van Ness and my whole family. We sacrifice our holiday weekend to try and help others enjoy theirs. SMSBL could not do this without my family’s love and support. Thank You to all the players who also worked tirelessly to make this Charity Tournament possible.

Below is the 2026 Gallery of Champions!