Papa Hops 16'' Softball Tournament Enters Fifth Year

CHICAGO, IL — There's nothing more Chicago than a 16'' softball tournament on a Friday night in the summer, and this year one of the best neighborhood traditions in the city has gotten even better. The Papa Hops 16'' Softball Tournament returns for its fifth year on Friday, July 13. This year, 32 teams will take the field at three neighborhood parks in a single-loss elimination tournament organizers say should be wrapped up in less than five hours.

"It is a great time for families to come out to the park, watch some softball and raise money for our community," said Liam Hopkins, one of the founders of the tournament that's now in its fifth year in memory of his father, Tom Hopkins.

Tom "Papa Hops" Hopkins, who died in 2014 from melanoma, was a beloved man in the Beverly-Morgan Park neighborhood, the St. Cajetan parish and at Kennedy Park. Liam says he loved 16-inch softball, youth sports and the neighborhood.

That's why the Papa Hops tournament is a perfect event to honor his memory every year. It raises money for the Tom Hopkins Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)3 that supports youth athletics and provides assistance to families affected by cancer.

"This tournament definitely sums up who my dad was as a person," Liam said. "He was a popular guy and loved helping other people. Always a supporter of the underdog and never leaving anyone out."

Since the first Papa Hops tournament in 2014, the annual mid-summer event has grown "organically," Liam said. What started out as a 16-team tournament in 2014 increased to a 28-team field the following year. Now, in 2018, the tournament has increased to 32 teams.

Which means there will be no "bye" games for top seeds this year. Instead, the top four teams from last year's tournament will be penciled in at the top spot of the four brackets, with a random draw planned for Wednesday night at McNally's to determine the rest of the bracket ahead of Friday night. UPDATED: Bracket Set For Papa Hops 16'' Softball Tournament

"This has grown so much that we have a wait list of eight teams trying to get in," said Liam. "We'd like to include them, but nearly all the teams from previous years want to be in it again and we have decided to automatically invite back all teams from the year before."

Top seeds this year will be the Jugg-Offs (the reigning 2017 champion), Ignition, Mint (2015 and 2016 champions) and Money Ball. Those four teams advanced to the Final Four of the 2017 tournament.

The Papa Hops tournament has quickly become one of the neighborhood's best traditions. Players are all men, ranging in age from 18 to some in their upper 50s. There are 10 players on the field at a time, with rosters holding anywhere from 12 to 15 players. All games are seven innings.

As always, 16-inch softball games are played without a mitt.

This year's tournament includes 27 returning teams and five new ones: Big Inning, FDS, MOO, Scrapes and Fitz's Gas.

Fans have flocked to Kennedy Park - and now Mt. Greenwood Park and beginning this year Beverly Park for opening round games - to take in an event that fits perfectly with the hard-working residents of the neighborhood where its held.

"This has grown organically and goes to show the support of our community and where we live on the South Side," Liam said.

The fun gets started at 5 p.m. Friday, with the first round of games being held at Kennedy, Mt. Greenwood and Beverly parks. At 6 p.m., the second round will start at all three locations. To speed things up, Liam says all batters will start at a 1-1 count in the first two rounds.

Then, at 7:15 p.m., all games move to Kennedy Park as the field is narrowed down to eight teams.

The champion will be crowned by 9:30 p.m., when a championship ceremony will begin.

Previous "Papa Hops" champions:

• 2014 - Yahtzee
• 2015 - Mint
• 2016 - Mint
• 2017 - Jugg-Offs

The great Jim Cornelison will sing the national anthem, with a helicopter fly-over, to begin the post-game party. Local young cancer survivors Beau Dowling and Marty Brogan will throw out first pitches.

Liam says one of his favorite moments of the event is during the post-game ceremony when the crowd "swarms the outfield."

"It's cool to see the people in the crowd make sort of their own outfield fence," he said.

50/50 raffles will be held and the entire event is family-friendly, with food available as well as kids games and a face-painter will be on hand.

All of this to raise money for a number of good causes.

Proceeds from the tournament will be split to help local kids and adults fighting cancer and programs in the athletic departments at local Catholic elementary schools. So far, 20 families and eight schools have benefited.

The scoreboard at Kennedy Park was purchased using the funds raised in the first Papa Hops tournament in 2014.

"Dad was a big advocate for sports, and back in 2010 he organized a Sunday softball league at Kennedy Park to keep college kids who were back home for the summer active," Liam said.

When Papa Hops got sick, Liam and his brothers knew they would have to do something to continue their father's legacy.

"We wanted it to be on a Friday night, because how cool would it be to play at Kennedy Park under the lights."

Now, thanks in part to the popularity from the Papa Hops tournament, Kennedy Park has permanent lights on diamonds 1 and 2.

How To Follow

If you are at Kennedy Park Friday night, there will be a bracket with all the updated information on the tournament at five different entrances to the park. It will include information on which games are being played where.

Tournament organizers will also provide frequent updates on Facebook and Twitter. Some parts of the tournament may be live-streamed on Facebook.

Want Goosebumps?

The video below is a perfect description of the now beloved "Papa Hops" tournament with beautiful flyover footage, a voice-over by Chicago White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer and words by Beverly-Morgan Park-based journalist Howard Ludwig.

Photos provided