AAABA Hall of Famer, former national president Charlie Blackburn Helped Build PA Event
QUEENSTOWN, Maryland – Charlie Blackburn wasn’t able to attend the weeklong 81st All American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) Tournament in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, this August. But organizers, players and ambassadors made sure Charlie knew how much he means to the event.
On the eve of the 16-team college-level baseball tournament’s first pitch, an oversized greeting card circulated through a banquet hall filled with more than 250 players, coaches and baseball fans gathered to open AAABA week in the small city once known for its massive steel mills.
The card was passed from table to table, as banquet attendees signed their names and sent well-wishes to Blackburn, a resident of Queenstown Landing senior living community. The card will be delivered to Charlie to let him know he might not physically be in Johnstown, but his contributions to the tournament aren’t forgotten.
“Charlie Blackburn is one of our tournament’s greatest supporters and he represents the generation that brought this event to Johnstown in 1945 and kept it here through economic downturns and devastating floods,” said George Arcurio, president of the Johnstown Oldtimers Baseball Association that sponsors the AAABA Tournament.
Each August, thousands of baseball fans arrive at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point and other fields throughout the Johnstown, Cambria County, region. The Point is nestled between two rivers, the Little Conemaugh and Stonycreek, as they converge to form the Conemaugh River.
Johnstown hosted the AAABA Tournament in 79 of the event’s 81 years. In 1946, it briefly moved to Washington, D.C., and in 1977, the tournament was played in nearby Altoona a few weeks after the third Johnstown Flood on July 20, 1977.
“Baseball people like Charlie Blackburn are the lifeblood of our tournament,” said Mike Hudak, president of the national AAABA board. “AAABA brings to Johnstown players from Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even Louisiana. Charlie served as our president the past two years and he has meant so much to the tournament for decades.”
Blackburn, 90, played baseball as a child and young man. He still fondly recalls the times he met some of the game’s legends such as Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack and Al Kaline.
In fact, Kaline played on the Maryland State franchise in the 1952 AAABA Tournament. Blackburn was a coach, administrator and franchise representative for the Maryland State team for decades.
The AAABA Hall of Fame inducted Blackburn in its Class of 2010 for his role as a longtime representative of the Maryland State franchise, going back to the 1960s.
The AAABA Tournament alumni list includes Baseball Hall of Fame members such as Kaline, Joe Torre, John Smoltz, Barry Larkin and Reggie Jackson. Other future stars who played in Johnstown included Jim Crowley, Gavin Floyd, Nick Adenhart, Ron Swoboda, Jim Abbott, Mark Fidrych, Jack McKeon, Shawon Dunston and Bruce Bochy, among more than 400 others who advanced to “The Show.”
“We’ve got to bring in the youth, young people,” Blackburn said during his 2025 visit to Johnstown for the 80th AAABA Tournament. “My message to all these young ballplayers out here is to give back someday, give back someday, give back.”
Since moving to Queenstown Landing, Blackburn has shared baseball stories with his “new team members” – the residents and staff in the senior living community.
“Charlie is a lifelong Maryland resident who has an extensive history in the world of baseball,” said Jay Hurley, Community Relations Director at Queenstown Landing. “He has greatly impacted baseball in the state and across the landscape of Major League Baseball.”
“Charlie has personally met some of baseballs greats, including Babe Ruth and Ted Williams,” Hurley added. “He continues to ‘hold court’ with countless stories and he shares his memorabilia with his fellow residents and our team members. Charlie is a joy to be around, especially during baseball season.”
For more information, contact Jay Hurley, Community Relations Director, Queenstown Landing, at [email protected] or call 410.304.2005.
