Former MLB umpire rallies to celebrate Lincoln’s Carpet Land Rugs for their national title

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Lincoln’s very own Carpet Land Rugs won the American Legion World Series last week. The call for celebration has arisen, and the Lincoln community is behind it.

The Carpet Land Rugs consists of Lincoln East High School players. They are the first Nebraska team since 1939 to win the American Legion World Series.

People are pushing for the celebration to be as big as the national win. Specifically, a former Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire is advocating for a big championship celebration.

Jeff Henrichs, former MLB and College World Series umpire, posted to Facebook, hoping to work together to create an environment of praise for the players.

“I’m not big politically on Facebook but I thought hopefully the mayor saw it,” Henrichs said. “I was just like ‘What’s going on? Is somebody doing something for these kids to recognize that they just won the national championship?”

Along with being a Lincoln East graduate, Henrichs also umpired in MLB games, the College World Series and even a few American Legion games. This makes him passionate about the accomplishment the baseball players achieved.

The community has rallied with Henrichs on the idea of celebration.

“It has been very positive. They’re very supportive. They’re happy,” Henrichs said. “There’s a big baseball community in Lincoln that people don’t know about. I think there’s a lot of support that we could generate.”

Henrichs said the Christmas parade would be a perfect opportunity to celebrate the team, since O Street should be fixed by the holidays.

COURTESY: AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL