Looking back...

The Hot Stove League Luncheon and Challenger Baseball World Series 

 

Founded in 1983, the Hot Stove League Luncheon is currently composed of 150 sports fans who, since 2003, have gathered at the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa around the year-end Holiday Season to raise funds via Auctions and Raffles. This event is intended to host 500 mentally and/or physically challenged boys and girls, ages 6-18, for a morning of baseball followed by a picnic lunch at ESL Ballpark on a Saturday in June. 

 

This annual event, which has always been hosted by the Rochester Red Wings, is called the Challenger Baseball World Series (CBWS). CBWS began in 1993 as a two-team, 38-player (Fairport & Greece…our area’s first two Challenger squads) event at Silver Stadium. Over the past four decades, the Greater Rochester Area’s Challenger Baseball Programs have experienced continued growth and success thanks to vital financial and volunteer support spearheaded by the Hot Stove League Luncheon, which since 1996 has raised over $442,000 to fund the CBWS. 

 

The 2026 CBWS featured a record-high 13 Challenger Baseball Programs (Fairport, Greece, Pittsford, Brighton, Victor, Penfield, Webster, Chili, Rush-Henrietta, Avon, Perry, Westside/Brockport, and Finger Lakes/Geneva) with a record total of 503 players.  Counting these players, coaches, volunteers (more than 600!), relatives, and fans, just over an all-time best 1,600 people attended the 34th Annual CBWS in June of 2026. 

 

As a Hot Stove League Luncheon participant, your support will help ensure the continued success of the CBWS, and put smiles on 503 faces!