To many teams (Legion)

The legion season is almost over and its time to look back at the season. I would first like to say that Legion baseball is meant for the players that are better then average and have goals of going to play in college. I went to a good amount of senior legion games this year and there was something wrong. The talent level has dropped tremendously. In the past I would look on the field and I would see a strong competitive team with a good amount of players going to college from both teams. Why has the talent dropped? I have come up with the conclusion that there are too many teams in legion. When teams are added players have to come from somewhere so therefore, that takes away players from a legion team that is established. For instance Winston Salem has 3 teams West Forsyth, Winston Salem, and Kernersville. Think of the team Winston Salem would have if they combined the three teams. I know the rules of legion about enrollment so therefore West Forsyth would have to go back to Mocksville. Also Winston Salem could not carry the enrollment of 8 schools so Kernersville would still have a team. That would make 3 strong teams instead of 4 weak ones. Mocksville needs to be mentioned in this because they were a team that was established and the legion board decided to allow two legion teams in their area making Mocksville a weak team. They only team they are allowed to draw from was Davie. Everyone knows that in Legion baseball a team can not compete with just one high school team. Another team that needs to be held out would be Yadkinville. This team has won no more then 5 games in three years. At the end of the year this team barely has enough players to finish the season. Yadkinville players would go back to Mocksville or to Winston Salem. There are other teams that are in legion that should not exist. If something is not changed in legion we will continue to have the same teams dominate. For example Rowan County can draw from 5 schools while the teams they are competing against draw from 1-3. If legion was to get back to fewer teams with greater talent people would come back to the games. Also, if we were to make the teams smaller each team would have the possibility of competing for a state championship each year. Look in your area and imagine the team that you would fill if fewer teams were involved in legion. Players that were supposable superstars may not make your legion team. Some challenge that if you take away teams you’re taking away the chances of kids playing. I will say this that there was once a big league established in every area therefore giving every kid a chance to play somewhere. Remember Legion is meant for the best of the best in high school and if the legion board does not do something soon Legion will be will a hyped up Big League.

 

Your opinion is honest and fair, and you make valid points. But let me just comment about a few things you mentioned:

First, I believe we see many of the same legion teams in the finals every year because it takes community support to hype up a local legion team creating an atmosphere where the best players WANT to play for you.

Secondly, Kannapolis Post 501 only draws from 2 high schools, yet we are in the area finals for the 4th time in the last 7 years.

Btw about the "people coming back"...this summer we've had our largest gates in 45 years. And as stated before, this is not our first winning team, so explain why the crowds are larger.

Lastly, you make valid points, but I tend to believe the success of any legion team begins with community support. We made a plan years ago to get our local newspapers more involved,,, get to know those folks on a first name basis. When they come to your games, take care of them,,,, because their coverage means more business FOR YOU. We now have radio stations and non-baseball people coming to our games because the "word is out". Thus we've been very fortunate that our best players wanted to be a part of that.

Btw, we took our players to Logan's Steakhouse yesterday for lunch,,,, things like that don't hurt either. You can either sit around and complain, or you can think of ways to make it fun,,,,,,,and if its fun, the people will come,,,,, the players too.

Sure every county would have more talented teams if there was only one legion team per county,,,, but in that case look how many boys wouldn't be able to play. I don't know specifics about boundaries around Winston-Salem so you may be right that some teams were dealt bad hands on the boundaries,,,,, but in the spirit of letting more boys play, I have no problem with the number of legion teams we have today. Yes, its sometimes difficult for 2 high schools to compete against 5, but you can do it if you get everybody involved. Just my 2 cents.

 

Because of all the hype on TBR This is the first year that the board got behind American Legion 100%....

or a better explanation: it could be the continued quality of good players that returned to K-Town and the terrific administrators that they have. It is a well running machine that tj and friends have developed over there.

 

In our area there are actually less American Legion teams than in past years due to the new summer high school baseball league that formed this year for its inaugural season. This is in the Johnston, Wake, Harnett County areas. This has served to strengthen some legion teams, most notably Garner Post 232.

 

AND GARNER IS PLAYING WHERE NEXT WEEKEND? EXACTLY IT MADE THEM BETTER JUST LIKE IT WOULD DO IF AREA 3 WOULD DROP ABOUT 4 OR 5 TEAMS. YADKINVILLE,ROCKINGHAM,MONTGOMERY,STATESVILLE,WEST FORSYTH,LAKE NORMAN IN AREA 4,AND POSSIBLY SOUTH ROWAN THIS WOULD MAKE LEGION BASEBALL AS STRONG AS IT WAS IN THE GOOD OL DAYS OF LEGION BALL THIS WOULD BRING THE CROWDS BACK TO EVERY BALL PARK NOT JUST THE TEAMS THAT WIN THAT PARTICULAR YEAR. IT IS TIME TO DO SOMETHING OR LEGION BASEBALL WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST LEGION HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE TOP OF THE LINE.

 

Legion Teams

I can't make up my mind how I really feel about this. I do know that it stands to reason that a Legion team which draws from only two schools is at a disadvantage competing against the larger area teams. Rowan County knows year in and year out that they are going to be competitve. I don't think the same holds true with Kannapolis. Yes, they have had a great run in recent years, thanks to an exceptional group of talent and staff. But next year looks to be a return to the lean years. They need to at least include South Rowan with Kannapolis to help level the scales. But it is like most things in life, all about politics and money!

 

Actually guys, just for the sake of argument about folding teams and combining teams,,,,,, (and don't throw rocks at me, but this is a fact) its really frowned upon, because while you guys are talking about making teams stronger,,,,,,,,,,, like I said earlier others view it as keeping other kids from playing, and actually the American Legion folks view it like one of their posts is closing down. Folding a team and merging with another team is just not going to get much (if any) support from the legion commissioners, bottomline.

I know this for a fact.

 

it's the times we live in here in NC

Think about it. in this high-growth State we live in, there's more of everything as compared to the past. MORE people, cars, roads, traffic, schools, sports played, rec teams, travel teams , leagues, churches, jobs, subdivisions, commercial developments, shopping centers, the list goes on & on.
Why should we expect all of a sudden that someone will suddenly decide to cut the # of American Legion Baseball teams out there across this big State we live in, simply because the talent level has been diluted in popular urban centers?
Excuse my southern English, but it simply ain't gonna happen.

 

I beleive in creating teams where teams are not already formed if something is not done legion baseball will be the thing of the past.look at this past season how many forfeits were in area 3 forfeits was something you never heard of .area 3 is turning into a Mickey Mouse league.

 

Homeplate,,, just curious, how many forfeits did your team get this year, and from who? I heard about one from one of the new teams in the league the last week of the reg.season, but we never got any.