Truly a sad day

When a Legion baseball team has to move a third round playoff game (you know, the series that determines who goes on to the STATE TOURNAMENT) so the adult rec league (a.k.a. beer league) can play their game on a field that the parks and rec department does not maintain or clean up after they're done.

Who do you think kept the grass mowed and the infield drug, the mound and home plate maintained, and all the trash picked up? It sure as heck wasn't Billy Bob and his band of 'never was' teammates- it was the players and parents of Durham Post 7, who now are scrambling to find a field to play the first game of the conference championship series tomorrow night.

I would like to thank Vic Bird of Clayton for being so understanding and willing to work with us deciding on a schedule that will get these games in before the Area I championship series.

I will post the venue for tomorrow's game as soon as I know.

 

Area I baseball just isn't what it used to be. Post 7 having to scramble for a field, Moe Barbour retiring, North Raleigh not having enough players to play, Raleigh Post 1 folding, Cary Post 67 having to move to Green Hope because of Cary HS's summer team, and the list could go on.

Good luck Area 1 West.

 

During football season, I talked to a former Legion and current high school coach. He had nothing but bad things to say about Legion officials. The current HS league is in his view a response to the incompetency of the Area I West organizations. I don't know enough to pass judgment on his comments. Those who love Legion baseball have their work cut out for them.

We in Area I East either have been run better or have been lucky enough not to have to deal with the same sort of people.

 

legion downfall

I STRONGLY AGREE WITH COACH SMITH (cbsconsult). THE IMMEDIATE PROBLEM WITH LEGION IS THE POPULATION RULE!!!! His son is a fine pitcher and a great ballplayer but he fell victim of nowhere to play thanks to the population rule. The rule is a primary problem with Legion baseball especially as it shrinks. I know because I personally had to get 6 waivers to play. The larger High Schools with no BASE Legion Team, gets dumped. To quote the GARNER Legion coach, "if I cant get the best player or two from that High School, I am not going to absorb the population for the third and fourth best players." Boundaries become a joke unless Lee county moved closer to Garner. Clayton only had 3 players from Clayton, Garner only had 3 + 2 that they thought lived in Garner (really Raleigh). Take care of this rule, then work on obtaining fields and additional programs. There are many worthy players out there with no where to play!

 

Durham Athletic Park

I am not sure if Durham Post 7 plays their games at Durham Athletic Park or not but the DAP is undergoing renovations. Beginning in 2009, the DAP will be the home of NCCU Baseball. However, the Durham Blues and Beer Festivals will still be held at the Park. This year (2008) both festivals will be held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) before returning to the DAP next year.

For more info, read: http://www.wral.com/entertainment/story/3246164/

 

We played our home games there last year, and supposed to be grandfathered in once the renovations are complete. I've learned not to count on anything around here until it happens, though.
The DAP could be a great place to play Legion ball.

 

The DAP was not in good shape when we played Durham there last season in the Area I series. I work across the street from it and they have improved the facility.

I kept looking for Kevin and Susan.

 

The population rule seems to be a problem across the state. We had similar issues in Area IV (See thread "Don't shoot me, but is it good or bad for legion ball that... ") There were two guys from my son's high school team that would have made a great contribution to the legion team and wanted to play but were in a "dead zone" and were excluded. Didn't even get a chance to try out. I guess for some reason waivers were not an option for them? Our county has about 20 high schools, so several schools could feed to one legion team, but tryouts could take care of overcrowding.

Only looking at the "what if" (if the community supported their legion team, it wouldn't have folded and those guys would have somewhere to play...) even though it's true and a valid point, doesn't solve the problem. We had a very positive experience with the legion team this year. Just wish those other guys could have had the same opportunity.

 

As Dancinginthestands states, this has already been discussed on another thread to some extent,,, but DancingintheStands I believe I asked before and I'll gladly ask again, if you truly believe this is a problem with American Legion baseball, do you have a solution?

Just to be clear, whenever a team folds, this is entirely a different situation from high schools who are not included with a certain legion program because of the population rule.

Obviously the population rule is an attempt to keep all legion teams equal in size. And yes, sometimes this rule may leave out certain schools, in those cases I guess the only solution is to create more legion teams, right? Well folks complain about that, some folks say its already watered-down so much, so you just can't satisfy everyone. Nonetheless the only way to include each and every high school with a BASE legion program is to add more legion teams across the state.

As for teams that fold, that "IS" the community's fault, not the fault of the state director who is trying to enforce a credible program. And if kids were allowed to just go play anywhere if their team folded, because some people put winning a top priority, can't you just see now teams folding all the time just to combine and make a run at a title. That ain't good either.

I'm just of the opinion that American Legion baseball in general is doing about the best it can (rules-wise), there simply must be people in these communities across the state to do their part,,,,, to keep teams from folding, or just support teams however they can, or if theres a need for more teams then someone must be willing to step up and form a team. I think you want to be careful before you start letting kids just go play with other teams simply becuase they live in a so-called "dead zone" or whatever you want to call it. Just my 2 cents.

 

Don't ever wait for members of a post to start a Legion team. You can't have everyone standing around saying it should be done. Look at Kerr Lake. A group of parents wanted a team but no posts wanted to be involved. They did it after working with Legion baseball officials.

I don't know that any member of the post "sponsoring" Wayne County has been to a game. Our program is alive because of the efforts of former players and interested parents. I'm sure that's the case in most places.

All the post has to do, and correct me if I'm wrong, is take part in the paperwork.