Truly a sad day

ok

Now that wasnt so hard, and a list of other players I think were worthy to play Garner Legion. Why didnt Matt Kiel play?

 

THe way I see it, the 18/19 year old rule may or may not change, I have heard from college coaches that say for them to play legion ball if they arent on a summer collegiate team. The point there is college coaches want their players to play, but based on the conversations I have had they would prefer them playing against older players.

AS far as the high school summer league goes, yes it is the one in Raleigh, and I dont know whether coaches are making it mandatory or not.

As far as teh decline of Legion Ball, I still think it is overall in the state of NC on the decline, but maybe that is because it had goten to the point that there were simply too many Legion Teams and now the weaker programs are falling by the wayside and cycling out. If you look at it there are still several areas where it is a hotbed, the Cherryvilles, and other places like that.

As far as your last paragraph, my whole being revolves around the players and their development, at the same time part of developing players is putting them in a position to get some success to go with the experience.There are many ways to develop players. Obviously the serious programs that are the most successful in Legion Ball play to win a chamionship, they are set up with theis schools, etc... to do that. ONe school cannot support a Legion program. The one school teams need to combine forces to put the best players on the Legion Team, then let the rest develop in a league like the HS league. You can have the best of both worlds. As long as my HS players are playing and are getting quality instruction it doesnt matter to me who they play for. The way I see it, somebody may explain it in a way that click on with them, though I may have said the excat same thing in other terms.

Just some food for thought....

 

I dont blame you, if I am gonna field a Legion Team, then I field the best possible team to win as many games as possible. BTW... post7 I know I know you, but cant put a name here...? And I bet I know which coaches do what....

 

Garner was very deep with pitchers. Yes, there were unforseen injuries, but at the beginning of the season, Garner had a lot of quality pitchers.

Zach Furl-UNC-Greensboro
Zach Howell-UNC-Greensboro
Travis Bradley-Brunswick Community College
John Atkins-Chowan University
Wil Medlin-Chowan University
Johnny Crouse-Milligan College
Ross Barnett-undecided
Zach Boraski-Ohio Valley University
Casey Collins-Rockingham Community College

Garner's strength was its pitching. Yes they gave up 20 runs the last game of the year, but they also posted an earned run average under 4, which in 9 inning legion games, is pretty good. Matt Kiel is a good player. Being left off the legion team this year doesn't mean he is not a good player. I wish him nothing but the best at Brunswick Community College.

 

garner bashing?

Rule of thumbs-

Go outside your base area for most of your players and you still want the local money support, you better win!

If you dont win, you better own up to the blame. As a coach, the formation of the team was your decision.

Talent recruiting doesnt always win your games, it is only part of the process. Sometimes you actually have to coach.

I always liked this definition of team -a cooperative unit (especially in sports) Team also includes the coach who should be cooperative within the unit.

If the coach blames that his team lost, he wasnt a part of the team and the cooperative unit was probably uncooperative.

Motivation of a team is like handling a rope. It is easier to pull it and lead where its going rather than push it in the direction you want it to go.

and last of all
Confucious say: "Baseball wrong - man with four balls cannot walk." ~Author Unknown

 

CoachEvans, thanks for your input, your opinion is well-respected and deservedly so. I especially agree with your point that possibly the reason you occasionally hear folks talk about legion ball "declining" is because folks routinely hear about programs struggling or folding,,,,, yet in actuality the programs who are in trouble are usually either the smaller programs who draw from only 1-2 schools, or a program which is fairly new and don't have a strong foundation, or yet a program (like someone else said) thats being run by parents and those parents come and go. THOSE are the programs that struggle.

Like anything else, if you want to build something which will last, you need a good foundation. If anyone ANYWHERE wants a legion program or a koolaid stand which will LAST, to weather lean times, then you must build a foundation with committed people who will be there each and every year. Every year that I have been involved, I have found easier ways to do the same things. People who know what they're doing can do so much more, so much faster, so much easier, not to mention you meet so many people who can help you with time and/or $$$. You will be surprised to discover that there are actually many people around most communities WHO WOULD LOVE TO HELP a local baseball team if someone would just ask them, lets face it some people don't help because they don't know what to do or who to ask.

I know it is difficult for parents who come and go to operate a team, because if you're thrown in a fire for the first time, that 1st or 2nd year you are probably no more than simply winging it, getting by day to day, that is tough.

As for the Garner conversations, am hoping this will not cross any lines. Folks are entitled to sharing their opinions as long as it don't call out other folks, thats not what this board is about. Thank you.

 

Found this article-Interesting?

21
Jul
2008
Legion gets the travel blues Ken Trahan's Blog Growing up in the New Orleans area, I was a huge fan of American Legion baseball. Sponsored by the various American Legion posts around the metro area, American Legion baseball was a source of pride for the home-based schools who were represented. Following and supporting a sport represented by and sponsored by those wonderful folks who served their country and helped to protect our basic freedoms was downright patriotic and wholesome.

Back in the day, the Rummel-based Schaff Brothers teams and the Jesuit-based Odeco Drillers and Tulane Shirts squads were the rage. Brother Martin-based Wendy's would come along to carry the torch as well. All three of these teams would reach the American Legion World Series, a tremendous accomplishment when you consider that they were teams consisting of players from just one school. They would often compete against teams comprised of players from several schools, virtual all-star teams.

In 1960, the Jesuit-based Tulane Shirts team, led by Rusty Staub, captured the American Legion World Series national championship. In 2006, the Rummel-based Nationwide Restoration team, led by Robby Broach, would do the same. I do not expect to ever see a local team accomplish this feat again in my lifetime.

That the Rummel team could do so in 2006 was remarkable when you consider the proliferation of travel teams in our area and state. Travel teams came into vogue in the 1990's and have exploded in this century. They were originally created for players who didn't have home-based schools in legion ball and for the benefit of those who were not likely to get playing time at the legion level for their respective schools. It has grown to encompass many of the top players available from respective schools or that would be eligible age-wise after graduating from their high schools.

Why have many of the best players migrated to travel ball over their schools? The answer is simple--competition, being seen by scouts, a lack of publicity, and the opportunity to play when possibly facing denial from their schools.

The Rummel-based Nationwide Restoration team which won the national championship in 2006 would have had a great chance to make a run in 2007 but three of the top contributors from the title team elected not to play again in 2007 despite being eligible. Those players included standout pitchers Broach of Tulane and Tyler Koelling, who recently signed with Southern Mississippi. The trio felt they had accomplished their goal in legion and wanted the exposure and experience that travel ball had to offer.

In our area alone, there are many travel teams of note. Locally Danny Reihm's New Orleans Spice have won a pair of national titles in succession. Former Tulane and major league pitcher Jack Cressend, who recently joined Rick Jones' staff at Tulane, has had a solid team on the northshore. Former LSU pitcher Ronnie Rantz has a good team in the Baton Rouge area.

Many have vilified these travel teams for "ruining" American Legion baseball. While I am chagrined by the reduced quality and emphasis on legion play, it is a progression that will not be reversed. Another issue for American Legion baseball is the virtual total lack of coverage and publicity it receives. When Rummel won the national title in 2006, one local television station ignored it completely, another mentioned it briefly but got the information wrong, another mentioned it passing and a fourth gave it due diligence. This was a national championship. The absence of positive publicity was glaring.

The original culprit, ironically, in the decline of American Legion baseball was the schools, themselves. In the 90's, some started taking the approach of using the legion season as "development." As such, many have chosen not to play seniors or accept eligible returning college freshman-aged players to their squads, choosing to use returning sophomores and juniors instead.

One glance at this year's legion teams reveals that many of the top teams are missing players who could have helped their cause. The Jesuit-based Retif Oil team and the Brother Martin-based Peake BMW team are in the driver's seat of the Southeast Regional tournament which is being played at Maestri Field (UNO) and Kirsch-Rooney after each won their first two games.

The North Shore-based teams have not fared well. Of course, many of those teams do not have their best veteran players with many of those choosing to play travel baseball instead. While it is the school's prerogative to decide how to treat American Legion baseball, it is sad to see a great tradition fading into virtual obscurity and possible oblivion. School pride is strong in this region. It carries for a lifetime. In a perfect world, I wish all schools would accept and play all eligible players for legion. I wish all eligible players would choose to play legion.

These words will remain wishes. The door has been opened and the talent is pouring out into the travel ball world. I have nothing but respect for these travel team entities and wish them well. They stepped into a the void to provide opportunity when it was cherished.

Chalk it up to the evolving nature of prep baseball, progress, or change. Sing the blues if you long for the days of your youth and the old alma mater.

 

what to do?

Sounds like many things are leading to demise of the Legion programs large or small.

-School coaches taking the fields back because they see no benefit to developing thier players (this may have happened to Clayton and Durham)

-More players playing showcase because they feel there is more exposure
(this is where the 5000 rule hurts you when you cant recruit the whole group of talent you want from a large school so that school gets dropped)

-Media coverage not available
(this affects sponsorship money, fundraising, and aids in players leaving to play showcase)

Now if Legion Baseball just had a group of brainstorming champions to take on these problems----who is first to volunteer?

 

oh well

wow, you win an AL national championship one year and gone to travel ball the next.
uh.

 

Please give me an example of where a newspaper gives a travel team more coverage than it gives one of the local Legion teams.

We in Area I East are lucky that we don't have deal with the asses who inhabit the Triangle.