Penders letter

Jim Penders letter on American Legion baseball To Whom It May Concern: I’ve loved American Legion baseball for a very long time. I grew up listening to my late grandfather as he regaled me with stories of his participation at the American Legion World Series in the 1930’s.

He took a train with his Bridgeport, Connecticut teammates to Virginia once to represent his home city and state as the starting catcher for that team.

When I played for Post 102, representing Manchester, Connecticut more than half a century later, I made my own memories. Having the opportunity to play for zone and state championships with my high school teammates and local buddies was a great way to spend the summer, not to mention an excellent way to improve my baseball skills. We crisscrossed the state playing more than sixty games, and learned to play the game the right way.

As the longest running amateur baseball organization in the country, American Legion Baseball was and is great. That is why I hesitate when asked how to make it better. What do I know about improving something so darn good already? Well, now as the head coach of baseball at the University of Connecticut, I get to spend my summers watching and evaluating young baseball players all over the country, and it is in that capacity, not as a fan or player of the game, but as a college coach, that I humbly submit a suggestion.

Several years ago, when nineteen year-olds were allowed to play Legion ball, I began to notice a decline in participation of rising juniors and seniors in high school playing for their local Legion posts.

Not surprisingly, rising sophomores in college were taking the places of the younger, less experienced players, and the rising juniors and seniors were leaving the Legion system in order to showcase their talents to college coaches and pro scouts on teams designed for that very purpose, or by going on a “showcase tour”. While it can be argued that the nineteen year-olds have improved the game on the field (although I’d argue the best college players are playing in NCAA-sanctioned summer collegiate leagues), it cannot be denied that American Legion baseball players are not being scouted by college coaches or professional scouts at close to the rate they were in the last century. Because the serious baseball-playing rising juniors and seniors in high school want to be seen by college recruiters and pro scouts, they are deciding in large numbers to play the game for organizations other than American Legion baseball programs.

I remember playing in front of dozens of college and pro scouts in the late 1980’s at the state tourney at Palmer Field in Middletown. This year, for the Berlin/Milford state final at Muzzy Field, I couldn’t find one other college coach in attendance. A week later, I left a showcase for juniors and seniors in Massachusetts early in order to catch two Legion regional games in Manchester, New Hampshire. The showcase had more than fifty coaches and scouts in attendance. In Manchester’s beautiful Gill Stadium that evening, there were three. Incidentally, and not surprisingly, there was far better Division I talent in Gill that night than there was at the showcase, but not many got a chance to scout or recruit the few rising juniors and seniors playing in what was undoubtedly some of the biggest games of their lives.

Make no mistake, college coaches want to recruit good Legion players. In most cases, the teams are sponsored, if not by the post, then by some other entity. This is important, because it holds down the

cost to the player and his family. Hence, the Legion player is not necessarily an upper-middle class or wealthy kid. Too often, the travel tournament teams that we are forced to recruit from are dominated by players whose parents can pay the thousands of dollars such a team costs. Those same parents are guaranteeing their sons at-bats or innings pitched when the checks are deposited. Rarely does a Legion player get an at-bat or an inning pitched that he himself hasn’t earned with his performance.

The Legion coach is often a man who is motivated to coach for reasons other than a paycheck. He may want to spend more time with his son who might play left field, or perhaps he has his own memories of what Legion ball did for him in his youth, or simply wants to teach what he knows about the game. The point is that his primary source of income is not his position with the program. His livelihood is not dependent on him playing the kids who bought their uniforms and helped him pay the mortgage by renting out his facility or taking lessons from him all winter. In part, as a result of this, he is usually a man that gives an honest reference on his players.

His opinion is valued by college coaches and scouts because he tells it like it is. If the player in which I might have an interest, doesn’t practice hard all the time, or is disrespectful, I’ll hear about it from a Legion coach. If that same player is paying his coach’s salary, I’d argue that I might not get the whole story.

There are certainly many quality AAU/travel programs with excellent coaches and players from which we recruit. However, by reverting back to the old rules of 18 and under eligibility, American Legion baseball could again become the prime showcase for high school-aged baseball talent. Since the rule change occurred, I can say without hesitation that travel baseball has passed by Legion as the #1 source of talent for college and pro teams. It makes me sad to write those words, but they convey the truth. Just four of the nine high school seniors who are committed to UConn for next year are American Legion players. The other five were travel team guys.

The current scenario has resulted in college coaches and pro scouts from the Northeast venturing to Atlanta, Florida, California, Tennessee and other places in order to watch players from the Northeast compete in travel tournaments in which the games are limited by time in some cases, and some even end in ties. I would love nothing more than to evaluate Connecticut talent competing for zone and state championships in Connecticut all summer. If nineteen year-olds weren’t allowed to play Legion ball, I could see myself doing that again.

As I mentioned earlier, American Legion Baseball is a great product. I humbly believe it could be greater. Of course, American Legion Baseball does not exist to serve the interests of college programs and/or professional clubs. Ultimately, the leaders of the American Legion should do what is in the best interest of itself and its players. For almost one hundred years, Legion players have: Kept the Rules Kept Faith with Their Teammates Kept their Tempers Kept themselves Fit Kept a Stout Heart in Defeat Kept their Pride under in Victory Kept a Sound Soul, a Clean Mind, and a Healthy Body - excerpted and adapted from the American Legion Code of Sportsmanship It is my hope that American Legion ball keeps those same things for 100 more years, and that the players who play, the coaches who coach, and the administrators who rule it keep American Legion baseball great.

Humbly, Jim Penders Head Coach