I hate American Legion baseball

[kingcreole]

Thursday - Two games. A grand total of 73 runs. First game - 21-12. Second game 32-8. No run rule until seven.

Team that lost 32-8 protested. Winning team didn't have matching uniforms - which is a Legion rule. Protest last damn near a half hour.

Friday - One game. Coach from losing team gets tossed. Fans heckle umpire who did so. Fan gets tournament director to calm everyone down. Home plate umpire admits to calling losing team's catcher a "smart-ass." Tournament director chews out umpire in front of everyone.

All the while I'm sitting in the press box first with one of those infamous homers ("It's over. We aren't coming back." Saying it when "his" team is down 6-4 in the fifth inning) and a radio guy who screams with each base hit by the home team.

I can't wait for my vacation to start in about 50 minutes ...

 

[kingcreole]

Why do you hate American Legion baseball, creole?

Well played sir! ;D

 

[slappy4428]

Did any teams finish with six players?

 

[Sam Mills 51]

American Legion baseball ... ugh, ugh, ugh.

I talked with a former colleague just a couple of nights ago who had to endure a 17-16 pitching duel. That sounded like loads of fun.

 

[User 1019]

American Legion baseball was berry berry good to me.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

A couple of Legion coaches couldn't have been more helpful or nicer post-game or over the phone. But that doesn't help but so much after a five-hour pingfest.

 

[JackReacher]

Everyone gets Ice Cream!!!!!!!

 

[writing irish]

Baseball's my favorite sport, both as a journalist and fanboi. I think I'd rather have a chlamydia test every morning, before coffee, than cover a season of American Legion baseball ever again.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

The playoff game I covered today was 24-10. It ended in seven innings (6 1/2, actually) due to the 10-run rule.
The losing team was down 16-3 in the sixth and scored five runs, which looked like it was just enough to make the game go the the full nine innings, but not enough to make it competitive.
Then the winning team scored eight in the bottom of the sixth and gave up just two more in the seventh, sparing everyone the agony of nine innings.
While we're on the subject, nobody under the college level should ever play nine-inning games. Ever. Spare me the "It's real baseball; It separates the men from the boys" crap. Even the most old-school high school football coach won't argue for 15-minute quarters.
There's not enough pitching and it's not as if a coach can just go and develop more pitchers.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Baseball's my favorite sport, both as a journalist and fanboi. I think I'd rather have a chlamydia test every morning, before coffee, than cover a season of American Legion baseball ever again.

That should be sigworthy for someone. Tremendous.

 

[RossLT]

I covered a game once that was 21-0 after two innings. The coach of the team that was trailing actually went to the umpire and asked if the 10-run rule applied after 5, could they get a 20-run after 3. He was not even kidding, still ranks as one of my favorite moments.

EDIT: BTW Writing Irish, that is ****ing brilliant.

 

[dixiehack]

Know how I know your town sucks ass? It's so boring that the radio station broadcasts Legion ball.

 

[Precious Roy]

God this brings the epic failure of journalism back to my thoughts. It was a Legion game in N.C. about two years ago. The home team's paper has likely the worst homer in the history of homers (Sam you and I know him well). The entire game, this guy and the home team's organizer are bitching about the visiting team (the one I am covering) and how they "bamboozled" the home-field advantage from them.
After about four innings of that, I pick up my stuff and leave the pressbox, and finish covering the game from the field.
After the game, over the PA speakers, comes the voice of the home team's organizer.
"Well good for you (visiting team's coach) you got one over on us."
Followed by
"You'll get your's in the end (visiting team's coach). Just you wait, you'll get yours."
The joke around the office was that that team's organizer sat up nights with a bottle of whiskey and a picture of the visiting team's coach and threw darts and cried over that game.
I vowed to never cover a Legion game again, and save the first week at my new job, I haven't.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Could someone explain to me why regular season American Legion games are 7 innings, but suddenly become 9 innings for the state tournament?
Or is that a phenomenon limited to New Jersey?

 

[slappy4428]

Could someone explain to me why regular season American Legion games are 7 innings, but suddenly become 9 innings for the state tournament?
Or is that a punishment inflicted on New Jersey?

Fixed.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Could someone explain to me why regular season American Legion games are 7 innings, but suddenly become 9 innings for the state tournament?
Or is that a punishment inflicted on New Jersey?

Fixed.

Excellent fix.

 

[JakeandElwood]

The one Legion game I covered actually wasn't bad. 7-6 over in 2 1/2 hours. But when it was 5-5 after 3 and the game was dragging on, I saw the potential it truly has.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Could someone explain to me why regular season American Legion games are 7 innings, but suddenly become 9 innings for the state tournament?
Or is that a phenomenon limited to New Jersey?

I think its a national rule. They are nine in Massachusetts, too. (Division 1 high school tournament games in Mass. are also nine)
As I said, it's bull****. Nobody below the college level has enough pitching for nine innings.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Radio for American Legion games?

 

[RossLT]

Radio for American Legion games?

In the town I used to work in, the radio guy for the Legion team told me they were "fighting with another station to keep the rights to OUR games"