Legion baseball

[philaump]

Is it still being played where you guys are? what's the size of your leagues?

Where I am (suburban Philadelphia)- it seems that the number of legion teams is declining, especially on the youth (16U) and senior (19U) level.

It's a shame, I enjoy umpiring legion baseball.

[Aging_Arbiter]

Legion shut down last year as the pandemic continued to cascade.  However, once we went green for our area, the HS teams all got together and "called it" legion, and played a makeshift season.   No definitive word yet, but I would assume (shame on me) that if HS plays, so will Legion.

[philaump]

I know Legion shut down last year due to the pandemic, but I noticed the number of teams declining before that. I know a bunch of teams played independent schedules.

My local youth league had maybe 4-5 teams in 2019, and the senior league may have had 7-8.

My belief is that if HS plays, Legion will.

[LRZ]

I have no idea if Bucks-Mont, Lower Bucks and Lower Montco senior leagues have suffered attrition; there's not as much junior Legion here, as there are other opportunities for those ages in STBL (Suburban Travel) and ITL (Intercounty).

PA Legion just sent out an email about umpire registration, so a season is anticipated--if the snow ever melts.

[kylehutson]

In recent years, in my area I've seen a big decline in Legion, in favor of more showcase teams. There are still some in the area, though.

Last year we had teams that were using the same coaches, players, and uniforms as the previous years' Legion teams, but Legion wasn't officially sponsoring them (I called that league "totally not Legion baseball"). I expect them to be back as true "Legion" teams this year.

[conbo61]

1 hour ago, LRZ said:

I have no idea if Bucks-Mont, Lower Bucks and Lower Montco senior leagues have suffered attrition; there's not as much junior Legion here, as there are other opportunities for those ages in STBL (Suburban Travel) and ITL (Intercounty).

PA Legion just sent out an email about umpire registration, so a season is anticipated--if the snow ever melts.

I did not get this email of which you speak...

Junior Legion in Northampton County is experiencing a steep decline, but Sr. seems to be holding fast.

[philaump]

1 hour ago, LRZ said:

I have no idea if Bucks-Mont, Lower Bucks and Lower Montco senior leagues have suffered attrition; there's not as much junior Legion here, as there are other opportunities for those ages in STBL (Suburban Travel) and ITL (Intercounty).

PA Legion just sent out an email about umpire registration, so a season is anticipated--if the snow ever melts.

I hear Legion in New Jersey is all but done.

I got the e-mail about umpire registration, that our dues from last year will be applied to this year.

[philaump]

45 minutes ago, kylehutson said:

In recent years, in my area I've seen a big decline in Legion, in favor of more showcase teams. There are still some in the area, though.

Last year we had teams that were using the same coaches, players, and uniforms as the previous years' Legion teams, but Legion wasn't officially sponsoring them (I called that league "totally not Legion baseball"). I expect them to be back as true "Legion" teams this year.

I know a lot of legion teams here played an "independent" schedule against other legion teams that wanted to play.

It will be interesting to see what they will do about the college freshmen (that don't turn 20 before 1/1/2002) who want to come back and play.  Normally, a 19 year old can play for their legion team if they played for them at 18.  Since there was no legion season in PA.... 

[LRZ]

conbo61, go here: https://legionumpires.com/home/.

If you want the full text of the letter--it's just a "how to register"--let me know and I can forward or copy/paste it to you.

[kylehutson]

2 hours ago, philaump said:

Since there was no legion season in PA....

Not just PA. That was nation-wide. I'm sure in KS, the Legions would have happily sponsored teams if the national organization would have allowed it.

[conbo61]

15 hours ago, LRZ said:

conbo61, go here: https://legionumpires.com/home/.

If you want the full text of the letter--it's just a "how to register"--let me know and I can forward or copy/paste it to you.

Thanks LRZ.  Your post prompted me to go register.  I did pay the fee but will follow up with them later.  I thought that legion was crediting fees from 2020.

Did the email make any mention of that?  I thought it would have been noted in the system.

 

[LRZ]

No, the email did not talk about credit for last season. This is what the email ends with: "If you have any issues, please give me a call when you can be in front of a computer." I sent you the two names and phone numbers in a message.  Last year, I chose a refund--I'm getting too old and will probably retire from umpiring. 

[philaump]

1 hour ago, conbo61 said:

Thanks LRZ.  Your post prompted me to go register.  I did pay the fee but will follow up with them later.  I thought that legion was crediting fees from 2020.

Did the email make any mention of that?  I thought it would have been noted in the system.

 

Legion did credit dues paid in 2020 to 2021, unless you requested otherwise.