WEEK 3 Legion

[deerslayer]

although there have been some good points made, people should have to verify there facts before posting. First off Northern Bedford is completely zoned to Bedford Legion. The last kid to play ball at Claysburg from there was Justin Claar and this was only after the fact that he was cut at Bedford. They used to be CK zoned about 15 years ago before Claysburg dropped there program for a few years but were since claimed by Bedford who has Bedford, Chestnut Ridge, NBC, Everett and Hyndman. As I have said before, the rules certainly arent equal but teams play within what they are alloted. Claysburg and bedford are not without there own situations as far as kids is concerned as there are 6 AAABA teams in Altoona this year with last 2 being made up primarily of high school kids form the local area. Claysburg has 5 different kids who play for 3 AAABA teams, multiple kids who play for Cummings Motors team in a local league and traveling to weekend tournaments, another who plays for curve Juniors, others who play on traveling teams for ERA. Everyone has issues and i do see your points about St. Michael and Portage and Somerset but unless a couple want to consolidate there is not much that can be done. I do believe that some teams are stronger this year since 3 teams dropped as CVJ has kids from JOhnstown, C. Valley, Westmont and even a kid from C Cambria. Patton has kids from CH, NC, Glendale and also a kid from West Branch this year.
There are variances within our league but even bigger ones throughout the state and i am not sure how you fix these things. Another issue worth talking about is the fact that as times are changing and more ERA type programs are popping up, the old timers who are making rules for Legion baseball need to keep up with the times or legion baseball will be a thing of the past before you know it. I think programs like ERA are a good thing in most instances but they are not without mentioning either. They do alot of good for the Top end ballplayers about getting them looked at but my issue with them is the fact that i dont think they are honest with the lower end guys that are marginal to even make a D3 roster. I see kids paying thousands of dollars to go get looked at as they offer but i dont think they are honest with the kids who really dont have the abilities as that would be taking food off there tables.

[sydfinch]

To clarify: Patton has a player who graduated from West Branch but now lives in the Cambria Heights School District. West Branch remains part of Philipsburg's legion zone.

[Manfred]

Also to clarify- Claysburg has at least 1 player from Hollidaysburg, Joe Glass. Somerset has the -potential- to draw from the whole county with the exception of the southern Meyersdale area. At least one of Somerset's players, Ty Funa, is playing for Stoystown. say_oww: My dear, I must commend you for your latest comments. Very insightful with depth of truth and knowledge. I can only aspire to be as sharp. For the record, this is NOT sarcasm. I will reserve future disparaging remarks.

[dadw/2sons]

I don't even have a clue about Legion Ball since I am not in one of the areas that the Legion serves. I also think say-ow's response was very insightful. I guess she should know what she is talking about since it is her job to write about sports. The funny thing is she couldn't help herself by slamming the umpires again. Again I don't know the Legion rules, but I'm thinking you probably don't need the PIAA license to umpire their games. Can someone please let me know about whether say=ow could actually umpire without the PIAA certification?? I wonder if she would take up the challenge since she knows how to do the job without ever doing it before. If she would umpire a game I would personally pay her game fee so the local team would nit have to pay an unqualified umpire just to prove the point that she will find out how hard it really is to do it. I would have to be notified of her assignment and I would personally be there to witness the historic event, So Say-Ow will take up the challenge if allowed or will you continue to criticize someone's job ability without actually doing it?? We'll see if she puts up and takes the challenge or will she continually just run her mouth about the umpiring.

[Manfred]

My 2 cents on the Legion umps. They are the same ones we have all seen calling games for high school. How they are chosen, IDK. I too have seen some horrible calls made. I have also seen some pretty good games called. I know some of these umps by name/ recognition, and its funny you seem to know before a game begins whether you're going to get hosed or not. These same group of umps are getting "long in the tooth" a lot. Aging. Sight diminishing. Reflexes slowing. Not many new faces coming on to ump. The money has to be decent. ??? When an ump makes an obviously terrible call, a fan should be able to comment on it, as long as it isn't profane or directly threatening to said ump, without the fan (s) being threatened with eviction for voicing the ump's error. As an umpire, you're just trying to CYA because you made a bad call. Develop some fan tolerance. Or wear earplugs. Yeah, you guys are human and make mistakes too. Just remember you are not God.

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

I believe Legion umpires get $53/game, so if you live in Ebensburg and get an assignment in Meyersdale or live in Somerset and get a game in Patton, you're working for $25. The biggest obstacle right now to getting young umpires into the PIAA is the fact they can't get any games their first few years because of the politics involved.

[Crimson's Ghost]

1. Bishop McCort and me being an Alum of there has about -5000% relevance to any of my posts regarding the matter. It is almost like there is a chalk board at the Summerhill Social Club to see who can say McCort the most in their posts.

2. Thanks for explaining in detail a little better, pretty much all I wanted to know.

Generally consolidation or in the sense it would be Co-opping means, they can't field a team, can we hop on your team and have a chance to play ball? That was honestly and sincerely my line of questioning. I thought the whole Claysburg dilemma was based off they didn't have enough kids. The explanation helped.


So if it was just Claysburg area kids going up against St. Michael area kids it would be level playing field?

[say_oww]

I will apologize in advance for going off on a few tangents. But I just want to clarify a few points...

1. First off, I am not Cory Isenberg. I ******* hate high school basketball and NASCAR.

2. The legion umpires are terrible! I base my view on firsthand observation. Primarliy, these guys do not have a legitimate strike zone, and explicitly give pitchers way too many high/outside strikes. I feel bad for the hitters every time I scout a game around here because it artificially makes these pitchers look good. You ever wonder why so many kids around here have such long, slow swings - its probably because their coaches yell at them to swing at that high outside ****. I know, because I see and hear it all the time. You can't hit those pitches with a short, compact swing. From what I have seen, the better high school umps work in the Johnstown and Altoona AAABA leagues because they pay a little more per game than American Legion. In case you haven't attended, you can go there and listen to coaches moan about the small strike zone. But I do give credit to the umps there for making the adjustment that in a college league they have to call a college zone.

3. I don't need to verify any facts about legion. I keep tabs on baseball all over West and Central PA. This board happens to be in the middle of nowhere, but I do know whats going on here and having been watching games here for a long time. Yes, Claysburg did have NBC kids at one point. I checked a few of them out over the years. I am not sure when the zone changed, but it probably did because they didn't have a team for six years. The major thing anyone needs to remember when watching legion ball is that its not a level playing field because its one division for everyone with very broad population limits. Anyone can have a team, as long as you don't have a census population over 49,000. But from what I have seen, that is okay with most teams. My guess is that its okay because it gives Dad's, kids, etc one last shot to coach and play competitive ball together - thats why they upped it to 19 years old. So the local teams like Portage, or Nanty Glo that barely get nine will always struggle to field teams. But you won't see them fold up shop because the guys who put in the time getting the field ready still have the passion to win and coach. And I imagine that is why their fans will occasionally rant about Claysburg's or Bedford's ability to draw from a population base that is 6 times larger than their own. Yes, its legal, but it isn't necessarily fair. But as I said in my last post it should be kept in perspective. You can't use the ERA or AAABA league argument with anyone else in Cambria or Somerset counties because they have been dealing with it for years. Heck, Somerset even has their own travel team that takes their own kids away at times, because they want all of their kids to get better. And that is why they are good. So don't complain that some Claysburg legion kids play with ERA. It just means they have talented and dedicated kids. And that is probably why so many teams get jealous - when you have multiple schools to choose from and when the kids you pickup all play travel ball, hell I'd be jealous, too. My advice is that if you are a thin-skinned Claysburg fan, I'd just keep quiet and enjoy the advantage you have because you'll probably be airing similar gripes whenever you play West Hempfield or some other big dog at the regional - just kidding.

4. Finally, I do agree that outfits like ERA should be more up front with their kids. Not just their lower-tier kids but all of their kids. Just because a kid can throw 85 or is 6'3" doesn't mean he is going SEC D1 or getting drafted out of high school. Size, foot speed, and arm speed will get you a look, but it doesn't always translate if you have a long swing, don't know the strike zone, or have an attitude. On the flipside, if you want your kid to even go DIII nowadays you better get him into some kind of off-season program and do some kind of travel team. Scouts need to see even those kids in that environment to see how they will perform at the next level. The bulk of the guys scouting the combines and showcases are the D3 guys.

[peytonsaturday]

well based on what you all have seen, who are some of the better umpires / not so good umpires? I know some HAVE to be good. Heck a few just did a state final game this year.

[Manfred]

Geez, payton. There isn't enough space for the bad ones. Are we even allowed to name names? Probably not because somebody might get pi##ed that they are not as good as they thought.

say_oww- Someone else on this board, months and months ago, claimed to know who you are/ were, and he or she named Cory Isenberg. If some of us are/ were wrong, please accept my apology. I have really had some objections over the past few years with her reporting, and since someone on here said they definitely knew you, I took them at their word. My bad. BTW- again, your last post was smack on the money.
Mon. nt. Meyersdale mercied St.M. 16-1 in 3 inn. I'll say this about the Legion teams that can't draw from all over- it gives this years JV players, and next years varsity players a showcase.