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We are devoted to Legion Baseball in Minnesota. We have the years in service and enough experiences to prove it. We are thankful for what we have. And we are mindful that Legion Baseball can be even more than it is today. We are keenly aware of challenges faced by families and programs posed by competing programs in a vastly changed baseball landscape. We are also keenly aware that Legion Baseball in Minnesota has seemed unwilling to engage in open discussion let alone develop programs to diversify its "one size fits all" approach that appears to repeat the past with maybe a sprinkling of incremental adjustment. Maybe that is good enough. Maybe not.
We do not have all the solutions or ideas. Most of what we share comes from what we have heard from coaches and players and parents and college coaches. Maybe some discussion gets triggered by thoughts we share. Maybe not.
Doing things well and continuing a strong tradition of community based baseball is what Legion baseball is all about. Doing things better should also be our purpose. Legion baseball has 5,500 players and over 1,200 coaches. Add in 11,000 parents plus other supports and that number gets pretty big. The Minnesota American Legion transferred virtual ownership of the baseball program to a quasi-independent Board of just 13 people. The members are appointed and may stay in positions for life. The options available to Legion players and coaches are restricted to the personal vision, personal views, personal agendas, and energy of this group of 14. Unlike neighboring states that favor open, democratic structures, Minnesota Legion Baseball is, for all intents and puposes, a very closed system.
Back in the day, everyone used to play Legion and even more aspired to wear a Legion uniform. For most communities, the Legion team was the summer varsity often mirroring the school team. Minnesota restricted team formation to one team per base school. Until twenty years ago, there was no competition for kids from other bprograms. Club baseball was an in its infancy. No Legion innovation was required. No one had to compete for players. Legion baseball was the 'it" place to be. And the quality of play was often amazing.
Most Legion programs simply "hit rinse and repeat" using the same format year after year after year. A few decades ago, there was unhappiness in Minnesota. Some influential baseball people wanted to split from the state Legion organization and run their own Legion baseball show. The guys wanted to run things their way without interference (as we are told) from the outside (the State Legion) and without interference from within the baseball program (other Legion coaches). A new control system was imposed with a charter or constitution from the Minnesota Legion. It has been in place ever since, even though most of the originators have moved on.
Times have changed. Available program and playing options have greatly changed. They have been changing for over 20 years. Competition for players has stiffened in the metro and increasingly in outstate regions. Where have the elite baseball players gone? They used to play Legion. Where did many the next tiers - the better and best players go? How many better and best players have elected to find other competitive options to supplement or to replace Legion baseball? How many programs and coaches struggle to compete for players? And why has this subject been avoided by the Legion baseball mangers/owners? There should be plenty of interest in development of more playing choices and opportunities. All Stars proved that. The interest in a beta test of a mid-season weekend porogram proved that interest. Yet all the Baseball Board has been able to do is create several anti-club or anti-club player rules that are randomly enforced and compleytely ignored in some instances.
Most of us only know what is within our local borders. Fewer know what is going on with our neighboring programs and within in our state borders. It is when you look at other states you really learn and expand your horizons. You see the good and you see the bad.
All surrounding states use an open, democratic structure for baseball. Every American Legion post and state organization follows a democratic approach as Legion baseball is supposed to teach our players and tomorrow's lewaders about American institutions and American values. But that is not Minnesota American Lewgion - Baseball.
Some states face little pressure from competing baseball program models. Yet those states work hard to deliver programs that continues to be tailored to players and communities. They continue to involve coaches as voters in elections and policies. They are open to conversations of new ideas.
Other states face intense pressure. In Wisconsin, there are more senior club baseball teams than there are senior division Legion teams. Their player program menu never varied or diversified. Players left. Coaches left. And teams dropped away. As a Wisconsin coach told us - "It's broke now. We can't fix it".
But maybe Minnesota is different? We hope so. We hipe someone is listening. We hope someone will join a conversation.
It is easy and sometimes fun to point the finger at individuals. We think the real issue is systemic - the system.
We might just need a fresh look.
Many of Us Are American Legionnaires
We do not preach autocratic rule in our American Legion "Americanism" pillar. We would never take voting away from members. We are to instill American values and demonstrate American principles and institutions as part of our mission and commitment to youth. Our Minnesota Legion Baseball structure violates our American Legion promise, values, and violates our Legion structures.
Any realistic review of the baseball system and its constitution will conclude that the system is anti-American Legion practices in structure. Baseball operates anti- the American Legion core Americanmism values. Colonialist structures and authoritrarian rule by a tiny minority of unelected persons that can sit in control for a lifetime are hardly the values or institutions that the American Legion should be teaching our youth.
Representative Democracy is American
Legion Baseball touches over 15,000 people every year. The Minnesota American Legion needs to step up and accept responsibility for this baseball program and for the constitutional structure that concentrated all power anmd authority in the hands of an unelected few. The baseball program is bigger than a handful of part-time volunteers no matter how fine and well intentioned they may be. Open discussions and meetings are better than closed doors and back rooms.
Things are not perfect and likely not where they should be. But we hear the claims loud and clear:
Minnesota kids and coaches love baseball. Most love Legion baseball. Many remember the Legion brand for what it was - the best baseball around. But do not confuse love of baseball for the belief that a program modeled on 1995 cannot or should not improve and strive to be the best baseball program it can be. The Legion baseball centennial might be this year. But baseball market realities are far different now. And Minnesota Legion Baseball, in our view, can meet those challenges. It just has not tried, yet.
Change is needed. It is not hard. If it change could have happened within the current structure and with the current people, you would have seen it already. No meaningful development or change has occurred or will occur under the status quo. The experience we have had with Legion All Stars simply reinforced the most negative of views. Legion Baseball is, by its own constitutional design, a non-democratic closed system that is owned by a handful of people that have zero accountability beyond their conference room. Its not their fault. It is by Constitutional design.
The Minnesota American Legion should not be supporting and authorizing an antiquated, authoritarian baseball structure. The principles of Americanism are right. They are American Legion. Put those principles to work in Legion Baseball. Every neighboring state has democratic rule. Minnesota is out of step.
Do you believe that choices have intended consequences and maybe some unintended consequences as well? Did you know D1 is on its third format in five years? Were you consulted? Did you vote on it? Were you in on the discussion? Have you even heard of the New D1 Tournament structure? Of course not. In any state around us, coaches would have been involved and would have had open discussions and likely voted on the new structure. Apparently the Board got it wrong a few years ago when it made a change. We hope it got lucky and has it right this time. Is the new format a 16 team clone of a high school wrestling bracket? If so, its fortunmate to have a wrestling coach onthe board.
State tournaments are big things to players, coaches and families. Most want to think they have a chance. Playoffs and state tournaments currently take up the vast majority of Board members time and energy. It may come as a surprise, but different tournament structures can favor certain teams and programs over others. Who benefits? Who does not benefit? To many observers, the eveolution of Senior D1 state yournaments have favored large metro programs while outstate programs lost out. It used to be that 42% of the state champs or state runners up came from Outstate. In the last twenty years, only 7.5% of Outstate teams have placed in the top two spots. Was this intended or not intended? That meant 92% of the regional playoff spots went to metro teams. Was that really fair? Did the metro teams win any more games at regionals than an outstate team might have won?
Let's look at the D1 state tournament over the last 25 years. Two teams, the state champ and runner up, advance from Minnesota to a national regional tournament. How have we done? How important is that regional nod? Is it to give kids experiences? Or is it to pursue the next Minnesota National Champion? Could and Outstate team win a game or two in a regional?
In Pursuit of Regional Wins - The Past 20 Years and Past 10 Years
When Minnesota adopted large scale D1 state tournaments, Metro teams have consistently won the top two spots while the Outstate kids were headed home in the car.
It appears that Division 1 Senior tournaments are skewed to big program Metro teams. Outstate teams seem to have been shut out. The D1 state tournament went to 16 teams. That change added more games to play to get to the finals. More games require more pitching depth. An Outstate team might have a strong 1,2,3 and maybe even a 4th pitcher. But going 6 or 7 or 8 deep would seem to favor big programs, i.e. big Metro programs. The record shows that, in fact, Metro teams gained a very big edge.
Did Metro teams win any more regional games than an Outstate team might have? Being a large school metro team has not meant great success at Regionals. In the last ten years, no Minnesota team has advanced to Nationals. Most teams play two or three games and occasionally more. Maybe you don't always have to have big program depth to compete for two or three or four games?
We ask the question - Why can't Minnesota send a metro and an outstate team every year? You know, spread the opportunity. Yes chasing the next national title remains a valid dream. It may be more nostalgia than today's reality.
Nebraska faced such an imbalance issue and addressed it creatively. The east side of the state was almost always getting both regional nods. Of course. Those Omaha teams are tough. Nebraska created an East State Tournament and a West State Tournament with each winner advancing to the regional. The two champions play off for the overall title with the winner getting the higher seed at regions. This approach has had great success and will be introduced this year in Division 2 (Nebraska has 4 divisions). The East West system gives opportunity to the entire state. It has had the side effect of allowing several smaller lower division teams to join together to form a Division 1 team. A couple of the combination or zone teams won its state and performed well at the regional.
The Board is believed to have changed the D1 State Tournament format once again. If it is the brackets that we saw, this new Minnesota D1 State Tournament formatmay offer an opportunity to get creative. Some new interest and renewed excitement could result. A format similar to Nebraska could easily be adapted with a metro-versus - outstate competitive lineup.The brackets as we saw them basically run side by side 8-team tournaments a part of one overall tourney. On the last day, two finalists from each side play each other which creates a bracket State champion. Each bracket champion gets a regional slot. The two bracket champions then play a final game for what is essentially bragging rights to crown a the overall state champion. Now that's a whole lot of describing when you dont see the bracket. Ask your State Director for a bracket copy.
So how about naming one bracket the American Division and the other the National Division (or something else that creates identity). Outstate teams go in one bracket with metro teams in the other. A Metro state champ and an Outstate state champ are crowned who play for the overall state championship. Both go to the rehgionals.
Why not spread the wealth and recognize Greater Minnesota programs and teams? What are you giving up? Outstate appears almost shut out by tournaments that seem skewed to fewer and fewer big teams. You may discover some fun rivalry and generate enthusiasm not seen before. Give it a couple of years. If it doesn't work then change back to reward the big metro teams again.
Every major sports program divides its teams into divisions. Almost every program seeks to afford maximum access to competitive balance. These are programs after all that are geared to the players whom the administrators supposedly serve.
Until 2024, Minnesota boasted two huge divisions called D1 and D2.
Mismatched playoffs have long been a fundamental feature in Minnesota Legion baseball. Everyone in the Senior levels was lumped into two divsions - D1 and D2. Attend any Minnesota Legion substate and you would quickly see competitive mismatches. Many teams appeared to have no chance to get to the state tournament. At the same time, virtually every other baseball program in Minnesota and neighboring states have worked to add divisions to create more opportunities and better competitive balance. Until recently, it seemed discussion of expanding the number of divisions was almost heresy.
In 2022, two Baseball Board members did a phone survey of every coach of a team with a school enrollment below 1,100, a mark that seemed to divide the huge Division 1 into two equivalent divisions. You need a state tournament host and 56 teams to populate 7 substate playoff tourneys. Each coach was asked, if given the choice, where would that team like to play? Would you like to play up to the Big Team Level or play in a new division that would offer more balanced competition.
A proposal was made to the Board, presented by a Director at the 2022 fall meeting. The proposal was voted down. Someone still pushed the idea. In 2023, the Board decided to develop their own survey. They wanted the survery to include all Division 1 teams no matter the program size. A survey committee was formed to develop survey questions. Interestingly, the survey committee was populated with three who voted against and one who voted for the divisional proposal. After a clouple of meetings, no survey questions were developed and the new board directed survey never materialized. It was said that the proposal died in committee.
However, all was not lost as the State Director purportedly went to work on a compromise. A "Tier 1 A" already existed. One could simply move some smaller metro and "2" teams over to create half a division. The compromise passed at the 2024 spring board meeting. Unfortunately, the decision was so late that the innaugural state tournament would have to be held. Several volunteers scrambled to create their own T1A management structure 'on the fly". No implementatin plan had been developed at the board level. other than to pick a tournament site and task a person to facilitate the tournament. The project proved sucessful as did the first Tier 1A state tournament.
The cup is indeed half full. What's the future hold? Tier 1A was renewed for 2025. Outstate teams were again excluded.
They say the Minnesota D2 Senior Division is the largest in the entire American Legion Baseball universe. Some 130 teams. One division. One state tournament. Far more teams than can be placed into a 7 site substate playoff system. Is this a 'best practices' for players and teams? Who oversees the division and makes the decisions? Who can discuss or vote on the topic? Many have raised questions andoffered their views on this topic.
As has been said, those of us that have toiled on behalf of Legion Baseball appreciate the commnuity focus of Legion ball. Minnesota Legion baseball mirrors the high school team approach: One school zone - one team. There has been virtually no variance with the temporary exceptions made for the Duluth and Bloomington school districts.
The only Legion Baseball program to ever offer a Legion player the chance to meet and play with kids from other communities was Legion All Stars, a program that was ended by action of the Baseball Board and its officers.
As it stands now, American Legion baseball stands as a one school - one Legion team program. A Legion player can only play with their community teammates. Take it or leave it. One must join other programs to do anything else.
Today's Players Seek Out Advanced Competition Programs.
It is a common belief that better players, playing with better players, and playing against better players will get better. Players seek training and instruction. The seek and find other programs and teams that can offer a more competitive baseball experience. What is the surprise? Most high schools offer advanced educational programs for college bound students. Those are called 'Advance Placement' courses. Should anyone be surprised that players interested in the next level seek out enhanced baseball programs? To some, the Legion program satisfies the competitive level interest.
Many Players are Choosing to Supplement their Legion Baseball Experience
Others Have Chosen Alternatives
Amateur baseball clubs and private baseball clubs offer greater competition to motivated players.
Can Legion Compete in Today's More Diverse Baseball Market?
Legion Baseball Can Do and Legion Baseball Can Be - What It Chooses to Be
Other Experimental Programs Can Diversify and Enhance Legion Baseball
Coaches and players and parents consistently told us that they would like to see in-season opportunities for an all-star like program. No, they didn't seek anything that would undermine their local teams. They wanted something to enhance their Legion competition experience.
Zones or Zip Code Teams
Together with several coaches, we came up with local Zone Teams that could play in 2 to 3 weekend tournaments during the season and a "state tournament" at the end of the season. Is this a radical idea? Was this some wild creative idea? Not at all. It is a copy of Legion programs elsewhere, just like Legion All Stars was a copy of the High School All Star program.
Coaches and program, people told us they wanted to experiment with it for the 2025 season.
Grow, Develop, Succeed - Not Everyone's Cup of Tea
Successful business and successful organizations always change with the times. They introduce new products, new marketing, and new programs. Rather than just survive, they seek to thrive. Development may threaten individuals. Many want to keep their positions and protect their organizational turf. This is natural and to be expected. New people and new programs are threatening. What new people might say or how they say it, may upset people that manage established structures and policies.
What can be worse is if a new idea or program succeeds. Thesuccess of something might be the greatest threat to the guardians of status quo.
Minnesota American Legion coaches, players and families want American Legion Baseball to succeed and prosper. They know it is challenged just as they know that where to play and who to play with is a choice that becomes more complicated every year. Minnesota can easily innovate. It is not an "if" proposition. It is a "willingness" issue.
These very same people, and expecially the Legion coaches, are perfectly capable to help out to develop and build addtional options and programs for Legion communities and players.
Our Minnesota Thoughts on Development
Impasse and doing nothing may satisfy some. Managing the model of the past should not be confused with Leadership that develops a better future. Anyone stepping forward with ideas and possible programs or experiments had better take heed of what has happened to development under this Minnesota State Legion Board, its officers and its Director. Yes, that is a finger pointing. Live with it.
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