Gert and Joe McSweeney
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it goes. And summer is gone."
A. Bartlett Giamatti
Since 1925, the American Legion has sponsored a nationwide youth baseball program. During these past eight decades, millions of young players have enjoyed playing baseball. The American Legion and their 2.8 million members have raised millions of dollars each year for players to learn the importance of teamwork, discipline, leadership, and good sportsmanship. The American Legion sponsors American Legion Baseball to give players an opportunity to develop their skills, personal fitness, leadership qualities and to have fun.
The American Legion baseball program has become one of the finest amateur programs in the United States. ALB Senior Division is comprised of players from fifteen to eighteen years of age. American Legion Baseball provides instant recognition for the players by both college coaches and professional scouts. In fact, American Legion Baseball's advisory committee consists of Major League Baseball owners, managers, scouts, umpires and other professionals. There is a long list of Major League Baseball players, past and present, which utilized American Legion Baseball as their stepping stone to the pros.
Perhaps the most significant achievement of American Legion Baseball is not those who made it to the pros, but the thousands that have received the benefit of a college education and went on to lead a better life. For every pro contract that is signed, dozens of other players receive college scholarships. Still more are recruited by colleges that may not offer money but do guarantee a spot on the team. Sometimes this can make the difference as to whether a boy goes to college or not. Although every player may not receive a scholarship, the opportunities are there, and American Legion Baseball can have tremendous impact on the future of those players who have the ability and the willingness to work hard.
Without a doubt, American Legion Baseball is the highest level of play available to kids in the fifteen to eighteen year old age groups.
American Legion
Code of Sportsmanship
I will:
Keep the rules; Keep faith with my teammates; Keep my temper; Keep myself fit; Keep a stout heart in defeat; Keep my pride under in victory; Keep a sound soul; A clean mind; And a healthy body.