quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:
Wogdoggy,
I suppose what you're saying might be true in some areas of the country. However, these days you will have a hard time finding many professional players who played Legion baseball in Florida, Georgia, California, Texas, etc. And those sates dominate the draft every year.
Even in your state the majority of the best players are involved with the travel teams. Those being the players drafted in early rounds. I do think there are players involved in both Legion and Travel/Club baseball.
I'm a big fan of Legion Baseball, but these days there is no comparison when it comes to exposure. Scouts go to where the best players are. If you follow the draft every year, you'll find that nearly 100% of players drafted out of HS in the first 10 rounds played on Travel/Club teams.
I don't like the name "Showcase Teams". East Cobb, NorCal, Scorpions, DBat, Banditos, Cangelosi, Top Tier, TriState Arsenal, Chet Lemon, Yak, Diamond Devils, Midland, and many more are not what I consider "Showcase Teams". They are baseball programs proven to be competitive nationally and proven to have the top players participating. That is why those teams dominate the attention of top colleges and MLB scouting departments.
There's a reason why hundreds of scouts and college coaches from all over the country go to Georgia in July or Jupiter late in October. Same goes for premier in Texas or Connie Mack WS. Talent draws the most interest. If Legion had the most talent, it would draw the most interest. However, the vast majority of the top prospects in most of the country are playing in Club programs. Sorry, if that upsets anyone, but it's a proven fact.
sure if you want to travel to jupiter florida you'll get more "looks"..its a NATIONAL DRAW. But if you are good you dont have to play for a top tier or a chicago cream or the elite tadpoles to get noticed..I can tell you first hand the talent of top tier or cangelosi is NO better than our legion team as we have BEAT these teams during localizied tournaments.YES we tend to play around the 3 or 4 state region BECAUSE most kids that get recruited tend to get recruited out of their own "back yard".If you are TOTALLY intent on having 30 D1 coaches look at you then jupiter is great..BUT more local kids will get phone calls from the STEVENSON showcase then than travelling to jupiter..the illinois suburbs is one of the most HIGHLY RECRUITED areas in the country..Great HIGH SCHOOLs all throughout the suburbs = GREAT GRADES and great kids. a recruiters dream..
heres a stat thats HARD to argue with
On an average, 50 percent of Major League Baseball players played American Legion Baseball as teenagers. Nearly 70 percent of all college players played American Legion Baseball as teenagers.