Legion vs. Showcase

Legion ball is so dependent on area and players as to how competitive it was.My son played legion ball after his Junior and senior year and did a few showcases as well.

The legion teams he played against had many players that went on to D1 schools and now playing in the minor leagues.Our time with legion ball was a blast.The coaches that were in charge of our legion program just stepped dwon from coaching legions.Due to politics and drop off in competition level.

Its a decision that is hard to make for some kids.I dont think exposure after your sophmore year ia a bad thing.If your a good ball player you may spark a lot of interest for college if that is your goal.

To me in a way its sad that legion ball is disappearing in many areas.years ago it was a privelage to play and be chosen for legion ball as it was the best players from the local HS.

We as a family loved our time.My sons coaches had regular practices and worked on fundamentals where his showcase team didnt ever practice together often and would just show up for tournamants.Most were pretty good players and many were playing on their HS teams too.

Hard to say.But it seems the popular choice is the showcases.

Hey NJ. Thanks for writing and I hope you get some great advice from people in your area. In our area of the country a good team that plays at top showcases with lots of schools is the way to go, but that may be different in your area. If you don't get information on this board, try to contact some 2012/2013 boys that have already gone through the process. They can tell you what helped them get looks from colleges the most.

After junior year get on a good showcase team. This year play Legion and get to some showcase or camp events on your own. You can do Select Fest in northern NJ on your own. You will need a reference from a pro scout. Your high school or Legion coach probably know one. You can do Atlantic 100 in Philadelphia. If you're a good student there's Head First on LI. Next year you should look to get on a Super 17s team.

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njbaseballkid2015 posted.....I am a soph 16 3b/c from NJ and I am trying to decide between legion ball and showcase teams?

IMHO the answer is dependent on where you want to go to college and your goals. My son played both Showcase and Legion. When he went to national and regional showcases, he was contacted by national and regional colleges and universities that fit his profile. When he played Legion there were local & state colleges in attendence. So, if you seek a college that recruits nationally I would play showcase baseball and attend their camps. If you seek a local college or university that recruits mostly in state talent, I'd play Legion and attend their camps too. If you look at a current college roster that will tell you if they recruit nationally, regionally or locally. I hope that helps makes sense.

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I guess my question really is, as a sophomore, how serious will coaches be about recruiting at showcase tourneys as a rising junior? As opposed to Legion? how significant is Legion ball to recruiting?

Coaches are not the kind of people that like to waste their time. Coaches do things for a reason. At your age, they want to see as many prospects as they can in a confined area. They'll develop a "watch" list and possibly contact your travel coach if they are interested. Your travel coach will contact you. So alot of that will depend on the team you play on (do they get a lot of exposure, are there other good players on your team?) and the connections your coach has with college coaches.

Of course, National showcases get the most attention becasue they attract the most coaches and recruits. If you can stand out in that national showcase crowd, you will get a lot of attention. If you don't, you'll need to find other ways of getting the coaches attention. In my oldest son's case, he got the coaches attention through his baseball skill AND academics. We attended the Head First showcase and my son received quite a bit of attention because of his grades. In any event, as a high school sophomore you need to understand there are alot of different strategeies to get recruited, and each school is unique. Research each school that you are interested in to determine where they recruit, who they recruit, when they recruit and how they recruit. (Hint start with Rutgers. Compare and contrast Rutgers with Princeton, Kean and Montclair State). Use HSBBWeb as one of your research tools. Good luck!

It really depends on your talent level, though NJ has some very good Legion teams. If you are very talented it's fairly easy to figure out. Go check what the top players in NJ did at your age.

There have been many outstanding players. You can start with Trout and Porcello.

I do think being on a good Legion team is better than being on a bad travel team. So it depends on your options and your talent.IMO

I like legion ball,,why? Because a GREAT percentage of today's pros have played legion ball.
It's CHEAP,400 bucks for a season they pay hotels and food,
you play in the same COMPETITIVE tournaments with the same scouts from the same school that the "showcase" teams do.
the local newspapers tend to cover legion ball,which is good for the player and community
fantastic support .

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.

quote:

Originally posted by wogdoggy:
I like legion ball,,why? Because a GREAT percentage of today's pros have played legion ball.
It's CHEAP,400 bucks for a season they pay hotels and food,
you play in the same COMPETITIVE tournaments with the same scouts from the same school that the "showcase" teams do.
the local newspapers tend to cover legion ball,which is good for the player and community
fantastic support .

No one who involved in the college recruiting process attends Legion where my son grew up in the NW suburbs of Philadelphia. The level of play is very weak. The better players play travel/showcase ball. My son played Legion after senior year to play with his high school teammates one last time. He called the pitching batting practice. He didn't see 82+ until sections.

When I had a 16u travel team with mostly fifteen year olds (most playing some level of college ball now) the Legion team declined to play us. We would have annihilated them. All our pitchers were at 80+. Only two or three on the Legion team were at 80+.

My son spent his February break sophomore year looking at schools he was interested in (mostly in the Mid Atlantic area). He met with as many coaches as possible and asked them what they would recommend for summer baseball. Legion or Showcase. Being from Northern New England, our exposure with legion was quite limited. A couple of big name schools recommended a showcase teams a couple hours away from home. He will be playing for this program summer after junior year, played legion summer after sophomore year (missed the tryout period). We saved some money and hopefully it will all work out in the end. Good Luck!

No legion ball around here. Between Summer high school ball (very competitive Valley Invitational Baseball League/VIBL), scout and Connie Mack it disappeared.

The VIBL includes Chatsworth HS, El Camino, Harvard Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Valencia HS, Crespi College Prep, Chaminade College Prep, Hart HS, Notre Dame College Prep, etc., about 20 plus high schools. It starts right after graduation and ends by July 31.

In our part of the country Legion baseball is still very strong. There are several Travel/Tournament teams that do draw players, but often they play Legion as well. The points made by PGStaff about NJ Legion baseball being strong and understanding where you are as a player is really important.

Legion baseball was great for our son, he played on some very strong teams. Many years 75%+ of the players (usually virtually the same roster for hs and legion) go on to play college baseball, with numerous D1 recruits. For that reason college and professional scouts do come out to watch the high school and legion players. Most of the college level interest is relatively local. You won't see East/West coast schools traveling to the midwest to watch Legion baseball. They will however go to travel tournaments, Headfirst, Perfect Game, etc and that's a huge advantage for a player. Just like most of us they have a budget and they can best leverage their investment by seeing lots of talented players in one location.

From reading other posts on this board I know that many view Legion as 2nd tier. We've not seen that to be the case, but totally understand that each state seems to be different. While not being personally involved in running Legion baseball I do hope they figure out a way to turn the tide.

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Originally posted by Rally Cap:
My son spent his February break sophomore year looking at schools he was interested in (mostly in the Mid Atlantic area). He met with as many coaches as possible and asked them what they would recommend for summer baseball. Legion or Showcase. Being from Northern New England, our exposure with legion was quite limited. A couple of big name schools recommended a showcase teams a couple hours away from home. He will be playing for this program summer after junior year, played legion summer after sophomore year (missed the tryout period). We saved some money and hopefully it will all work out in the end. Good Luck!

Legion is still relevant in New England if your son wants to stay in the region for college. But showcase ball is needed if a kid has ACC or Big East potential and wants to leave the area (based on discussions I've had with dads in the area).

I have to agree with PGStaff...My son played for DBat. It is important to play for a good organization that has a reputation for quality ballplayers, but just as important to play AGAINST the best competition. Over the years, my son's team played against the best organizations and that attracted scouts to his games...you find the best teams at places like Jupiter, East Cobb, etc. It is the single most important thing he did to be seen and ultimately led to a scholarship.

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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.

I have 2 sons, one is playing in college and the other has committed... both to D1 programs. The older one played primarily legion and very little showcase or "high exposure" events prior to committing. He did play in a State High School All-Star event that drew a lot of interest and one PG showcase event the summer before committing. He played other showcase events after committing just to see if we could generate interest for the draft. The younger one has played only legion.

I think you really need to assess whether the events they are in are getting them the right exposure and do you have the right support from your high school or summer coach that can help generate interest. If no colleges or scouts are showing up to their events, they need to go where they can be seen. In our area, we were getting pretty good exposure playing legion, high school, and a couple of local showcase events, and that is what ultimately led to playing in college. I'm sure that is not the case in all areas.

Another point is that if you are a big talent they will find you, regardless of where you play. One kid in our area played some showcase, but not for a top team and mostly locally. His senior year of high school, he had 20-30 scounts watching every time he pitched. One of those times, my son was the opposing pitcher and there had to be 30+ scouts watching.

So bottom line, it really just depends on your area, the degree of support from your coaches, and you son's talent level. You should also talk to current or prospective coaches and the parents of older kids in your area that have recently gone through this to get their pespective.

My son played legion a few years before switching to a high-profile travel team his junior and senior year of h.s. Like many have said, there is no comparison when it comes to talent.

The problem with legion is in the numbers. Each team consists of players from 3-4 schools. There is just not that much talent in 3-4 schools. Where Bum, Jr. played in h.s., a metropolis of 450,000, there were only 10-12 top-level players.

Do the math. That's one team. We had to travel.

In NJ Legion still has a very good following. However with recent movements and ofcourse Diamond Nation, locating in NJ Showcase summer teams are now taking over.

If your legion team is strong, and will make it to the Regional and State playoffs, you will get some exposure. If you stick with this route, I would suggest a showcase or 2 in different areas. Some may not believe it but coaches do pass their information along to other coaches, not in conferance of course.

If you decide to go with a showcase/travel team outside of legion you can't go wrong either. It will be more expensive but with certain teams you will get to experience more, as well as have opportunity to have better coaching (in some cases). One upside I have found in recruiting, is showcase teams often have their players well prepared to step on to a college campus and play.

Legion baseball is dying a slow death in PA and NJ right now. It might be time to make the jump.

Message me if you have any questions.

Where my son played high school ball in the Philadelphia suburbs the Legion coaches are still trying to sell Legion as the avenue even though most of the college prospects are bypassing Legion for travel. I'm one of the "devils"in my area for starting a travel team, advising others how to start travel teams and steering college prospects towards showcase teams.

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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.

I believe that Legion stat about 50% of the MLB players having played Legion. At one time it might have been higher and it will continue to drop because things have changed.

Problem is that most all of the younger MLB players did not play Legion. Most all the top draft picks over the past 5 - 10 years have played travel/club baseball. For every Legion player you can name drafted in the top 5 rounds, I will give you 10 who played elsewhere. In fact, I will give you 25 names.

It's odd that so many don't (or won't) understand this. Understand that most HS draft picks come from 3 or 4 states. Illinois is a great baseball state, but it is not among those 3 or 4 best states. Also, if you look at the rosters of the top college teams from th top conferences, you will see that nearly every player came out of travel/club baseball.

There really is no argument regarding any of this... It is a fact! As always there will be a few exceptions.

BTW, I have nothing against Legion Baseball. I grew up with it and my kids played Legion. One son would be among those 50% that played in the Major Leagues. Things have changed in a very big way since then! But believe what you want!