Since 1926, millions of boys from across the country have passed through the rite of summer that is American Legion baseball.
After the high school season ends, players don uniforms to represent hometown American Legion Posts and team sponsors, such as Biddeford-Saco Savings and Fayette Staples, representing Biddeford and Saco, respectively.
American Legion baseball ”“ which in York County features a 17-game schedule with teams from Biddeford, Saco, North Berwick, Waterboro, York, Eliot and Sanford ”“ is a great way for young baseball players to develop their skills and simply get as many games in as possible during the long days of summer; it’s been especially crucial for players in Maine, with the shortened high school schedule that includes just 16 regular-season games packed into five or so weeks, a much shorter season than many other high school players experience in warmer climates.
The summer schedule has given Maine players a way to catch up, to get more innings, more at bats, more pitches, more experience. But as of late, there seem to be too many games, too many innings for young arms to pitch, too many at bats for young athletes.
Specifically the problem comes on Saturdays, when teams play doubleheaders starting at 9:30 a.m. After a long week, which for many players includes summer jobs, playing other sports (such as summer football and basketball camps) as well as Legion games on Tuesday and Thursday nights, two more games in the heat of a summer Saturday is too much.
Instead of playing a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday, which wear down players, and especially pitchers, usually making the second game more of a battle of attrition than a battle to actually win the game, the Legion schedule should instead feature on a nine-inning game on Saturday.
That would take the pressure off of teams’ pitching staffs ”“ reducing the amount of innings played in a week from 28 to 23 to make it more akin to the typical high school schedule of three games in one week ”“ and take the burden off of young athletes who very likely have already done plenty of exertion during the week. It would mean the game is very likely over by noon as well, allowing the players the rest of the day off.
Reducing the doubleheader to a single game would also mean that the teams will be able to play one high-quality game on Saturday, rather than a good opening game followed by a so-so ”“ or worse ”“ one.
The difficulty of playing 14 full innings on a Saturday was shown in full force by a recent doubleheader between Fayette Staples and Biddeford-Saco Savings on June 28.
After an excellent, crisply-played first game featuring strong pitching efforts from Fayette’s Drew Gelinas and Biddeford’s Crepeau that Fayette won 3-0, the quality of the second game ”“ an 11-1 Biddeford win ”“ was in stark contrast.
Biddeford was forced to call upon Corey Collard, a postgraduate player who hadn’t pitched in a competitive game in over a year, for the second game, and while he pitched well, in the long run it does nothing to help the Biddeford High School team ”“ the true end objective of American Legion baseball in the first place.
On the other side, Fayette was forced to call upon several players for game two who usually don’t pitch, and it showed as Biddeford scored eight runs ”“ on the basis of four walks, three wild pitches and some sloppy play in the field ”“ in a long third inning.
“It seems like it’s always the first game’s good, and the second game’s a nightmare,” Fayette coach Petit said.
When asked whether he’d like to see a change of the Saturday doubleheader to a single game, Petit agreed wholeheartedly that the switch would be a benefit.
“These kids are doing a lot during the week. They’re playing football, they’re playing basketball, and when they get here on Saturdays and they’re physically beat. That and with the time of day you play, its tough.”
Despite having just nine of the 23 players on his roster available to him during the game against Fayette due to injuries for, vacation trips, college visits and other sporting obligations, Biddeford coach Keith LeBlanc said he’d rather keep the doubleheaders.
“I like the doubleheaders on Saturdays,” he said. “It gives us an opportunity to get more than one game in.”
Still, LeBlanc admitted that the quality of play can decrease as the first game moves into the second, decreasing the chance for a team to win both games.
“It’s not easy to take both games,” LeBlanc said. “Most of the time, it is a split, and coming out of there with two wins doesn’t happen every week.”
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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Writer Cameron Dunbar on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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