American Legion
Minnesota Division I
State Tournament
GAZETTE

Volume 6, No. 1

Marshall, Minnesota

Thursday, August 8, 2002

Kingery: Have Goals, Work Hard		The Field Starts with 16 Teams
Mike Kingery had his ups and downs as a Major Leage ballplayer. He even jokes, "I'm the only Major Leaguer from Minnesota who Sid doesn't talk about." The Atwater native played seven years in the minor leagues before even getting his chance at the Big Leagues But when he did make it, he played seven more years in both the American and National Leagues -- once hitting .349 for a strike-shortened season. His advice was simple for the 300 or so ballplayers gathered at the Southwest State University R/A Building for the annual Division I Banquet: "Get your priorities straight, get a goal, and work hard to achieve that goal. "I had more opportunities in baseball because of my work ethic than I ever did from my skill level." Kingery was the featured speaker at the annual banquet. The event also featured the presentation of the annual American Legion Baseball awards. They included: Coach of the Year, George Horihan of LaCrescent. Post of the year, New Ulm Post 132. Graduate of the Year, Mike Mason of Excelsior.	Hall of Fame, Distgrict 5 Director Nick of Minneapolis and Department Vice Director Darwin Berg of Chanhassen. Derek Mason, who is a player for the Excelsior team, accepted the Graduate of the Year award for his father from State Director George Karnas. Mike Mason is the pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies AAA farm team. Post Commander Will Burdoff accepted for New Ulm. The event was emceed byh Jess Nelson and Pastor David Weeks gave the invocation. Kingery told the audience about some of the memorable events of his career, including the time he was playing for a called-up rookie to take his position. The rookie struck out twice, and Kingery was called in to pinch hit for him with the bases loaded and the game on the line. He hit a grand slam off Pedro Martinez. "My parents taught me not to pout, and so I was able to go up there and give it the best I could," he said. "If you work hard, you will separate yourself from half of the players you play with the rest of your life." Karnas introduced the staff of the tournament, and gave credit to local tournament host Steve Glaeser and his crew for getting the tournament off to a good start.	The 2002 American Legion Baseball Division I Tournament begins today in Marshall with 16 teams vying for the state championship. Two teams will advance to national regional competition the week following the state tournament: One regional will be in Williston, N.D., and the other in Paducah, Kentucky. The 16 teams to emerge out of district play include: Alexandria, Apple Valley, Brainerd, Chaska, Coon Rapids, East Grand Forks, Excelsior, Hermantown, Hopkins, Marshall, New Ulm, Northfield, North St. Paul, Richfield, Rochester A's, and Tri-City Red of New Brighton. The field contains a blend of some newer teams, and some of the traditional powerhouse Legion baseball teams in Minnesota. Last year's winner was Coon Rapids, with New Ulm in second place and Excelsior in third place. All three teams are back this year. Games will be played at Milroy, Granite Falls, Southwest State University and at Legion Field in Marshall. The championship game will be Sunday at Legion Field. A Division II state tourney will be held beginning Saturday in Willmar. Teams in the Division II Tourney are from LeSeuer-Henderson, Parker's Prairie, Sebeka, Blue Earth, Eden Valley-Watkins, Clara City, ST. Charles and Nashwauk-Keewatin. The Division I tourney will be double elimination and the Division II tourney will be single elimination.

Additional Issues:

The Gazette, Friday, August 9, 2002

The Gazette, Saturday, August 10, 2002

The Gazette, Sunday, August 11, 2002

2002 State Tournament Homepage

Last updated: 8/08/02
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Gail Kalata, Web Site Designer & American Legion Baseball Volunteer