The 2007
Minnesota American Legion Baseball Tournament begins
today with 16 teams vying for the state title and the
chance to move on to national regional play.
In 2006, Eden Prairie won an unprecedented thrird title
in a row and will be going for an equally unprecedented
fourth state title this time around.
The tournament was preceded on Wednesday night by the
annual American Legion Baseball Banquet at the Ramada
Mall of America.
The emcee for the night was Bloomington educator and
coach John Bianchi, and the fetured speaker was Paul
blanchard, coach of the Southwest Minnesota State
baseball team.
Blanchard offered advice for the 300 or so athletes
gathered in the room. "Your only goal shold be to
earn the respect of everyone in the locker room. Truly,
they are the only ones who have the right to judge
you."
Blanchard said that respect could be earned by helping
others to get better, doing more than you're asked, and
delivering at crunch time.
When a player does have success, he said, "they
should act like they've done it a hundred times before.
Those are the players on the other team that scare
me."
The banquet was also the scene of handing out the annual
Legion Baseball awards.
Three were elected to the Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.
All htree were deceased, but the awads were accepted by
friends or members of the family. Entering the Hall of
Fame were Dick Johnson, Anoka; Bob Garin, Cross Lake; and
Huck Arneson, Barnesville.
Gary Wilson of Northeast Minneapolis was selected Coach
of the Year, Excelsior was named Post of the Year, and
Rob Wassenaar was selected as Graduate of the Year.
Wassenaar was selected as Graduate of the Year. Wassenaar
was twice named most valuable player in the state
tournament while playing
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for Edina.
He was not present for the award because he is on a
missionary trip overseas.
The awards were presented b y Darwin Berg, Minnesota
Department Baseball Director. Past Department Commander
John Cox was on hand to introduce the teams and coaches,
and he will be participating in ceremonies throughout the
weekend.
Many of the speakers paid special tribute to Red Haddox
of Bloomington, this year's chairman of the local host
committee. Haddox also serves as a vice director on the
state committee.
Play will begin on four fields today, with 16 games
slated. The fields are: Red Haddox in Bloomington,
AliMagnet in Burnsville, Kelly in Bloomington, and Dred
Scott in Bloomington.
Witht the double elimination format, four teams will be
out of the tourney after today's play. Play will continue
on Friday with eight games at Red Haddox Field and
AliMagnet Park.
The 16 teams who will be playing include St. Cloud
chutes, Burnsville, Centennial of Lino Lakes, Grand
Rapids, Coon Rapids, Tri-City Red of New Brighton,
Mankato, Apple Valley, Willmar, Holy angels of Richfield,
Perham, Cambridge, Rochester Patriots, Lakeville North,
and Bloomington Gold.
The two top teams in the tournament will advance to
regionals. The Central Plains will be held in Marshall,
MN, and the Great Lakes will be held in Menominee, MI,
with both tourneys starting on August 16.
The World Series will be held in Barlesville, OK,
starting on August 24.
Minnesota has had four World Series Winners: Richfield in
1943, Edina in 1983, New Brighton Tri-City Red in 1999,
and Rochester A's in 2003.
A Division II tournament will be held this weekend at
Ely.
The Division I tourney is the largest Legion state
tournament in the nation. Minnesota is second only to
Pennsylvania in number of tearms, with roughly 340. Over
6,000 young men play American Legion baseball in the
state.
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The weekly American
Legion Baseball Statewide Coaches / Media poll has
prdicted the winner of the last three state tournaments,
and if that perfection continues, Burnsville would
In the final poll, Burnsville edged past perennial
powerhouse Eden Prairie for the top spot.
"The coaches who vote in the poll have done a great
job through the years in predicitng the winners,"
said Gail Kalata, who manages the Legion poll. "But,
it doesn't really mean anything until you get out on the
field and play the games."
Final Poll Results (1st place votes), Total voting
points:
1. Burnsville (4), 118
2. Eden Prairie (8), 115
3. Apple Valley, 93
4. Coon Rapids (1), 92
5. Tri-City Red, 71
6. Lakeville North, 50
7. Grand Rapids, 30
8. Centennial, 22
9. Hopkins, 21
9. St. Cloud Chutes, 21
11. Rochester Patriots, 16
12. Oakdale, 12
13. Hopy Angels, 9.5
14. Woodbury Blue, 8
15. Chaska, 5
16. Mahtomedi, 4
17. Alexandria, 3
17. Bemidji, 3
17. Fergus Falls, 3
17. Hastings, 3
17. North St. Paul, 3
17. Winona
Others receiving votes included Moorhead, Eagan, Perham,
New Ulm Gold, Rochester A's, Rosemount and Willmar.
For a list of voters and week-by-week poll results, take
this link to the MN Statewide
American Legion Coaches & Media Poll.
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