| Volume 8, No. 1 | Northfield, Minnesota | Thursday, August 5, 2004 |
| Northfield Welcomes State Tourney | Final Poll has Three Teams at Top of Heap | |
| The 79th annual Minnesota American Legion
Baseball Division I Tournament will get underway at four
fields int he Northfield area today with 16 games. "This is probably the top American Legion tourney, certainly the largest, in the nation," State Director Darwin Berg said. "It speaks for itself that Minnesota has won the national World Series twice in the last five years. The quality of baseball in Minnesota is unsurpassed." The tournament kicked off on Wednesday night with the annual Division I banquet. Jim Dimick, the Hall of Fame retired coach from St. Olaf, was the featured speaker. "Young men, baseball is the greatest game of all time," Dimick said. "It has the most intense one on one of any sport." The American Legion also honored several people for their contributions to baseball. Jim Senske of New Ulm was named Coach of the Year, and Michael Restovich of Rochester, |
now in the Twins organization, was the
Graduate of the Year. Named to the Hall of Fame were Bob Letourneau, District 10 director, and Dick Seal, a longtime coach from Sauk Rapids. Richfield Post 435 was named Post of the Year. Dimick challenged the 320 or so athletes at the banquet to enjoy the moment, but also to look back -- thank people who have influenced their lives -- and to look ahead of how then can influence the lives of others. The 16 teams in this year's tournament are Moorhead, Grand Rapids, Coon Rapids, Marshall, Woodbury Blue, Tri-City Red, Rochester A's, Sleepy Eye, Anoka, Duluth Lakeview, Richfield Reds, Apple Valley, Alexandria, Eden Prairie, Brainerd and host Northfield. The Division II banquet is tonight and that tournament begins in Dundas Friday. |
Polls are only an opinion, albeit a
collective opinion. This year's final Minnesota American Legion Coaches and Media Poll had three teams breakikng 100 points: Apple Valley, Rochester A's and Woodbury Blue. Are they the teams to beat in the 2004 state tournament? Perhaps. Last year's top three teams in the final ranking were Rochester, Excelsior and Eden Prairie. The actual top three finishers in the tourney were Rochester, Bloomington Blue and Excelsior. Bloomington was rated 7th. And who will be the Cinderella team? The pollsters are 15 coaches and media people from around the state. Team/Points 1. Apple Valley, 125 2. Rochester A's, 120 3. Woodbury blue, 110 4. Eden Prairie, 76 5. Lakeville, 73 6. Coon Rapids, 67 7. Anoka, 6t5 8. Moorhead, 44 9. Tri-City Red, 30 10. Alexandria, 29 11. Brainerd, 22 12. Duluth Lakeview, 21 13. Excelsior, 13 13. Hopkins, 13 15. Maple Grove, 7 16. Fergus Falls, 3 16. Sleepy Eye, 3 18. Bloomington Blue, 2 19. Stillwater, 1 19. Richfield Reds, 1 |
Additional Issues:
| The Gazette, Friday, August 6, 2004 |
| The Gazette, Saturday, August 7, 2004 |
| The Gazette, Sunday, August 8, 2004 |
| 2004 State Tournament Homepage |
Last updated: 8/06/04
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Gail Kalata, Web Site Designer & American Legion Baseball
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