American Legion Baseball Cancels Two Upcoming Tournaments

The Department of New York American Legion Baseball Committee has announced that due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, they are cancelling two upcoming tournaments.

The tournaments being cancelled are the Department Senior and Junior Championship Tournaments for 2020. The Junior Tournament was to be held in Utica, and the Senior Tournament in Saugerties. Both tournaments are now victims to COVID-19.

At this moment, the committee hasn't made a decision to cancel the entire season. Obviously, they put the safety of fans, players, and officials first:

The Baseball Committee is attempting to create the most flexibility for District level play. Provided that State, County, and local government regulations allow for it, each District will be able to play American Legion Baseball this summer.

With this news, Department Baseball scholarships will not be awarded this season. Back on April 11th, the legion also announced the cancellation of the Regional Tournaments and the World Series.

Legion Baseball History

Legion Baseball was formed back in 1925, and by 1926, Legion Baseball posts developed in 15 states. Today, the program has more than 5,400 teams in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The American Legion celebrated its centennial at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., March 29-30, with the airing of a new 8-minute film on the history of American Legion Baseball. “American Legion Baseball: Citizenship Through Sportsmanship” was played inside the Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater to hundreds of visitors.