American Legion baseball is promoted as being for young men up to age 19 to play the all-American sport of baseball through the summer at a competitive level. However, due to the way that age is figured (the Olympic method, I believe), with a cutoff date of January 1, the American Legion is effectively reducing the pool of eligible players by at least 1/3 or more, by not allowing players who don't turn 20 until AFTER the season ends to play. 

I understand that The Americanism Commission reviews American Legion Baseball rules in odd-numbered years at the fall baseball conference, so if any change is to happen soon, this is the year!

It seems incredibly unfair for those with September-December birthdays (And those with late August birthdays that fall after the American Legion World Series) to be locked out of playing when they are at the top of their game as 19 year olds. 
As we are seeing a decline in the number of baseball players overall, it seems that this is also not a wise decision for the American Legion Ball clubs in general, as many AAU teams are drawing from the same pool of players, and reducing the eligible numbers even further. In the interests of more competitive and exciting baseball, I would like to see the American Legion amend their baseball cutoff age to include those who are born in the current cut-off year, but are 19 throughout the entire season (primarily September-December birthdays, with some late August birthdays as well). 

This is personal for my family because my son doesn't turn 19 until the end of September.  Although I have felt this is unfair ever since I was aware of the policy, it has become even more important to us as a family this year.  We all love to watch my son play, but due to a chance injury (a broken wrist sustained while tagging a player at 2nd base), my son's senior High School baseball season was cut short, and he is effectively missing most of this year's Legion Season. But it isn't just about him, we also have at least one other player with a December birthday, and I am sure that there are many more throughout the country with birthdays in the post-season. These boys should have the chance to play Legion ball next summer as 19 year olds, just like everyone else. 

#baseball #americanlegion #19allseason #RaiseTheLimit #boysofsummer #playball #americanlegionbaseball #legionbaseball #legionball