Zanor column: Another Legion baseball summer in the books

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while looking forward to watching some swimming, 3-on-3 basketball, and break dancing at the Paris Olympics  …

Another Legion baseball summer

Kudos to General Managers Brent Southworth (Norwich), John Krot (Danielson), Steve Tarbox (Moosup), Joe Mariani (Waterford), Paul Martineau (Willimantic), and Everett Shepard (Tri-Town) for keeping their American Legion baseball programs afloat this summer.

This was my 29th summer covering American Legion baseball and I’m still a little stunned that there were only 25 19U teams competing throughout the state. It seems every year winning programs are folding. It saddens me to see Legion Posts in Branford, New London, East Hartford, West Haven, and Manchester not having enough players to field a team.

But there are solid, good baseball folks out there doing their best to keep American Legion baseball, an American institution founded in 1925 with community service as its core value, alive in their communities.

The Norwich 19U team went through a 2-25 season a few years ago and things looked pretty bleak. But Brent Southworth and Tom Pietruczuk went out and found some players, righted the ship and Norwich has been a state tournament team in each of the past three seasons.

I can write a whole other column on the virtues of playing American Legion baseball with your friends, Little League and high school teammates, and even high school opponents instead of a high-priced AAU program. My son, Eddie, played five seasons for Branford Post 83. He went on to play baseball and graduate from Wesleyan University. He had two years of eligibility left due to COVID and is pursuing an MBA degree at Brandeis University. He’ll be The Judges baseball co-captain this spring.

“Legion baseball is awesome,” Norwich manager Becker Bordeau said.

Bordeau signed up for the Norwich Legion baseball program when he was 14 years old. He just finished his 10th summer with Norwich as a player, assistant coach, and manager. Bordeau’s first season as Norwich’s manager ended on Thursday with a loss against RCP in the state tournament.

“I was really grateful to have the players I did in my first season as the head coach. We had a really good group of guys,” Bordeau said. “They’re not much younger than me so I feel like an older brother to them sometimes. What it comes down too is I hope I helped them become better men and to be respectful and I hope they had fun. That’s all that matters.”

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Bordeau, who played at Norwich Free Academy, hopes to do some recruiting in the offseason and convince high school players at NFA, Montville, and Ledyard that the Legion season is an extension of their high school season.

“Hopefully, we can get guys to come in,” Bordeau said. “Legion is not really an option for many people nowadays but it’s fun baseball. It’s a lot cheaper than AAU and you’re not traveling all over the place. And you're still getting the experience playing teams from across the state. It’s really good competition, as we saw today (against RCP).”

Last January, I received the media award from the American Legion State Committee at their annual Hot Stove Awards Dinner in Southington. I was thrilled and a little overwhelmed. The award meant the world to me. On the way there, I thought about Hal Levy, who was the first winner of the award over 20 years ago. Hal covered high school sports better than the Boston Globe covered the Red Sox.

I worked at the Shoreline Newspapers with Hal until his passing in 2008. I remembered walking into Hal’s office during my first year as a reporter. I had just moved from Boston. It was late spring. I asked Hal what we covered in the summer, and he said, “We cover American Legion baseball.”

And I’ve taken those words to heart every year.

Award winners

The Connecticut Sports Media Alliance (formerly the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance) has announced the final nine award recipients to be honored at the annual Gold Key dinner on Oct. 20.

Receiving accolades at the dinner will be: Paula Fitzgerald (Hal Levy High School Achievement Award),  Rick Leddy (Bo Kolinsky Memorial Special Recognition Award), the family of Charlie Capalbo (Bob Casey Courage Award), Marc Forster, Mary Jane-Hussey, Bob Rafferty, and Jim Reynolds (John Wentworth Good Sport Awards), George Albano (Art McGinley Media Award), and  Casey O’Brien (Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Media Scholarship).

Gold Key Award recipients for 2024, announced in the spring, are former Daniel Hand High School and Yale University football coach Larry Ciotti, longtime Windham High School wrestling and football coach Brian Crudden, retired Pomperaug High School field hockey coach Linda Dirga, award-winning sportscaster George Grande and Wesleyan University women’s basketball coach Kate Mullen.

U.S. Olympic bobsled designer Bob Cuneo will be presented the President’s Award, Southern Connecticut State University track and field record-breaker Jordan Davis of Wallingford will receive the Bill Lee Male Athlete of the Year award, and Boston College national champion lacrosse goalkeeper Shea Dolce of Darien has garnered the Hank O'Donnell Female Athlete of the Year award. State championship coaches Leigh Barone of Masuk softball and Rich Bowen of Killingly wrestling will be honored with the Doc McInerney High School Coach of the Year plaques.

The Gold Key Dinner is slated for Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. Tickets are $75, and may be reserved by contacting CSMA president Tim Jensen at 860-394-5091 or tim.jensen@patch.com.

Proceeds support the Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Media Scholarship, a $3,000 annual award named in memory of the noted high school sports editor of the Hartford Courant and past CSMA president, who passed away in 2003 at age 49.

Duran for MVP

I’m still trying to make a case for Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran as the American League MVP over the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge. Here is a good one from my friends on X @bostonsportsinf

“Players in MLB history, thru the team’s first 101 games …

2B> 30

3B> 12

HR> 13

SB> 22

Jarren Duran. END OF LIST. Never been done.”

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STUCK IN THE 70s

On Aug. 2, 1975, Boston’s mighty J. Geils Band, along with the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Rufus and Chaka Khan, opened for the Rolling Stones at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. This was one of 46 shows on the Rolling Stones epic “Tour of the America’s.” The Stones were at the height of their popularity in 1975. The tour, which featured longer set lists that began with “Honky Tonk Women” and ended with “Jumping Jack Flash”, was the band’s first with guitarist Ronnie Wood.

The J. Geils Band, America’s all-time party rockers, were one of the Stones’ favorite opening acts. Peter Wolf and Company went on to support the Rolling Stones on some dates of the Stones' 1981 U.S. Tour and on their 1982 European tour. At the time, the J. Geils Band was on their legendary “Freeze Frame” tour.

Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @jzanorNB .

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor column: Another Legion baseball summer in the books