Suburban Youth Baseball set to start a short season
Another local baseball league is ready to return to the diamond.
Main Line Legion, which will go by the name Suburban Youth Baseball League, will start its truncated season Monday.
Because American Legion canceled its regional and World Series tournaments in April, locally managed leagues like Main Line were given the green light to find alternative ways to build seasons, though they were not allowed to broadcast any connection to the Legion brand.
Thus, Main Line Legion has changed its name for one year. Teams cannot wear the American Legion patch or logo. And they had to take out separate insurance policies, rules explicitly stated by the American Legion Department of Pennsylvania.
The league will operate a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and run through the end of July. A possible playoff tournament has not yet been decided.
“The major thing is getting the kids outside playing baseball again,” said Wayne manager Mark Jordan, who also coaches the Radnor High School varsity program. “Just do it the right way and be safe. I think everyone is on board and aware of what’s happening.
“But the good thing is we can play baseball. It’ll look a little different, but it’s baseball.”
The Suburban Youth Baseball League will consist mainly of senior-age players who missed out on their junior or senior campaigns of high school ball due to the pandemic.
The franchises include Main Line stalwarts Broomall-Newtown, Concord, Norwood, Springfield, Upper Darby and Wayne. Taney is new to the league this season. One long-standing franchise, Havertown, will not participate due to health and safety concerns.
Narberth will field a team that will play some games in the Suburban Youth League and some in the Mid-County League, for balance.
“The Narberth Athletic Association, which is my organization, asked us not to play, so we withdrew,” league president Jim Brown said. “We will take temperatures, keep a safe distance, try to avoid any situations that put players at risk. What happened with Narberth, you see where cases are rising again, and that made them very nervous, which is understandable.
“The biggest job for us is managing the sidelines, maintaining a safe distance, because you’re going to have parents in the stands.”
Four games are on the schedule for opening night Monday: Springfield at Norwood, Concord at Wayne, Taney and Upper Darby, and Broomall-Newtown at Narberth.
Players are required to maintain social distancing as best as possible in the dugout and on the field. Common sense will apply. A pitcher licking his fingers in between pitches, for example, is prohibited. Player celebrations that require physical contact (handshaking, hugging, etc.) are strongly discouraged. Players are encouraged to have fun but be cognizant of the ongoing health crisis.
The Delco League was the first baseball league in the county to resume this summer. The country’s oldest semi-professional baseball league held its opening night Tuesday.
Others leagues, including Mid-County (formerly EDCO) and Babe Ruth, are scheduled to start next week. Mid-County will experiment with plate umpires positioned behind the mound, something that Suburban Youth and Delco League won’t use. Players will be told to stay away from the dugout and spread out as much as possible.
“We don’t want to take any chances, and our top priority is to make sure everyone is safe,” John McDevitt, the president of the Mid-County League, recently told the Daily Times. “It will be an ongoing process and we’re not taking anything for granted. If we have to make changes, we will ... and we will stay on top of it.”