EJECTED BY PAPERWORK
Escanaba Cubs' Jared Dagenais (left) and Gladstone Indians' Cody Darling (right) will both miss out on a chance to play for U.P. and state championships this summer. The American Legion has kicked both teams out of post-season play. The two boys are pictured here during Wednesday's Escanaba vs Gladstone game at Al Ness Field. (Lisa Dagenais photos).
LANSING---The Michigan Department of the American Legion has declared four Upper Peninsula teams ineligible for the U.P. Zone Tournament, and for the state tournament in Hudson, because they didn't get their paperwork to Lansing before the June 26 deadline.
The Escanaba Cubs, Gladstone Indians, Iron Mountain Golds, and Menominee Red Wave were all informed on Wednesday that their appeals of a previous ruling were denied. The teams filled out their on-line forms, but did not get the signed hard copies of the kids' ages and other information to Lansing before the deadline.
Escanaba Manager Tom Ohman was not shy to give his opinion.
"I'm thoroughly disgusted," the longtime manager said. "They switched to the computer system two years ago, supposedly to make it easier. Back when we did everything by paper, you'd turn everything in, and you'd get a letter back in the mail stating that you missed something. And they'd give you ten days to correct it.
"Why wasn't there anything here? On the computer, they could have sent a message saying 'you've got one day to fix it'."
Ohman, who has coached for 29 years, was just getting started. He pointed out that 19 teams across Michigan are being kicked out of zone and state tournaments because of paperwork problems.
"I don't know what the State of Michigan thinks it's doing," Ohman said. "We don't have enough teams as it is. You look at Wisconsin and Minnesota and they have over 300-some teams. We have 55 in Michigan, and 19 are gone now. And now the U.P. tournament will have seven teams, so that's watered-down."
Ohman continued to vent, after his team gave up four runs in the seventh inning to lose to Gladstone, 6-3. And he laid the blame for the situation at the feet of American Legion Baseball Chairman Don Hudon of Menominee.
"I've got 30 years of dealing with that man, and I can't believe what he has done," Ohman said. "He doesn't like the U.P. tournament, and he is finding ways to hurt it. He won't tell the truth about it, but I'm sure he's got a big part in this."
"It's sad," Ohman continued. "I thought that this game was supposed to be about the kids. And now, we've got a little bit of paperwork, and the adults are stepping in and taking it away from the kids."
Ohman ended his rant with a question: "if you have 55 teams, and 19 of them don't complete the system the way they want, don't you think that maybe there's something wrong with their system?"
Gladstone Manager Dennis Darling was a bit more diplomatic than Ohman was, but he was equally upset about the decision.
"It is extremely heartbreaking," Darling said. "My heart just kind of sank to my gut when I saw their letter. It's one of those things where I think the kids should have the opportunity to play in the Zone Tournament. When that was taken away, it's left me kind of PO'd, and sad at the same time. It's not right to hurt the kids like that."
Darling's son, Cody, is a 19-year-old who now has his final season shortened. He was devastated by Wednesday's news.
"I can't even explain it," Cody said. "It makes me furious. I don't know what went wrong. I know we should have had it (paperwork) in a long time ago."
Escanaba 18-year-old Ian Serrer was also devastated by the news.
"It hasn't even sunk in yet," Serrer said. "It really hurts."
American Legion Statement On Paperwork
LANSING---The following was E-Mailed by the Michigan American Legion on Friday regarding the paperwork issues that has led to Escanaba, Gladstone, Menominee, Iron Mountain, and 15 downstate teams being denied post-season play this summer.
The American Legion, Department of Michigan stands by the decision to adhere to the June 27th document submission deadline and will not allow 19 teams to enter the 2011 American Legion State Baseball Tournament.
We recognize that the coaches' decision to submit paperwork past the deadline will affect many young boys in the state. The American Legion Baseball program was not created, "just to teach baseball".
During the planning stages of this year's program, great care was used to ensure every person who registered a team was provided with notification of the deadlines and the baseball program rules.
The American Legion Department of Michigan Baseball program needs all of the paperwork items filed on time to cover liability issues that may arise. Teams that have been conducting practices prior to submission of a complete roster and the parent consent forms place the American Legion Department of Michigan at legal jeopardy.
