The Changing Landscape: Travel Team Baseball
By Spencer Flaten, Lead Writer
High school baseball has become more and more competitive in recent years, both on and off the field. As colleges scramble to get commitments from their prized recruits, players are looking for ways to get more exposure to coaches at the next level. To do so, more players than ever are turning to Wisconsin’s numerous travel team programs.
At this season’s WIAA state tournaments, at least seven different travel teams were represented, including the GRB Rays, Rawlings Hitters, and the Wisconsin Panthers. In the quarterfinals of the spring tournament alone, over a dozen players took the field representing the state’s top travel programs.
To put this in perspective a little, let’s take a look at 5 travel teams in Wisconsin whose players typically play spring ball: Wisconsin Panthers, Rawlings Hitters, GRB Rays, Rhino Baseball, and the Wisconsin All Stars. From those 5 programs, looking only at Division 1 schools, 13 players (to our knowledge) were key players in their school’s starting lineup*. Since there are 9 starters per team (not accounting for designated hitters), with 8 teams in the mix, a total of 72 players started in the quarterfinal round. That means that 18% of those starters (nearly one-fifth) played for one of those 5 travel teams.
Taking it a step further, the team that featured more travel team players won 3 of the 4 quarterfinal matchups.
In Divisions 2-4, at least a dozen more players came from travel teams, including 7 from the Wisconsin All Stars.
One could make the argument that since the best players elect to play travel baseball, teams with the most travel players have always been this good. However, so many different programs have never been represented by so many players.
For example, the oldest of the five programs listed above is the Hitters Academy. They have been operating since 1993. In contrast, the GRB Rays were founded in 2009. Rhino Baseball came around even later, formed in 2012.
The emergence of these elite baseball academies has delivered a blow to the popular American Legion season. As more players choose to play travel baseball, the talent pool for the Legion season collectively gets worse.
Still, that’s not to say that some of the best players don’t choose to play Legion baseball anymore. Viroqua’s Mitch Stalsberg, winner of the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association’s Spring Player of the Year award, played Legion ball this summer. Almost all of Stevens Point’s players (a top ranked squad in spring ball) took part in the Legion season, while none of them played travel ball. Coincidentally, the Plover Black Sox Legion team, which is comprised of many Stevens Point players was two games away from reaching the American Legion World Series this summer. However, the cream of the crop generally chooses to play travel ball nowadays.
To put it into simple numbers, take a look at the top 10 players in the class of 2015 according to Prep Baseball Report. Only one of those players participated in Legion baseball, while the other nine played with travel teams. The same can be said for the top 10 in the class of 2016.
Back in 2001, two future major leaguers squared off against one another in an American Legion game between De Pere and Sturgeon Bay. De Pere’s Jason Berken was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2006. Sturgeon Bay’s Erik Cordier was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2004. Both played their summer ball with Legion teams. Such a scenario has become a rarity recently. Gone are the days where two of the best players in the state would play in a Legion game. Now they’re more likely to be found playing travel ball.
“Looking back to around the year 2000, there may have been one travel team in the entire state. Maybe two. Now there's certainly a lot more than that. There were less alternatives to Legion so mostly everyone played Legion if they had that opportunity,” said Dan Lukes, a former longtime coach of the De Pere and Ash Port Legion teams and current associate director for Wisconsin Legion’s Region 4.
However, the outlook is not so bleak for Legion baseball if you look at this year’s WBCA spring all-state team. Among the 11 players named to the 1st team-all state squad, 6 played Legion baseball while the other 5 played with travel teams. But the fact of the matter is that in the past, almost all of those players would have been playing Legion baseball.
Years ago, Legion teams often played over 40 games in a summer, but this is also becoming a rarity in today’s game (at least in Wisconsin). At this year’s Class AAA Legion state tournament, only 3 teams had played more than 30 games prior to going to state. Still, Lukes does not think that this should not turn players off from participating in Legion ball.
“The shortening of the Legion season is only a factor if you allow it to be. You can still go out and play a competitive schedule during the six weeks if you choose to,” he said. “But you don't have to play 50 games to play a really good schedule. You can play 35 and still face quality teams.”
Legion baseball is far from dead, but it has lost a little bit of steam over the past few years. So the question remains: What has caused this changing of the guard at the top of Wisconsin baseball?
Many believe that the appeal of travel teams lies in the exposure to college coaches and scouts that players receive by participating, as well as playing some of the best competition in the country. Greg Reinhard, the founder of the GRB Rays, certainly subscribes to the idea.
“Obviously the exposure and the events we play in are regularly attended by colleges much more than local leagues. Another big piece is the talent level of a select program like ours. Players want to play with better players. It makes everyone better. It's hard being on a team where the surrounding cast is not at the same level as you are,” Reinhard said.
Another benefit of playing with a traveling program: year-round instruction. Academies remain open all year long, which allows players to receive top-notch coaching during the off-season. This allows travel team coaches more flexibility than Legion coaches. They can implement their philosophies and key principles early on so that when the season comes along, the fundamentals are already in place and other areas can be focused on if needed.
“We really work hard on being fundamentally sound, whether it’s fielding, mechanics on the mound, or hitting. We really do a bunch of hitting and adjustments,” Reinhard said.
Of course, playing travel baseball is not for the weakly motivated. It is a big commitment, and only the best of the best can cut it at the top level.
“Our top team at 17U is the toughest team to make in Wisconsin. I mean our 2015 class is crazy, but we already have 13 of our 17 players committed to Division I Schools. [It has gotten to the point] that we now have multiple teams at 17U because we were having to cut college baseball players,” explained Reinhard.
Not every travel team has the fierce competition that GRB has within its ranks, but in the end, the best players will ultimately make the teams no matter where they are.
It really is no surprise that the top players elect to play travel baseball, given the exposure, coaching, and opportunities presented to a travel team player.
If Legion baseball is going to get some of the best players in Wisconsin back within its ranks, it will be up to the coaches, according to Lukes.
“Legion baseball is still a good program if those running teams are willing to put in the time and travel in order for their players to get exposure,” he said.
Ultimately, it comes down to the preferences of each individual player.
“If you are talented, you'll have opportunities no matter where you play,” Lukes said.
*For the sake of argument, we included Bay Port’s Connor Hock as a starter, even though he did not see the field at the state tournament, because he was one of the Pirates’ biggest contributors all season long.
