In the summer of 1990, I played for American Legion’s Post 39. Post 39 included players from South Kingstown, North Kingstown, and Narragansett. We played our home games at Narragansett’s Sprague Park and I had the pleasure of playing at Cardines Field, McCarthy, and Cranston Stadium just to name a few. It was incredible baseball, as most of us hadn’t seen or heard of travel ball, showcase tournaments, AAU at that time. I played against and with Division 1, 2, even future professional baseball players like Ken Giard, Jason Rajotte, and Brandon Pico in that magical summer of 1990.

The American Legion’s mission statement, quoted from their website http://www.legion.org, reads “The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow servicemembers and veterans.”

Here in Rhode Island, American Legion baseball continues to thrive. There are Junior and Senior divisions of RI American Legion baseball. Here are the teams for each division, which you can also find on their offical website – RI American Legion:

Senior Teams

• Collette / Post 10
• Cranston, Auburn Post 20, Gershkoff Auto Body
• Howard Rogers Senior Team
• NEFL/ Post 101
• post 29
• R & R Construction / Post 18
• Scituate Post 19
• Smithfield North Providence Post 29
• smithfield north providence post 29
• South Kingstown Post 39
• Upper Deck – Post 14
• West Warwick Post Two
• Woonsocket Navigant Post 85

Junior Teams

• Auburn Post 20/ Elmwood Sports
• Barrington Post 8
• Bruno Painting Post 18
• Howard Rogers Post 25
• Newport – R & R Construction – Post 7
• post 29
• Post 85
• Riverside Post 10 Collette Travel
• Scituate Post 19
• Scituate Post 19 Team 2
• Smithfield North Providence Post 29
• Smithfield Post 64 Sentiels
• Smithfield/North Providence Post 29
• South Kingstown Post 39
• Upper Deck Post 86/14 Jr
• Warwick Junior/Knights of Columbus
• West Warwick Post Two

The website, RI American Legion Baseball, also has a team finder, how to register, a history of American Legion baseball here in the USA, and fun facts about Legion alumni. Truthfully, playing for American Legion Post 39 in the summer of 1990 was one of the best summers of baseball for me personally.

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