American Legion baseball celebrates 100 years, puts Fairfield on the map with tournament play
The year 2025 marks a milestone year for American Legion baseball nationwide. Founded in 1925, the league is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The club sport welcomes high school juniors and seniors as well as college freshmen, all 19 years old and younger.
The event is putting Fairfield on the map as athletes descend on the town for the double-elimination tournament running from Wednesday through Sunday.
"Fairfield is definitely one of the hubs of baseball in the country now," said Brad Hanson, president and manager of the local team, the Fairfield Expos.
About 150 athletes and their families are in town to compete on teams from Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Utah, California, and Arizona.
"It's like little league, but bigger and at a much higher scale," said Hanson.
Hanson says college scouts are often in the crowd, and the athletes in the league are dreaming of playing at the collegiate and professional level.
In fact, 89 MLB Hall of Famers hail from this league, where big dreams start small.
"There's an intimacy to having it in a smaller community versus going to a big city," said Hanson.
Fairfield is pushing to become a permanent host for the Western Regional conference.
They've already been welcoming athletes and their families every year since 2019, except for 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's where San Francisco meets Sacramento. We have gorgeous weather. Great amenities," said Shifra de Benedictis-Kessner, Fairfield's economic development manager.
The tournament pours thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars into the local economy.
"Really, all of our local businesses get to benefit from our restaurants and retail," de Benedictis-Kessner.
It also gets new eyes on an award-winning wine scene in the Suisun Valley, which is good news to Visit Fairfield.
"Our wine region just won number one wine region in the United States by USA Today last week. We are thrilled to bring in more visitors, whether through sports or leisure, to explore our wonderful destination," said Anand Patel, president of Visit Fairfield.
The veterans group American Legion started the league in 1925 to help strengthen America and build up thousands of young men into leaders in their sport, classrooms, communities and careers.
The American Legion and the local Yoche Dehe Wintun Nation cover all the costs and travel for the teams.
The tournament wraps up on Sunday night. The winner will travel to North Carolina next week for the league's World Series.
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