US Military All Stars v Yawkey League Stars - June 10

US MILITARY ALL STARS VISIT QUINCY, MA

The United States Military All Star Baseball Team will visit the Historic City of Quincy on June 10th. The Military All Stars, who represent some of the best baseball talent from all branches of the US Armed Forces, will play a 9 inning game against the Thomas A. Yawkey League All Stars at Adams Field. Game time is 7PM. Pregame festivities begin at 6:45PM – Sharp.

This is the second year that the Military team visited the Greater Boston Area. Last June they defeated the Yawkey Stars at Roslindale’s – Bill Stewart Field by a score of 8-7. The high flying Military Stars come to our region as they kick off the 2008 Red White and Blue Tour of many areas of the nation.

The origin of United States armed forces baseball has been traced back to the Civil War (1860-1865). Over nearly a century and a half, military baseball has been utilized as a successful tool to improve recruiting efforts, increase visibility, and morale of the Armed Services and American citizens.

Following World War I, when major league stars such as Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson served their country and played on teams overseas and at home, military baseball reached the peak of popularity during WWII (1941-1945). Baseball legends Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenburg and Bob Feller headed the list of major leaguers playing for service teams. Military baseball served as a conduit to post-war reconstruction efforts and international relations.

The last official efforts to support organized military baseball occurred during the “Vietnam Era”. Program support was extremely limited in scope during the Korean War (1950-1952) and finally, the Vietnam War (1965-1974), when American politicians and military leaders began the systematic dismantling of our military infrastructure and personnel force strength. Military baseball was phased out and went dormant along with the decline of our armed forces.

In 1990, this country experienced a renaissance of organized military baseball in the “Modern Era”. Determined re-organization efforts by a U.S. Navy program was founded in Pensacola, Florida. That initial Navy program launched nearly two decades ago, led to establishing the growth of successful teams in all services around the world.

The Yawkey League, a 17 team premiere amateur baseball program for young men was established in the 1950’s as the Boston City League and evolved in 1990 into the Yawkey League – named in honor of the former owner of the Boston Red Sox. 25 players will represent the YBL Stars and hope to compete and win in 2008.

Field Manager for the YBL Stars will be Mike Powers of the 10 time YBL Champion – Somerville Alibrandi Club. The Military Stars will be managed by Ivan Cruz of the Cruz Baseball Academy.

There is no charge for admission to this tremendous event. It will be covered by Comcast Cable of Boston and Brookline.

Any media info or requests should be directed to:

Dave McKay
President – Yawkey Baseball League
Email: yblprez@tmail.com
617-538-8277