(Zachary Priehs: Reporter) BASEBALL. AMERICA’S PAST TIME. BUT AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL IN SYRACUSE HAD BEEN LEFT JUST THERE, IN THE PAST UNTIL THIS YEAR, WHEN CHARLES IAVARONE BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE PRESENT.
(Charles Iavarone: Baseball Manager for the American Legion Post 1468) if you could do anything in the world, any job in the world, and you didn’t have to worry about money what would it be? And I said well that’s simple, I would be a baseball manager…
(Zachary Priehs: Reporter) American legion baseball is a competitive baseball league that boasts over half of current major leaguers as alumni and has teams in all fifty U.S. states.
Now because of Iavarone’s decision, 19 kids are apart of the Syracuse Legion Baseball team.
Iavarone, an Iraqi war veteran, said his time in the army made him a better coach.
(Charles Iavarone: Baseball Manager for the American Legion Post 1468) They teach you this in the Army how to build a team, and how to bring people together, and that’s what I’m good at…”)
(Zachary Priehs: Reporter) He also says being a part of a team teaches the youth life lessons beyond the playing field.
(Charles Iavarone: Baseball Manager for the American Legion Post 1468) They’re going to be out there in the community helping with projects that we do, and some of that is going to be driven by them. I’m going to ask them what they want to do, do they want to spend a day helping habitat for humanity …”)
(Zachary Priehs: Reporter) The team, which is called American Legion Post 1468, has their first game coming up this Saturday, that’s the first game of what will be a sixteen game schedule this season “)
(Zachary Priehs: Reporter) Thanks to people like Charles Iavarone the youth of Syracuse can experience joy and camaraderie this season that only comes from team sports.
Zachary Priehs NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — With baseball season in full swing across America, one storied organization has made it’s way back to Syracuse.
American Legion Baseball has returned to the Salt City for the first time in over 50 years.
The organization, which has a rich history of producing Major League talent (more than half of active major leaguers played American Legion Baseball somewhere in the country), will look to continue this. But there’s more to sports than just going pro.
Just ask Charles Iavarone, the manager of the American Legion team in Syracuse, called American Legion post 1468.
“They’re going to be out there in the community helping with projects that we do, and some of that is going to be driven by them. I’m going to ask them what they want to do, do they want to spend a day helping habitat for humanity,” Iavarone said.
Iavarone said this is right where he wants to be since money isn’t a concern anymore after signing his Veterans Association disability benefits.
“If you could do anything in the world, any job in the world, and you didn’t have to worry about money what would it be? And I said well that’s simple, I would be a baseball manager,” he said.
And by the sound of it, Iavarone could work this job for quite some time, continuing to build up the next generation of youth, both on and off the diamond.
