With the proliferation of the Long Island baseball scene, the opportunities for young ballplayers continues to expand. With more players comes more facilities, leagues, showcases and tournaments. One of those leagues is the LI Hot Stove League. According to their owner, Dennis Baggia, the league was formed in 2014 and has continued to grow each year. We will be providing coverage of their league this summer and I had the chance to speak with Baggia briefly and here’s what he had to say.
What was your motivation for beginning LI Hot Stove? How many teams are involved in your leagues and tournaments?
LI Hot Stove was started because we believed that there was room for a professional organized league that gave back to the teams that played in it. In 2017 approximately 1200 teams played in our league in tournaments.
Do you have any goals for expansion?
We have grown 30 percent every year since our opening. We expect to continue that.
What would you like to change about the state of amateur baseball?
We would like to decrease the costs to encourage more participation in baseball
With the proliferation of showcases, tournaments and year-round training it seems LI Baseball is on the rise. Would you agree with that ?
Yes baseball participation is on the rebound.
You can check out their website to register to tournaments and leagues by clicking here.
