I am going to have an alumni game which has never been done before. We have had baseball at this high school for 40 years. Any ideas on how to make this a special event? One that shows a touch of class......

quote:

Originally posted by Mike B:
I am going to have an alumni game which has never been done before. We have had baseball at this high school for 40 years. Any ideas on how to make this a special event? One that shows a touch of class......

I would include at least a few of the following:

- Paid umpires
- inductions to your schools baseball hall of fame
- retire a number
- have a nice dinner somewhere afterwards

Get the older guys to coach and I mean the older guys.

Have a little program with a bio of each alumni printed on them. Get them out several months ahead of time in order to get them back.

Are they going to play each other or your current team?

Reason I ask is

If they play each other check on insurance coverage in case someone gets hurt. See if the school covers them, get a cheap one or sign some sort of waiver.

If they play your current team check with your state association to see if this is allowed. I know some states only sanction contests (regular and scrimmage games) against other high school teams. Some say you can't play these games during the season - only in preseason.

Basically cover all bases so nothing jumps up and bites you in the rearend.

Another thing you may want to look at doing is take a home game per week and recognize a decade. Have them come out and throw a first pitch as a group to your players lined across the IF. Program with a bio and introduce them individually to come out to throw the first pitch.

First week of the season recognize the players who graduated in the 1960's

Second week of the season recognize those from the 70's

Third week is the 80's

Fourth week is the 90's.

Or you can do the last 4 weeks of the season. Only problem is rain and canceling / moving the game.

This is a great idea you got.

These are some good ideas, thanks. I do have umpires-- former athletic director, who does high school umpiring and current assistant principal who also umpires high school games. I am doing the game next month, so it is not during our baseball season. I am going to have the alumni play the alumni. Any other suggestions?

Home run derby where evey alum gets a partner who is a current player... add their scores together.

let me know how it goes. we did this for 2 or 3 years and always had them sign a waiver as far as insurance(getting actual insurance would be cheap though). never could get enough for alumni vs. alumni. always had to do it alumni vs. our current team. still went ok. we used it as a fundraiser. we charged them a donation( be surprised how big a donation some will give) to play and fed them afterwards. seemed to always enjoy it. but with our new limited scrimmage rules i quit doing it. this is the 25th anniversary of the 1985 state championship team so im trying to figure out some way to honor them - so im looking for the same type ideas. good luck with this. doing it in the fall is a good idea.