For any Information
- Please contact our President :
Cheryl Collins
620 626-8825 home or 620
624-3891 work
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JAYHAWK LEAGUE
Celebrating 31
years in 2007
The Jayhawk League is Summer
Collegiate Baseball at its best! It is one of the
most prestigious, well scouted, and competitive
leagues in the nation. The Jayhawk League has teams
in two Midwestern states in the heartland of
America: Kansas and Missouri. The six-member league
has an automatic berth into the National Baseball
Congress World Series that is played in Wichita,
Kansas. The Jayhawk League is a wood bat league that
plays according to the American League rules.
Dozens of current Major League
stars have played in the Jayhawk League on their way
to stardom, surely to be followed by dozens more.
Some of the Jayhawk League alumni who have become
prominent Major League stars include Roger Clemens,
Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols,
Lance Berkman, Barry Bonds, Ozzie
Smith, Andy Benes, Trevor Hoffman, Doug Drabek, and
Chuck Knoblauch.
Jayhawk League teams continue to
dominate at the NBC World Series. They have won
three Championships and countless top finishes in
the past ten years. The Jayhawk League is recognized
as a premier league in the National Baseball
Congress.
The league consists of the Derby
Twins, Dodge City Desperados, El Dorado Broncos, Hays Larks, Liberal
BeeJays, Joplin Slashers of Joplin, MO, and
Nevada (MO) Griffons. |
Liberal
BeeJays Baseball has been a part of Liberal for 50 years.
The Liberal BeeJays semi-professional Baseball Program is
a member of the Jayhawk Conference under the governing body
of the National Baseball Congress (NBC) and is approved by
the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Local
Businesses buy out each home game making them
free to the public.
This
is your chance to see tomorrow's Major
League stars absolutely free. All
games are played at Brent
Gould Field on the campus of Seward Community College. In
addition to winning the Jayhawk League Championship
13 times, the BeeJays have won 4 national titles, and have
been runners up many other times. The last few years have
been very successful for the ball club, placing fourth in
both the 1998 and 1999 NBC World Series, and winning it all
in 2000! BeeJays share more than a baseball diamond with
the City of Liberal. They
share our homes, our heritage. They become a part of our summertime
experiences and Liberal becomes a part of them. As
some summertime parents will let you know, letting go of their
BeeJays is like letting go of their own children. Although
our BeeJays may come from colleges and universities across
the nation, their
jersey's read "LIBERAL" BeeJays. They represent
our community, our spirit, and our history. They take with them
a piece of Liberal when they return to their universities
or move on to their professional ball teams.
We know that team name "BJ" was derived from the
name Ban Johnson. But who was he?
Byron Bancroft Johnson was the creator of the American League.
Ban Johnson began his baseball career at Marietta College.
After his college career ended, he moved into journalism,
working for the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. Johnson then
took over a struggling minor league circuit in 1893.He turned
the Western League into a financial success.
In 1899 he changed the name to the American League and petitioned
to be included in the National League. The National League
ignored Johnson, leaving him standing in the hall without
hearing his case. This proved to be a mistake.
When the National League released its four least profitable
teams, Johnson scooped them up and began luring National League
players into the American league by offering them $500 per
season. His plan paid off, and in 1903 the National League
and American League officially recognized each other as a
major league.
Ban Johnson's promise was to offer clean baseball, low-ticket
prices and a wholesome family atmosphere inside the ballpark.
He kept his commitment for seventeen years, until poor health
forced him out of his position as president of the American
League.
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Liberal
BeeJays
