Whatever the cause, home runs flew out of the 2025 American Legion World Series at a record rate.
Ever since the American Legion World Series came to Shelby, N.C., for the first time in 2008, one of the traditions of the event was the lack of home run power since Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium was a spacious, former minor league venue.
All of that was turned on its ear in 2025 as a record number of home runs flew out of the stadium.
What was the reason?
Nobody’s completely sure, though two primary theories have been pushed by veteran coaches, players and even an ALWS field maintenance worker who is the coach of the team that calls the stadium its home.
“I’ve been here the last four years and I think I would see four or five home runs at the most,” League City (Tex.) head coach Ronnie Oliver said. “You really had to get on it to get it over the fence.
“Maybe there’s some balloons in these baseballs. There’s something about them. We’re using the (Diamond) D1-AL’s, which is what we normally use. Maybe the boys are just stronger.”
The other theory is based on the increased velocity of pitches these days that appears to help create power for the hitters.
“Faster pitches means they help generate the power for you,” said League City’s Jackson Higgins, the 2025 All-ALWS third baseman and winner of the James F. Daniel, Jr. Sportsmanship Award. “That makes some sense to me.”
On the advertisement for the baseball that was being used, it promotes itself as the “Official Ball of the American Legion World Series, Cushioned cork center, Finest grade grey wool winding, Premium full-grain leather cover.”
“Those baseballs seemed hot as a firecracker during the World Series, that’s for sure,” said Charlie Ruff, who is Shelby Post 82’s head coach and also works for the field maintenance team each year in the ALWS. “I got my hands on a baseball and I thought as that the leather was harder than normal.”
Bossier City (La.) head coach Dane Peavy agreed with Ruff and also pointed to a difference in the seams of the baseball.
“The ball seems to be wound a little bit tighter and with lower seams,” Peavy said.
Whatever the cause, the statistical data was overwhelming that something different was going on.
Thirty-seven home runs were hit this year, a total nearly triple the largest number previously hit in a Shelby ALWS — and that came all the way back in 2008 (14).
Both totals were hit in a venue whose dimensions are 325 feet down each foul line, 355 feet the alleys and 390 feet in straightaway center.
Additionally, only five home runs total were hit in 2024 and three in 2023.
Also in 2025, at least one home run was hit in 14 of the 15 games, with each team hitting at least one.
Oliver’s League City team, which finished as the 2025 ALWS runner-up, led the way with nine round-trippers.
They were followed by Portland (Ore.) with 8, eventual ALWS champion Chesapeake (Va.) with seven, Lincoln (Neb.) with five, Bossier City with four, Rockport (Ind.) with two and Asheville (N.C.) and Greece (N.Y.) with one apiece.
The all-time record for home runs in the ALWS is held by the 2007 ALWS in Bartlesville (Okla.) with 46 total and Tucson (Ariz.) slugging a record 16 in the ALWS.
“It’s neat to see,” Peavy said of the increased power in Shelby this season. “It gives the fans something to cheer about.
“I’m not sure if it was the balls, or the bats, or even the weather. But it was certainly something different.”
- Baseball