Veteran coach Greg Soaib recently was inducted into the Missouri American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame. (Photo provided)
Photo provided
Veteran coach Greg Soaib recently was inducted into the Missouri American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.
Soaib, who grew up in Ballwin and now lives in Ellisville, coached the Ballwin Post 611 team. He enjoyed much success.
Ballwin Post 611 won 14 District 10 Titles and seven Missouri Zone 4 Championships.
His teams reached the Missouri state championship series a total of five times. Post 611 played for the state title in 1986, 1988, 1992, 1993 and 1998.
Soiab worked with many athletes over the years. He saw three of his athletes become Major League players.
From left: Pony Express Post 359 in St. Joseph Commander Jerome Goolsby, Missouri State Zone 1 Commissioner Kent Getsee and Ballwin Post 611 Head Coach Greg Soaib. (Photo provided)
Photo provided
John Dettmer, who graduated from Lafayette in 1988 and played at the University of Missouri, was drafted and played for the Texas Rangers. Jeff Gray, a 1999 Lafayette graduate who attended Missouri State, played for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Scott Van Slyke, who played on the freshman team in 2005 as a Chesterfield native, graduated from John Burroughs and went on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds.
Soaib also had 36 players who played in the minor leagues. An untold number of his players became college athletes.
“I started coaching Legion ball in 1986 when I injured my arm before my freshman year in college,” Soaib said. “Tom Dix, Saint Louis University’s former coach, took over Ballwin Legion (program) for the summer. He liked what he saw the year before and asked if I would be interested in coaching and I agreed.”
One of Soaib’s biggest highlights over the years was coaching his son, Jordan, and watching his Junior Legion Team win a national regional championship in 2009.
Coaching was a labor of love for Soiab.
“Me and all the coaches in our program loved working with these guys. We all respect each other,” Soaib said. “Some of my favorite times with all of this is when we get together for an annual alumni game at the ballpark. We average 85 former Ballwin Legion players and most of their families show up and play a baseball game.
“The storytelling about how great they were and how much fun they had playing Legion ball. Some will say it was the best time of their lives.”