It seems that every year either during the Junior Classic or the Upper Midwest Classic, there are out-of-town or out-of-state baseball fans who inevitably ask the question “When is New Ulm going to bid for another Regional American Legion baseball tournament?”

People say with the great facilities that New Ulm has in Johnson and Mueller Parks, the history of running first-class tournaments, the great food and now the new video scoreboard at Johnson Park, it should be a no-brainer to put in a bid for one.

New Ulm has hosted four American Legion Regional Tournaments — 1957, 1985 (where New Ulm won the Regional and advanced to the Legion World Series), 1988 and 2003.

New Ulm and Johnson Park already have hosted very successful tournaments in the two Classics, the Section 2AAA high school baseball tournament that has been in New Ulm for the past three years and will remain here, the Region 2C amateur tournament (that is back in New Ulm this year again), various sub-state and sub-state and District Legion tournaments at both parks.

But now bidding for a Regional Legion Tournament has changed.

“Bidding on a Regional Tournament was always on a two-year basis,” Vern Kitzberger, New Ulm resident and a member of the Minnesota American Legion Baseball Board, said. “And nobody from Minnesota has bid on one for quite some time. And at the last American Legion Baseball Committee meeting, they elected to select permanent sites for their Regionals, so after this year, Regionals will be going to permanent sites.”

Kitzberger said that the reason or reasons for that decision has not been made known to him.

“But money is always a factor,” he said. “Maybe whoever gets the permanent Regionals will do a lot of upgrading on their stadiums.”

When asked if New Ulm would bid, Kitzberger said that sites now would be in bigger towns.

While the Regionals are no longer an option for now, this year’s DI Minnesota State American Legion State Tournament is being held in New Ulm July 30 through August 2.

And having the DI State Tournament in an out-state venue is a rarity.

“New Ulm had the tournament in 2009, and the next year Hibbing hosted it in 2010, and since then the state has been held in a bigger out-state town like St. Cloud or Rochester or else in the outer ring of the Metro area,” Kitzberger said.

Kitzberger said that last year, the State Legion Commander expressed an interest in seeing the DI State Tournament held out-state more often so that more people could experience the event.

“So the committee asked if New Ulm would be a host,” he said. “So we sat down and did some numbers and presented a bid and got selected.”

Kitzberger said that the biggest hurdle in hosting a DI state tournament is the cost of hotels.

“We have to house at least 14 teams — possibly 15 — for the tournament,” he said.

But New Ulm will get financial help from the State Legion Committee.

“They will pay for 50 percent of the rooms up to a certain maximum,” Kitzberger said.

Kitzberger said that the State Legion Board likes to have good facilities for all of its tournaments.

“That does not always happen. And you need four fields the first two days and then two fields after that,” Kitzberger said. “Not everyone has access to that.”

The first two days will see games at both Johnson and Mueller Parks in New Ulm and at Sleepy Eye and Springfield, with all games after that being played at Johnson and Mueller Parks in New Ulm.

Kitzberger said that being able to host a State DI Legion Tournament means pride in showing off the great ballparks.

“We are not just using Johnson and Mueller Parks here in New Ulm, and Mueller Park is the best second ballpark in any community that I have been in, and we are also using Sleepy Eye and Springfield,” he said. “And those are two top-notch ballparks also. There is a strong interest in volunteering here and as well as in Sleepy Eye and Springfield.”