Cape Cod Baseball League
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| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1885 |
| Motto | Where the Stars of Tomorrow Shine Tonight |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country(ies) |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Harwich Mariners |
| Official website | Capecodbaseball.org |
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, in which many college baseball stars play during the summer. Many future Major League Baseball players have started there during their college years; MLB has provided financial support to the Cape League for over 40 years. During the 2008 MLB season, 205 CCBL alumni played in the majors or were on injured reserve;[1] additionally over 1,000 CCBL alumni were playing in professional baseball in 2006.[2] The league is also notable for its continuing use of wooden bats. Because it draws top-tier college players, the level of play is often considered the equivalent of high-A Minor League Baseball.[citation needed]
The CCBL Hall of Fame is located in the "Dugout", the lower-level of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum in Hyannis, Massachusetts.[3] The Cape Cod Baseball League is one of eight leagues in the National Alliance of Summer Baseball.[4]
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[edit] Teams
The Cape Cod League regular season starts in mid-June and runs through mid-August. The playoffs determine the East and West Division Champions, who then compete for the League Championship.
| Division | Team | Town | Home Field | Most Recent Championship [5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | Bourne Braves | Bourne | Doran Park (at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School) | 2009 |
| Cotuit Kettleers | Cotuit | Lowell Park | 2010 | |
| Falmouth Commodores | Falmouth | Arnie Allen Diamond at Guv Fuller Field | 1980 | |
| Hyannis Harbor Hawks | Hyannis | McKeon Park (Pope John Paul II High School (Hyannis, Massachusetts)) | 1991 | |
| Wareham Gatemen | Wareham | Clem Spillane Field (Wareham High School) | 2002 | |
| East | Brewster Whitecaps | Brewster | Stony Brook Field (Stony Brook Elementary School) | 2000 |
| Chatham Anglers | Chatham | Veteran's Field | 1998 | |
| Harwich Mariners | Harwich | Whitehouse Field (Harwich High School) | 2011 | |
| Orleans Firebirds | Orleans | Eldredge Park (Nauset Regional Middle School) | 2005 | |
| Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox | South Yarmouth | Red Wilson Field (Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School) | 2007 |
Three of the teams in the Cape League share their names with MLB teams. (The Harwich Mariners are not "named after" the Seattle Mariners, as they pre-date the 1977 American League expansion.) However, in late 2008 Major League Baseball enforced its trademark and required teams to either change their names or buy their uniforms and merchandise only through licensed vendors. As a result, the Chatham Athletics changed their team name to "Anglers", and the Orleans Cardinals changed their name to "Firebirds".[6] In March 2010 the Hyannis Mets joined the Anglers and Firebirds, changing their team name to "Harbor Hawks".[7]
[edit] Former teams
- North Truro Blue Sox- A team made up of men from the North Truro Air Force Station
[edit] Former venues
- Keith Field- Location of the Bourne Braves until 2007; named for the former Keith Car plant that was once on the site
[edit] The Cape Cod League in popular culture
The Cape Cod League was the setting for the 2001 Hollywood film Summer Catch. The 2003 documentary film Touching the Game by Jim Carroll chronicled the 2003 CCBL season and explored the league's history.
There are several books on the Cape League. Baseball by the Beach (ISBN 0-9719547-4-7) by Christopher Price was published in 1998 and discusses the league and its history. In 2002, writer Jim Collins followed the Chatham Athletics (now the Chatham Anglers) for the season and wrote The Last Best League (ISBN 0-306-81418-8) about the team and its players. Baseball on Cape Cod (Images of Baseball) (ISBN 0-7385-4508-7) by Dan Crowley has many photos of the early and modern Cape League eras. The 2004 novel Slider (ISBN 0-06-058033-X) by Patrick Robinson takes place in a Maine summer league, but is actually based on the Cape League. In 2005, Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats (ISBN 1-4196-0508-9) by author Steve Weissman and Cape Crusaders (ISBN 1-4137-6232-8) by author Mike Thomas were published. The latter focuses on player interviews, while the former goes behind the scenes of a typical Cape League season.
There are also several active blogs that follow the Cape League, including Right Field Fog and Codball.
[edit] References
- ^ CCBL - Alumni in Major League Baseball 2008 Retrieved on 2009-06-19.
- ^ CCBL - Alumni in Professional Baseball 2006. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
- ^ New Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and Museum in Hyannis Opens to the Public on Tuesday, July 22. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
- ^ National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
- ^ http://www.capecodbaseball.org/archives/Records/awards_Champions.htm
- ^ Katie Thomas (October 24, 2008). "In Cape Cod League, It's Tradition vs. Trademark". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EFDE103CF937A15753C1A96E9C8B63. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100322/SPORTS/3220310/-1/sports
[edit] External links
- Cape Cod Baseball League
- Cape Cod Times Cape League home page
- Cape League Insider Blog
- CodBall: Unofficial Blog of the CCBL
- Right Field Fog
- The College Baseball Blog: Cape Cod League Coverage
- Touching the Game: The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League DVD
[edit] Team websites
- Bourne Braves
- Brewster Whitecaps
- Chatham Anglers
- Cotuit Kettleers
- Falmouth Commodores
- Harwich Mariners
- Hyannis Harborhawks
- Orleans Firebirds
- Wareham Gatemen
- Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox
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