Cape Cod Baseball League
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1885 |
| Motto | Where the Stars of Tomorrow Shine Tonight |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox |
| Official website | Cape Cod Baseball League: Home |
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. 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.[1] During the 2014 MLB season, 265 CCBL alumni played in the majors;[2] additionally over 1,000 CCBL alumni were playing in professional baseball in 2006.[3]
The CCBL Hall of Fame is located in the "Dugout", the lower-level of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum in Hyannis, Massachusetts.[4] The Cape Cod Baseball League is one of 10 leagues in the National Alliance of Summer Baseball.[5]
Teams
The Cape Cod League regular season starts in mid-June and runs through mid-August.[6] The playoffs determine the East and West Division Champions, who then compete for the League Championship.
| Division | Team | Town/ Village | Home Field | Most Recent Championship[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | Bourne Braves | Bourne | Doran Park (at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School) | 2009 |
| Cotuit Kettleers | Cotuit | Lowell Park | 2013 | |
| Falmouth Commodores | Falmouth | Arnie Allen Diamond at Guv Fuller Field | 1980 | |
| Hyannis Harbor Hawks | Hyannis | McKeon Park (Pope John Paul II High School) | 1991 | |
| Wareham Gatemen | Wareham | Clem Spillane Field (Wareham High School) | 2012 | |
| East | Brewster Whitecaps | Brewster | Stony Brook Field (Stony Brook Elementary School) | 2000 |
| Chatham Anglers | Chatham | Veteran's Field | 1998 | |
| Harwich Mariners | Harwich | Whitehouse Field (Monomoy Regional 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) | 2015[8] |
At one time, six of the teams in the Cape League shared their names with Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. However, in late 2008 MLB announced that it would enforce its trademarks, and required teams to either change their names or buy their uniforms and merchandise only through licensed vendors. MLB could not enforce the "Mariners" trademark against the Harwich Mariners because that team predated the 1977 American League expansion and the entry of the Seattle Mariners into MLB. Three other teams eventually changed their names. First, in 2009, the Chatham Athletics became the "Anglers", and the Orleans Cardinals became the "Firebirds".[9] In March 2010 the Hyannis Mets joined the Anglers and Firebirds, changing their team name to "Harbor Hawks".[10] The Bourne Braves and Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox chose to use MLB licensees for their merchandise.
Championships
| Year | Champion | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Y-D | Hyannis |
| 2014 | Y-D | Falmouth |
| 2013 | Cotuit | Orleans |
| 2012 | Wareham | Y-D |
| 2011 | Harwich | Falmouth |
| 2010 | Cotuit | Y-D |
| 2009 | Bourne | Cotuit |
| 2008 | Harwich | Cotuit |
| 2007 | Y-D | Falmouth |
| 2006 | Y-D | Wareham |
| 2005 | Orleans | Bourne |
| 2004 | Y-D | Falmouth |
| 2003 | Orleans | Bourne |
| 2002 | Wareham | Orleans |
| 2001 | Wareham | Chatham |
| 2000 | Brewster | Hyannis |
| 1999 | Cotuit | Chatham |
| 1998 | Chatham | Wareham |
| 1997 | Wareham | Harwich |
| 1996 | Chatham | Falmouth |
| 1995 | Cotuit | Chatham |
| 1994 | Wareham | Brewster |
| 1993 | Orleans | Wareham |
| 1992 | Chatham | Cotuit |
| 1991 | Hyannis | Chatham |
| 1990 | Y-D | Wareham |
| 1989 | Y-D | Chatham |
| 1988 | Wareham | Orleans |
| 1987 | Harwich | Y-D |
| 1986 | Orleans | Cotuit |
| 1985 | Cotuit | Chatham |
| 1984 | Cotuit | Wareham |
| 1983 | Harwich | Cotuit |
| 1982 | Chatham | Hyannis |
| 1981 | Cotuit | Orleans |
| Year | Champion | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Falmouth | Chatham |
| 1979 | Hyannis | Harwich |
| 1978 | Hyannis | Harwich |
| 1977 | Cotuit | Y-D |
| 1976 | Wareham | Chatham |
| 1975 | Cotuit | Falmouth |
| 1974 | Cotuit | Orleans |
| 1973 | Cotuit | Yarmouth |
| 1972 | Cotuit | Chatham |
| 1971 | Falmouth | Orleans |
| 1970 | Falmouth | Orleans |
| 1969 | Falmouth | Chatham |
| 1968 | Falmouth | Harwich |
| 1967 | Chatham | Falmouth |
| 1966 | Falmouth | Chatham |
| 1965 | Sagamore | Chatham |
| 1964 | Cotuit | Chatham |
| 1963 | Cotuit | Orleans |
| 1962 | Cotuit | |
| 1961 | Cotuit | |
| 1960 | Yarmouth | |
| 1959 | Sagamore | |
| 1958 | Yarmouth | |
| 1957 | Orleans | |
| 1956 | Sagamore | |
| 1955 | Orleans | |
| 1954 | Sagamore | |
| 1953 | Orleans | |
| 1952 | Orleans | |
| 1951 | Sagamore | |
| 1950 | Orleans | |
| 1949 | Orleans | |
| 1948 | Orleans | |
| 1947 | Orleans | |
| 1946 | Falmouth |
Former teams
Pre-modern teams on Cape Cod
- Orleans Pants Factory
- Sandwich Athletics
- Harwich team
- West Falmouth team
- Chatham team
- Cottage Club
- Mashpee team
- Orleans team
League teams
- Barnstable Townies[13]
- Bourne Canalmen- Predecessors to the Bourne Braves
- Sagamore Clouters- Another Bourne team
- North Truro Blue Sox- A team made up of men from the North Truro Air Force Station
- Provincetown Longpointers
Outstanding Prospect Award winners
- 1976 – Steve Taylor, RHP[14]
- 1976 – Bobby Sprowl, LHP
- 1977 – Steve Balboni, 1B
- 1977 – Brian Denman, RHP
- 1978 – Bill Schroeder, C
- 1979 – Ross Jones, OF
- 1980 – Ron Darling, RHP
- 1981 – Wade Rowdon, SS
- 1982 – Gary Kanwisher, RHP[15]
- 1983 – Cory Snyder, SS
- 1984 – Mike Loggins, OF[16]
- 1985 – John Ramos, C
- 1986 – Cris Carpenter, RHP
- 1987 – Robin Ventura, 3B
- 1988 – Chuck Knoblauch, SS
- 1989 – Tyler Green, RHP
- 1990 – Doug Glanville, OF
- 1991 – Derek Wallace, RHP
- 1992 – Billy Wagner, LHP
- 1993 – Chris Clemons, RHP
- 1994 – Dave Shepard, RHP[17]
- 1995 – Josh Paul, OF
- 1996 – Matt Anderson, RHP
- 1997 – Kip Wells, RHP
- 1998 – Kyle Snyder, RHP
- 1999 – Mark Teixeira, 3B
- 2000 – Bob Brownlie, RHP[18]
- 2001 – Russ Adams, 2B
- 2002 – Wes Whisler, 1B
- 2003 – Wade Townsend, RHP
- 2004 – Tyler Greene, SS
- 2005 – Andrew Miller, LHP
- 2006 – Matt Wieters, C
- 2007 – Aaron Crow, RHP
- 2008 – Grant Green, SS
- 2009 – Todd Cunningham, OF
- 2010 – Tony Zych, RHP
- 2011 – Victor Roache, OF
- 2012 – Sean Manaea, LHP
- 2013 – Max Pentecost, C
- 2014 – Phil Bickford, RHP[19]
In popular culture
The Cape Cod League was the setting for the 2001 Hollywood film Summer Catch, directed by Michael Tollin and starring Freddie Prinze Jr.[21] The 2003 documentary film Touching the Game by Jim Carroll chronicled the 2003 CCBL season and explored the league's history.[22]
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 978-0-7385-3508-1) 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.
References
- ^ Cape Cod Baseball League Sponsors
- ^ Eileen Ogintz (July 17, 2014). "Taking the Kids -- and meeting future baseball superstars on Cape Cod". Fox News. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- ^ CCBL – Alumni in Professional Baseball 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
- ^ New Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and Museum in Hyannis Opens to the Public on Tuesday, July 22. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
- ^ National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. Retrieved March 29, 2013
- ^ PointStreak.com – Schedule
- ^ "Cape Cod Baseball League Archives".
- ^ 1898 Cape Cod Baseball League season
- ^ Katie Thomas (October 24, 2008). "In Cape Cod League, It's Tradition vs. Trademark". New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ 2010 Article
- ^ Cape League Championships
- ^ Cape League Championships
- ^ [1] About Jack Aylmer, former player on the Barnstable Townies who founded the Hyannis Mets
- ^ Baseball Reference – Steve Taylor page
- ^ Baseball Reference – Gary Kanwisher page
- ^ Baseball Reference – Mike Loggins page
- ^ Baseball Reference – David Shepard page
- ^ Baseball Reference – Bobby Brownlie page
- ^ http://www.capecodbaseball.org/news/season/?article_id=1896
- ^ Fangraphs.com – Major League careers of CCBL Awards winners
- ^ "Summer Catch". IMDB. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
- ^ Touching the Game website
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