Cape Cod Baseball League

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

League Championships[11]
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
League Championships[12]
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

League teams

Outstanding Prospect Award winners

[20]

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

  1. ↑ Cape Cod Baseball League Sponsors
  2. ↑ Eileen Ogintz (July 17, 2014). "Taking the Kids -- and meeting future baseball superstars on Cape Cod". Fox News. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ CCBL – Alumni in Professional Baseball 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  4. ↑ New Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and Museum in Hyannis Opens to the Public on Tuesday, July 22. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
  5. ↑ National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. Retrieved March 29, 2013
  6. ↑ PointStreak.com – Schedule
  7. ↑ "Cape Cod Baseball League Archives".
  8. ↑ 1898 Cape Cod Baseball League season
  9. ↑ Katie Thomas (October 24, 2008). "In Cape Cod League, It's Tradition vs. Trademark". New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  10. ↑ 2010 Article
  11. ↑ Cape League Championships
  12. ↑ Cape League Championships
  13. ↑ About Jack Aylmer, former player on the Barnstable Townies who founded the Hyannis Mets
  14. ↑ Baseball Reference – Steve Taylor page
  15. ↑ Baseball Reference – Gary Kanwisher page
  16. ↑ Baseball Reference – Mike Loggins page
  17. ↑ Baseball Reference – David Shepard page
  18. ↑ Baseball Reference – Bobby Brownlie page
  19. ↑ http://www.capecodbaseball.org/news/season/?article_id=1896
  20. ↑ Fangraphs.com – Major League careers of CCBL Awards winners
  21. ↑ "Summer Catch". IMDB. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  22. ↑ Touching the Game website

External links

Team websites

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