COURTESY OF THE CAPE COD BASEBALL LEAGUE: The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox celebrate their third straight Cape Cod League championship. (photo by SportsPix)
WEST YARMOUTH – Managers and general managers from all 10 Cape Cod Baseball League teams gathered together for the annual welcome breakfast at the 99 Restaurant in West Yarmouth Sunday morning to officially kick off the 132nd season of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
After brief remarks made by Director of Public Relations John Garner as well as CCBL President Chuck Sturtevant, Commissioner Paul Galop approached the podium to introduce the 2017 Hall of Fame class. Players and personnel are selected by a committee that evaluates the individual’s contribution to the league during their time on the Cape.
The 2017 Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted in November, includes:
● P Dennis Long (Hyannis, ‘77, ‘78, ‘79)
● P Justin Masterson (Wareham, ‘05)*
● C/DH Tim McIntosh (Chatham, ‘85)
● OF Steve Newell (Wareham, ‘73)
● P Jeremy Sowers (Wareham, ‘03)*
● INF Joey Cora (Chatham, ‘84)
● Tom Yankis (Orleans)
● Chuck Sturtevant, President
(* Denotes Major League Baseball player)
In addition to the 8 inductees, retired CCBL VP, Jim Higgins will receive the Fred Ebbett Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years of service to the league. Lance Niekro, who played for Orleans in the summer of 1999 and inducted to the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2006, but unable to attend, will also be honored during this year’s ceremonies and will walk with the 2017 class.
The coaches of each team then took time to preview their seasons. Between the 10 gentlemen, they have amassed over 150 years of coaching experience for the Cape League.
From the most tenured coach, John Schiffner of the Chatham Anglers (25 years) to first year coach of the Wareham Gateman, Don Sneddon, they bring their own unique styles and personalities to the league and are all looking forward to competing for the championship. However, the one thing they all have in common was the burning desire to prevent 3 time defending champion, Yarmouth-Dennis, from making it four in a row.
Sneddon, who has had success coaching against Y-D skipper, Scott Pickler, in the California Community College Baseball League joked in his speech that being able to beat Pickler was the only reason Wareham hired him. With the College Baseball Super Regionals coming to a close, the College World Series on the horizon, and the MLB Draft taking place this week, the coaches are eager to get their teams settled in and take the field.
The 132nd season is looking to be as competitive as the Cape League has ever been. 168 CCBL players played for their college teams in the College Baseball regionals with 62 of them moving on to play in the Super Regionals. Also, the 2017 Major League Baseball season finds 297 CCBL alumni playing on major league ball clubs, including current standouts, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (Brewster), George Springer and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros (Wareham), and Red Sox ace Chris Sale (Y-D).
The quest for the championship begins on Wednesday, June 14th with Cotuit at Bourne, Chatham at Falmouth, and Wareham at Hyannis at 6 PM, YD at Harwich at 6:30 PM and Brewster at Orleans at 7 PM.
For more information about the league or your local CCBL teams, please visit www.CapeCodBaseball.org
By MATT ST. JEAN, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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