May

9

Team USA Take 6 from Cape League Rosters

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

Our friends at the College Baseball Blog alerted us today to the fact that a number of CCBL players were named this week to TEAM USA, this country’s baseball bid to the Olympics.  Six of the twelve named were listed on Cape Cod Baseball League rosters for the 2008 season:

CCBL - Christian Colon INF R/R Fr. Cal State Fullerton Corora, Calif.
CCBL - Kyle Gibson RHP R/R So. Missouri Greenfield, Ind.
CCBL - AJ Griffin RHP R/R So. San Diego El Cajon, Calif.
CCBL - Mike Minor LHP L/L So. Vanderbilt Chapel Hill, Tenn.
CCBL - Hunter Morris 1B L/R Fr. Auburn Huntsville, Ala.
CCBL - Andrew Oliver LHP L/L So. Oklahoma State Vermillion, Okla.

The remaining TEAM USA includes:

Kentrail Davis OF L/R Fr. Tennessee Theodore, Ala.
Josh Fellhauer OF L/L So. Cal State Fullerton Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Mike Leake RHP/UTL R/R So. Arizona State Fallbrook, Calif.
Bryan Morgado LHP L/L R-Fr. Tennessee Miami, Fla.
Aaron Senne OF L/L So. Missouri Rochester, Minn.
Jason Stoffel RHP R/R So. Arizona Agoura, Calif.

Cape teams seem to continue to recruit the top talent.  A loss for the Cape but a win for TEAM USA.

May

3

UCLA Looks Like a Cape League All-Star Team

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 6 Comments

Cape-rich UCLA came to Seattle last weekend to play a three-game series against the Washington Huskies.  The UCLA Bruins, ranked number one at the beginning of the college baseball calendar, has struggled so far but is exciting to watch with 14 current and past Cape Cod Baseball League players on its roster this season.

On a sunny Friday evening on the UW campus, it felt very much like a summer warm-up on the Cape.  There was Jermaine Curtis (Chatham ‘07) hustling down the first base line after a walk, just like last summer.  There was Ryan Babineau (Brewster ‘07) catching top pro prospect Tim Murphy (Chatham ‘07).  There was Charles Brewer brewing up another win.

Murphy is picked by Baseball America as the 28th top pro prospect. I watched his performance last Friday against the Huskies.  His fast ball topped out at 90 with most in the mid to upper 80s.  He mixes his pitches well, and throws a nice curve for strikes.  He was not dominating.  A lefty, his move to first is good but he did get called for a balk.

Brewer, who is again on the Chatham roster, also topped out at 90 but went 6.1 innings with 5 hits and one run.

The treat for me was Casey Haerther (first base) who will play his first season with the Chatham As.  He hit a towering home run in the sixth inning off Cam Nobles of the Huskies who had been in a tight pitching duel with Brewer.  Haerther’s two-run homer gave UCLA the lead which they built upon for the remainder of the game.

UCLA’s Cape roster includes the following 2008 Cape players:  Garrett Claypool (Brewster), Justin Uribe (Brewster), Charles Brewer (Chatham), Gavin Brooks (Chatham), Casey Haerther (Chatahm), Blair Dunlop (Cotuit), Gabe Cohen (Falmouth), Dan Klein (Falmouth), Rob Rasmussen (Orleans), Erik Goeddel (Y-D).

Also on the UCLA team from the 2007 Cape season are: Brandon Crawford (Orleans), Ryan Babineau (Brewster), Tim Murphy (Brewster), Charles Brewer (Chatham).

Apr

29

Random “Hot” or “Not”

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | 2 Comments

Here is an early season look at who’s hot and who’s not in MLB, among ex-Cape Leaguers.   This list is in no way meant to look at all (or even most) players.   As the title says, it’s random.   Very random.   Any stats referenced are through Sunday’s games.

HOT:

Joe Saunders (Harwich / L.A. Angels).  4-0 with a 2.55 ERA to start the season.   Hugely important to the Angels rotation which is without John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar.

Chase Utley (Cotuit / Philadelphia).  One of the best players in the game is batting .374.

Pat Burrell (Hyannis / Philadelphia).  8 HR and 25 RBI to go along with a surprising .354 BA.

Lance Berkman (Wareham / Houston).  Off to a solid start with .312 Avg., 8 HR, 23 RBI.

Conor Jackson (Bourne / Arizona).   Named NL Player of the Week on April 21.   Batting .351 while hitting in the middle of the Diamondbacks lineup.

Micah Owings  (Bourne / Arizona).  Not impressed with his 4-0 record on the mound ?   How about his .389 BA ?   Good enough bat to be used as a pinchhitter.   3-3 with two runs scored and an RBI in Sunday’s game.

Kevin Youkilis  (Bourne / Boston).  .319 BA and a MLB record for consecutive games without an error by a firstbaseman.   Hugely important part of the Red Sox infield with the ability to play thirdbase in Mike Lowell’s absence.

Jacoby Ellsbury (Falmouth / Boston).  Exciting player.   .280 BA with 3 HR and 11RBI, mostly out of the leadoff spot.   Tremendous speed and fun to watch in the outfield.   Hey Greg, I finally got a Commodore in here.

Justin Masterson (Wareham / Boston).   Well, he was hot for one day anyway.   After not pitching higher than AA, threw six innings of one-run, two-hit ball against a good Angels lineup.   Then the Red Sox bullpen came on and tossed some gasoline on the fire and Masterson ended up with a no-decision.   His strong performance earned him a ticket back to the minors but he is on the fast track back to Boston.   It was a lot of fun to stand behind the backstop and watch Masterson pitch at Spillane Field a few years ago.

David Aardsma  (Falmouth / Boston).   OK, he isn’t all that “hot” and this isn’t meant to be a Red Sox post.   This is another shout-out to Greg about another ex-Commodore who has become a serviceable member of the Red Sox bullpen.   1-1 with a 3.29 ERA.   As most everyone knows, Aardsma supplanted the Aaron brothers as the first player listed alphabetically in the baseball encyclopedia.   What does that have to do with anything ?   I don’t know.

Evan Longoria  (Chatham / Tampa Bay).   A .271 BA to go with 3 HR and 10 RBI in only 48 AB.   One of the games future stars for the first place Tampa Bay Rays.   I really just wanted a chance to type “first place Tampa Bay Rays” since I’ve never done that before.

David Murphy  (Wareham / Texas).   A .302 BA while playing full-time in the Rangers outfield.   There is a question as to whether Murphy will hit with power and he has only one homerun so far.

Billy Wagner  (Brewster / N.Y. Mets).   6 for 6 in save opportunities with only one hit allowed in 10 innings pitched.

Tim Lincecum  (Harwich / San Francisco).   Lincecum is one of few players to cheer about in S.F.   4-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 36 strike outs in 29+ innings.

NOT :

Barry Zito  (Wareham / San Francisco).   0-6 with an ERA approaching 7.50.   In the second year of a 7 year, 126 million dollar contract.   Just sent to the bullpen.   Nuff said.

Frank Thomas  (Orleans / Oakland).   Recently released by the Blue Jays.   Brings his sub-Mendoza Line batting average back to the Bay area.

Joe Blanton  (Bourne / Oakland).   2-4 with a 4.07 ERA while giving up 58 hits in 48+ innings.

Carlos Pena (Harwich and Wareham / Tampa Bay).   Coming off his 46 HR season, Pena is only batting .200 but does have 6 HR.

Jason Michaels  (Orleans / Cleveland).   Hey Carlos, can you move over and make room for Michaels ?    Both are perched right on the Mendoza Line.   A .200 BA with zero HR’s won’t get it done for the Indians.

Jensen Lewis  (Falmouth / Cleveland).   Only mentioned because the Tribe would like to see Lewis take over the closer role in Joe Borowski’s absence but there is concern because Lewis has lost 5 mph off his fastball.

Casey Blake  (Hyannis / Cleveland).   Blake is batting .224.   Probably not a good thing when three Indians show up on the “Not” side of “Hot.”   This may explain in part why the Indians are two games below .500.

Brad Hawpe (Y-D / Colorado).   One HR and only 8 RBI.   Probably nothing that a homestand at Red Wilson Field wouldn’t cure.

David Bush  (Chatham / Milwaukee).  Technically doesn’t belong here since he is not in the majors.   His 0-3, 6.75 ERA earned him a demotion to Nashville to clear a roster spot for Mike Cameron.

Jason Bartlett (Harwich / Tampa Bay).   Rays probably aren’t expecting much offensively from Bartlett but he has been offensive with a .207 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI start to his season.

Matt Murton  (Wareham / Cubs).   .091 BA, 0 HR, 3 RBI may find Murton back in the minors where he has already spent some time this season.

Nomar Garciaparra  (Orleans / L.A. Dodgers).   .226 / 1 / 5 and another trip to the DL.

Apr

27

Former Orleans Announcer Now Voice of the Crawdads

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

Not only do Cape Cod players go on to the professional ranks, so do the guys calling the play-by-play action up in the broadcast booth.  Sunday’s Charlotte Observer has a nice piece about Mike Janela, the 2006 voice of the Orleans Cardinals and now the voice of Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class-A Hickory Crawdads franchise in North Carolina.

In the summer of 2005, he did radio commentary for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League. “Yes,” he said, “they do play baseball in Alaska, at least for a few weeks each summer.”

The summer of 2006 found him doing play-by-play for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League, while last summer, after his graduation from Syracuse, he served as director of broadcasting for the Anderson, S.C., Joes of the South Coast League.

Apr

22

Yawkey Grant Money to Chatham and Harwich

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | 2 Comments

No surprise, since this had been mentioned earlier, but the Yawkey Foundation has awarded grant money to Chatham and Harwich. See the story in today’s Cape Cod Times : http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/SPORTS/804220312

This means that Yarmouth-Dennis and Orleans are the only two Cape League teams who have not received this grant. Chatham will use a portion of their money to extend safety netting at Veterans Field. A few months ago, the town of Orleans voted against putting up safety netting at Eldredge Park and that decision may have cost them a chance to receive one of these grants this year.

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