Jun

14

Game One: John Wylde Night

Posted by Greg | Filed Under Games | 

Editor’s Note:  Our report tonight is filed by Jarred Amato, a senior at Vanderbilt University.  He is studying English & History and pursuing a career in sports journalism. This summer he’ll be all over the Cape doing what he loves best, writing about baseball, primarily as an intern for the Hyannis Mets.

Photos from Eric Wirtanen (complete set of photos on Flickr).

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UPDATED! It was an opening night that John Wylde said he will never forget. You can be sure that none of us in attendance will either.

Spillane FieldFans flocked to Spillane Field to recognize Wylde, the Wareham Gatemen President, for 25 years of service. The press box, Wylde’s favorite spot, was re-named in his honor, and CCBL commissioner Paul Galop announced Wylde’s induction into the CCBL Hall of Fame, since Wylde could not attend the actual ceremony in November. Wylde was also honored by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Major League Baseball, among others.

“On behalf of the entire Cape Cod Baseball League, we want to thank you for everything you’ve contributed and taught us over the past 25 years,” said CCBL President Judy Walden Scarafile.

Throughout the hour-long celebration, Wylde sat graciously in his seat in the press box, waving to the crowd and to the ball players from all ages who gathered on the field.

“Thank you from the old man in the press box,” Wylde said. “I’ll never forget this night.”

The only thing Wylde might want to forget is the score. Falmouth took the season opener from the Gatemen 9-2, although the game was much closer than the score indicated as the Commodores scored five runs in the final two innings to put the game out of reach.

The Gatemen jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Connor Rowe (Texas) tripled to straightaway center and scored on a well-hit double by Ryan Pineda (Cal St. Northridge).

Falmouth, the 2007 Western Division champions, responded with two runs in the top of the third, one coming on a RBI single by AJ Pollock (Notre Dame) and the other on a throwing error.

The highlight of the night came in the top of the eighth when Kevin Nolan (Winthrop) turned on a 1-0 fastball and hit it well beyond the fence in left for the first homer of the season. Nolan finished with three hits on the night.

On the mound, left-hander Matt Way (Washington State) pitched well for the Gateman despite taking the loss, while right-hander Chad Bettis (Texas Tech) came on in relief for the Commodores and pitched five impressive innings to earn the victory.

Hyannis Mets in the Stands on Opening DayA few other observations from the memorable season opener:

-Arriving in Wareham early, I took the opportunity to walk around Main Street, stopping into a couple of restaurants to ask some questions.

“It’s been a long winter,” said Bob Prophett, owner of Dawson Seafood. “We’re ready for baseball.”

Prophett, who lives in Bourne and regularly attends Braves games, said he loves the wooden bat, having played with one during his Little League days, and I couldn’t agree more.

“It’s pure baseball,” said Demetrios Kalkanis of Minerva Town Pizza, which has been open since 1969. “Triple distilled, as they say.”

Kalkanis said a bunch of the Gatemen stopped by for lunch before heading over to the field for the opener.

“The town livens up when they come to town,” Kalkanis said. “In the Midwest, where I grew up, there was an excitement about football. The buzz here is the Gatemen.”

-I loved the fact that the Falmouth players arrived in one of the classic yellow school busses.

-Kudos to the entire Gatemen organization for putting together an unforgettable and flawless opening night.

-As part of the pre-game celebration, players from all ages, from Little League to Babe Ruth to American Legion to the CCBL, gathered on the field. Since there was only one CCBL game, the rest of the league was on hand to honor Wylde.

-Speaking of Wylde, one gentleman called him the “Red Auerbach of the Cape League” and I thought that seemed pretty appropriate.

-A sign players aren’t used to hitting with wood? Falmouth broke four bats.

-Sitting in the front row of the bleachers along the first-base line, it was funny to watch little kids fight to the death for foul balls. I also get a kick out of seeing them ask for autographs from players and then running back to their seats as they try to figure out who it was that signed their ball.

-You could tell Commodore fans wanted to leave early, but two things kept them from doing so: 1) the winner of 50-50 raffle wasn’t announced until the eighth inning and 2) after watching the Celtics pull off one of the greatest comeback victories the night before, they were inspired to stick it out the end.

-The weather was absolutely perfect, but one thing I do not miss about the Cape is those little mosquitoes. That will be the last time I forget to put on bug spray.

-After listening to the way people spoke about Mr. Wylde, I hope that I can become half the person that he is.

Comments

11 Responses to “Game One: John Wylde Night”

  1. Easybigfella on June 14th, 2008 7:35 am

    Falmouth is not the “2007 Western Division champions”. That title goes to the regular season champ (Bourne).

  2. Dave on June 14th, 2008 8:59 am

    Wrong, Easybigfella. Jarred is correct. You said it yourself… Bourne was the “regular season” champion. Falmouth beat the Braves for the Western Division title so the Commodores are the 2007 Western Division champions. Why have playoffs in any sport if you aren’t going to crown the playoff winner “champions” ?
    Using your logic (??), the rest of the National Football League would be very surprised to find out that the New York Giants were not the champions of the NFC. They finished second in their division, swept through the playoffs, and even if they had lost the Super Bowl, they still would be known as the NFC champions.
    It seems like you have a little “Falmouth-envy” or something going on. First, you call Falmouth a dump, which I think most people agree is harsh; and now you’re trying to take away the Commodores 2007 Western Division championship.

  3. Easybigfella on June 14th, 2008 10:58 am

    No, you are wrong. The CCBL doesn’t recognize the playoff first round winners as conference champions. The Western Division and Eastern Division trophies are given to the regular season champions. There is no trophy or recognition given to the first round playoff winners.

    The Cape league doesn’t follow the other leagues who do this. No anti-Falmouth or pro-Bourne spin, just trying to keep it real.

    Falmouth’s ballpark is a dump, that is about as anti-Falmouth as Im going to get.

  4. MatthewC on June 14th, 2008 11:18 am

    “Despite having only three returnees from 2007’s West Division champions, the newest edition of the Falmouth Commodores has the potential to revisit the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series for the third time in five years.”

    quote taken from Falmouth Commodores 2008 season outlook from http://www.capecodbaseball.org

  5. CapeMan on June 14th, 2008 11:49 am

    Great write up Jarred… I watched the broadcast online and they stayed on the air for over 5 1/2 hours….interviews with some folks that work for the Gatemen, Dan Dunn from Falmouth, Paul Gallop and Judy Scarafile. They did post game stuff with Head Coach Cooper Farris and a Falmouth Player (can’t remember his name) The interviews were done at the beginning of the broadcast so I imagine you can find it in the broadcast archive for Wareham games.

    There is a reason that Wareham is the class of the league; winning the Comm. Cup 2 times. That organization held an outstanding All-Star Game last season and followed it up with an incredible night yesterday for Mr. Wylde. They have “events” nailed!! Not to mention that their new website is top notch, that they always host the CCBL tryout, host the Baseball Factory Cape Cod Classic each year..and on, and on, and….

    I know Wareham gets a lot of attention on this site but it is well deserved.

  6. Andrew on June 14th, 2008 1:40 pm

    Thanks Jarred for your coverage and good luck with the Mets this summer!

    Heads up:
    MyFOX Boston has a good video round-up of Opening Day.
    http://media.myfoxboston.com/sports/ccbaseball.html

    Easybigfella, the Division champs are decided in the playoffs. Here is the press release when Falmouth won last season:
    http://tinyurl.com/59luqp

  7. Easybigfella on June 14th, 2008 3:15 pm

    Andrew, you’re wrong. Division champs are awarded to the regular season champs in the CCBL. Look into it.

  8. Greg on June 14th, 2008 4:56 pm

    I have no opinion on the issue but I sure do like the name easybigfella.

    The season is clearly underway! Enjoy

  9. MatthewC on June 15th, 2008 2:02 am

    How can you argue against not one, but two published articles stating that the Falmouth Commodores were the 2007 West Division Champions?? I was an intern with the team last year so I take pride in saying that we were the 2007 West Division Champs!

  10. Jarred on June 16th, 2008 4:20 pm

    Hey guys,

    Thought you might enjoy this feature I wrote about opening night.

    http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/061408aab.html

  11. Andrew on June 16th, 2008 5:14 pm

    Thanks Jarred! Great stuff.

    Easybigfella, do you have any links to back up? Most of the time, it seems that the league avoids this issue by calling teams either the “[we/ea]stern division playoff champions” or the “[we/ea]stern division regular season champions”. I’ve seen that Cotuit referred to themselves as the 2002 Western Division champs even though they lost in the playoffs. http://www.kettleers.org/kettleers95.htm

    However, I find it strange that the league could publish a news article that says “The Falmouth Commodores are the 2007 champions of the Cape Cod Baseball League’s West Division” in the first sentence and have it not go unnoticed.

    Let’s not point fingers here, and say “you’re wrong” and “I’m right” because clearly there is no defined rule. Maybe we can ask Paul Galop!

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