15 June, 2004

Cape Cod League notes

Cape League launches Safe Transportation Project 

     For the first time in league history, the Cape Cod Baseball League will be traveling together in style. 

     The league is launching a program that will ensure safe travel to and from games for all players, coaches and team personnel. 

     The Safe Transportation Project, known as the STP, will provide school buses for all 10 teams to travel from game to game. This project will take more than 230 cars off the road as teams are safely transported by bus, while also cutting down on pollution. 

     Sponsors for the project are First Student (Bus Company), Figawi Charities, Shields MRI and The Red Sox Foundation. 

120th Cape League season opens today 

     The 120th season of the Cape Cod Baseball League begins today with a full slate of five games. They include Cotuit at Bourne at 4:45, defending league champion Orleans at Brewster and Yarmouth-Dennis at Hyannis at 5 and Harwich at Chatham and Falmouth at Wareham at 7 p.m. 

     In the Y-D-Hyannis game, 84-year-old Bob Wood, son of legendary Boston Red Sox pitcher Smokey Joe Wood, will throw out the first pitch. The elder Wood enjoyed the greatest season in Red Sox mound history in 1912 at age 22 when he posted a 34-5 record with 258 strikeouts and just 82 walks, with 12 shutouts and a 1.91 ERA. Included was a 1-0, 15-inning complete-game victory over Walter Johnson before the largest crowd in the history of Fenway Park. 

Nine CCBL players first-round picks in MLB draft 

     The pitching-rich Cape Cod Baseball League lived up to its reputation when nine of its hurlers were among the 30 first-round selections in the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year players draft. 

     The Rice troika of Phil Humber of Yarmouth-Dennis, Jeff Nieman of Harwich and Wade Townsend of Wareham were selected third, fourth and eighth by the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Baltimore Orioles, respectively. 

     Another Gateman pitcher, Jeremy Sowers, was selected by Cleveland with the sixth pick, while the Orleans duo of William Bray and David Purcey were taken 13th by Montreal and 16th by the Toronto Blue Jays. 

     Chris Lambert of the Chatham A's was selected No. 19 by St. Louis, while Brewster southpaws Taylor Tankersley and Matt Campbell were taken 27th and 29th by the Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals. 

     Taken in the compensation round were J.P. Howell of Wareham and Brewster by Kansas City at No. 31, big lefty Zach Jackson of Hyannis by Toronto at No. 32, Tyler Lumsden by the Chicago White Sox with the 34th pick and finally, the Cape League first non-pitcher, slugging outfielder Danny Putnam of the Hyannis Mets by the Oakland A's. 

Falmouth to dedicate Arnie Allen Diamond 

     The Falmouth Commodores will officially dedicate Arnie Allen Diamond at Guv Fuller Field during pre-game ceremonies of their home opener against defending league champon Orleans Friday, June 18. 

     The festivities include a singing presentation by Trooper Dan, introduction of guests by GM Chuck Sturtevant, "My Hero - Arnie Allen" letter read by Jimmy Alyward, uniform No. 30 retirement by Chuck Sturtevant, Darin Weeks and Robin Burns escorting the Allen family to scoreboard area and presenting family with the "Arnie Allen Diamond" logo, scoreboard sign unveiling, first pitch thrown by Keith Allen and Trooper Dan singing the national anthem. 

CCBL documentary to be aired 

     The Cape League documentary, "Touching the Game: The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League," will be broadcast on both WB56 in Boston and WGN Superstation in Chicago. WB56 will air the two-hour program into four :30-minute segments, which will air from 10:30-11 p.m., July 19-22. It will show the program in its entirety Saturday, July 24, 8-10 p.m. 

     The documentary includes extensive interviews with league officials, players, managers, fans and more than 60 current Major Leaguers who played on the Cape, mostly interviewed during spring training. The documentary is expected to premiere in mid-July and also be sold at Cape League parks later this summer. 

KeySpan to sponsor Community MVP program 

     For the third straight season, KeySpan will partner with the Cape Cod Baseball League to sponsor the Community MVP program. It will recognize the Cape's most valuable "players", these individuals and organizations whose dedication and commitment have made a positive impact on the quality of life on Cape Cod. The communities included in the program are Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Cotuit, Dennis, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Orleans, Yarmouth and Wareham. 

     Once the Keyspan Community MVP has been selected and introduced at a selected home game, he/she will be entitled to choose a local organization that will be the recipient of a $200 donation