6 July 2006

Volunteering to fulfill a dream

It's no secret that a team of volunteers make the Cape Cod Baseball League click on all cylinders.

Without these dedicated baseball buffs, the league might not never have achieved its vaunted status.

They serve in all areas, from housing players to keeping up the fields and manning concession stands to filling coaching positions and team rosters.

One of their most important responsibilities remains finding part-time jobs for the players, who in turn pay host families $70 per week for providing room and board during the season.

The players come from colleges all over the country to play six or seven nights a week for seven weeks - work four hours a day, three or four days a week to help pay those expenses and have some spending money.

In 1980 and 1982 when future major leaguers Ron Darling and Terry Steinbach sandwiched the Kettleers' 3-1 1981 championship series win over the Orleans Cardinals, the Kettleers took their search for jobs for their players into neighboring Osterville.

Enter Gail Nightingale, owner of Osterville Package Store. Approached by a Kettleer representative 1in 1982, she stepped up to the plate and hired a player to stock shelves and wait on customers. Twenty-five years later, she's still hiring players who hope the Cape League will be their entry to the big leagues.

One player who worked for Nightingale and made it is the Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley, who is the National League All-Star second basemen for the upcoming game. Several others have made it to the minors.

"Will Clark [former San Francisco Giant first baseman who played 15 major league seasons and had a .303 lifetime average] worked at the old Gulf station across the street," says Nightingale, proudly citing the success of the 1983 Kettleer.

Pitcher Shane Mathews, a red-shirt sophomore at East Carolina University, is this season's employee. In addition to the being chairwoman of the Barnstable Zoning Board of Appeals, Nightingale heads the Osterville Business and Professional Association that sponsors Osterville Village Day. She's very active in the Osterville Library. So part of Mathews' job is to help with those activities as well.

"He's been running stuff up [to the Village Day site] for me all week," she says.

Says Kettleers' General Manager Bruce Murphy, "She's [Nightingale] provided the longest running employment by a particular person or store we've had. She allows players to work mornings; or she's flexible working with the players."

For years, Nightingale has put the Kettleers' schedule in her store window and she's displayed the championship trophy. "Everyone walking around [Osterville] sees it; it's a nice, quaint village," says Murphy.

Nightingale has nothing but praise for her former employees. "It's been a real good experience," she says. "They're all nice young fellows; and their parents come to watch them play, so we get to meet them too."

Mathews is impressed with the league, and he's been impressive on the mound.

"The players are the cream of the crop. You face good Division 1 players every game," he says. "It's exciting playing against this high calibre; it makes me better."

At 6-3 and 195 pounds, Mathews was a 26th round pick of the San Francisco Giants in the recent draft. "I'll wait until the end of the season to see whether the Giants make an offer; if not, I'll wait for next year's draft," says the 21-year-old construction management major.

While the righthander considers the fastball his best pitch, coach Mike Roberts teaches a "push-pull" method. "He told me I can win in this league with just that combination - fastball and changeup," says Mathews. "I couldn't believe it, but the first game I threw two curves and didn't give up an earned run; it works."

An Atlanta Braves fan, Mathews saw his first Red Sox game recently. "My host Dad [Roy Ricci of Mashpee] took me; we were eight to 10 rows from the on-deck circle; I didn't realize how small Fenway is."

While Nightingale doesn't get to as many games as she'd like to because she's working at the 5 p.m. Kettleer starting time for home games, she remains a solid Kettleers' fan.

"A lot of the players keep in touch; come back to games with their family for vacations and they always talk about the great experience they've had with the host families on the Cape. It speaks well for the league."

It's businesspeople like Nightingale who provide these college stars with an opportunity to pursue their dream of a major league career.

By Don Sherlock/ dsherloc@cnc.com