Dec

31

Happy 2009 from your friends at CodBall

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

happy-new-year1The snow has been falling all day here on the Cape. This afternoon a large group of us went sledding on the Woods Hole Golf Course just outside of Falmouth. With winds howling and snow blowing, I couldn’t help but wish for warmer days when elite baseball prospects will once again grace Cape ballparks.

The Cape Cod Baseball League’s magical ballfields will begin 2009 beneath a pure blanket of white snow. A blank slate  you might say.

Will the Wareham Gatemen regain their strength in the West?

Will Y-D return in 2009 to its back-to-back CCBL championship form?

Will the youth movement — evidenced by the success of teams like the Rockies and the Rays — continue to focus national attention on leagues like the Cape, where stars this summer may very soon compete in October’s limelight?

These are the questions we look forward to contemplating and reporting on CodBall in 2009.

Happy New Year to you all!

Dec

27

Nice Gesture by Y-D Red Sox

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

Y-D Red Sox‘Tis the season of giving and the Y-D Red Sox have shown some of that holiday spirit.

A week before the first scheduled game of the season, the members of the Cape Tech HS hockey team were informed that because of the economic issues that are facing all public schools, the funding for the team was not going to be available this year.

Hockey is a very expensive sport and the school administration felt that they could not justify spending $20,000 on one of their twelve varsity sports. Upon receiving this news at such a late date, the parents and players took matters into their own hands. Local businesses and individuals contributed $3,000 to the cause. The Y-D Red Sox matched that amount and with $6,000 having been collected, the Cape Tech hockey season has been saved. I thought it was important to acknowledge this very generous gift by the Y-D Red Sox and the many small businesses that do so much to help so many local organizations.

Dec

24

Poll: 2009 All-Star Game

Posted by Andrew | Filed Under Polls | 15 Comments

Merry Christmas CodBall readers (and Happy Holidays)! Let’s end the year with a poll about next year’s All-Star Game. There was some talk about the game potentially being played at Fenway Park, but is that where you think the game should be? This poll will close on New Year’s Eve, so vote now (note: Brewster and Y-D are included despite the 6pm advertised start time):

Where should the 2009 All-Star Game be?

  • Fenway Park (26.0%, 12 Votes)
  • Doran Park (Bourne) (17.0%, 8 Votes)
  • Eldredge Park (Orleans) (15.0%, 7 Votes)
  • Guv Fuller Field (Falmouth) (11.0%, 5 Votes)
  • Whitehouse Field (Harwich) (11.0%, 5 Votes)
  • McKeon Field (Hyannis) (7.0%, 3 Votes)
  • Clem Spillane Field (Wareham) (7.0%, 3 Votes)
  • Red Wilson Field (Y-D) (4.0%, 2 Votes)
  • Stony Brook School (Brewster) (2.0%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 46

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Dec

21

Change in Brewster and Chatham

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

This is old news but; hey, wait a minute… can something really be “old news?” Back in mid-November, it was announced that Tom Myers has been named head coach of the Brewster Whitecaps. Myers is the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at UC-Santa Barbara. See the article from the UCSB website.

Myers is coming off a successful season as the head coach of the Kenai Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League. When reading the report of Myers departure from the Oilers to become the Whitecaps coach, it doesn’t take much “reading between the lines” to think that Kenai’s GM, Shawn Maltby, was not very happy with the decision or the timing of Myers leaving to take a job in the CCBL.

This is from the Peninsula Clarion website.

More change is taking place a few miles down the road in Chatham. In addition to the field renovations that are taking place, and the name change from A’s to Anglers, it was recently announced that Andrew Ruddock is the new Chatham GM. Ruddock spent the previous two seasons as Chatham’s assistant GM. He replaces Charlie Thoms.

Dec

19

D’Antona Signs with Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Posted by Andrew | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

Tokyo Yakult SwallowsJamie D’Antona was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks and has signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League. D’Antona was one of the main subjects in Jim Collins’ The Last Best League, which chronicled Chatham’s 2002 season (see our CodBall Conversation with the author). In 2008, D’Antona was named to the All-Star Futures Game, played in the PCL All-Star Game, and won the AAA Home Run Derby. In 110 AAA games 2008, D’Antona hit .365 with 21 home runs and 79 RBI’s [Baseball-Reference.com]. He played in 18 MLB games and had succesful knee surgery following the ‘08 season.

A Tokyo Yakult Swallows blog speculates that Arizona was concerned with D’Antona’s glove and eagerness at the plate. The blog also notes that Arizona had an abundance of utility infielders.

D’Antona will join a couple of former Major Leaguers on the roster in Tokyo, including Aaron Guiel (ex-NYY) and Masao Kida (ex-DET, LAD, and SEA). There have been a number of famous professional baseball players on the Yakult Swallows (see the list on Wikipedia), including Tampa Bay Rays 2nd baseman Akinori Iwamuru.

More information on the Yakult Swallows is on JapanBall (see our CodBall conversation with JapanBall.com editor Bob Bavasi).

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