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CHATHAM BASEBALL AND THE CAPE COD BASEBALL LEAGUE:
A CENTURY OF BASEBALL

BOB SHERMAN – TEAM HISTORIAN

HE ROOTS OF BASEBALL ON CAPE COD trace back to the in Chatham’s history is Joe “Skip” Lewis who led the team to a
T1880’s and perhaps earlier. Local town teams played each League championship in 1967 and to other regular season first
other, but there was no specific League. Then in 1923 the place finishes throughout the mid and late 1960’s. Ed Lyons
Cape Cod Baseball League incorporated along with four teams was another outstanding Chatham manager, leading the 1982
(Chatham, Hyannis, Osterville, Falmouth), thus both the Cape team to a League championship.
League and our Chatham Anglers are celebrating centennial Off the field there were numerous people who served in
anniversaries this summer. leadership positions on the Board of Directors for our Chatham
The Chatham franchise has been called the Townies, Red Sox, Athletic Association (CAA), the non-profit organization we
Athletics or A’s, and since 2009 the Anglers. In the early years incorporated in 1962. These individuals raised the funds to
of the League players were primarily from the towns, but as the operate the team and began the process of modernizing
League and teams moved into the 1950’s college players joined multiple aspects of both the baseball operations and the
local players to make up the roster. The college players were fan experience at Veterans Field. The CAA oversaw the first
primarily from the Northeast and this roster format continued light towers built in 1970 that brought night time baseball to
until 1963 when the Cape Cod Baseball League was recognized Veterans Field and through the years other aspects of Veterans
by Major League Baseball and the NCAA. These recognitions Field (e.g. bleachers, press box, merchandise store, concession
began what is considered the “Modern Era.” stand, scoreboards, dugouts), have all been added or improved.
These additions and improvements have made
Veterans Field into arguably the best venue in the
entire League.
The Chatham franchise hosted at Veterans Field
both games where the Cape League All-Stars faced
Team USA. The first of these games was in 1984
and the second game in 2000 was played before
a crowd estimated at 12,000 fans. The Chatham
franchise has led the League in attendance since
the League started tracking attendance and we
will be forever indebted to our fans, past, present,
and future.
Technology advancements are another area
of modernization that has occurred over the
last twenty years and the rapidly advancing
technology has allowed Cape Cod Baseball
League teams to broadcast and stream games
over the Internet. Our Chatham franchise was
one of the first teams in the League to bring this
CHATHAM WAS ONE OF FOUR TOWNS TO HAVE A TEAM IN THE FIRST YEAR (1923) OF THE BRAND NEW CAPE COD service to our fans and we continue to improve
LEAGUE | PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM DESMOND our broadcasts each year.
Over the years our Chatham franchise has included thousands Over the years Chatham has evolved into a
of players who wore the Chatham uniform and played their benchmark and standard to which other teams measure
home games on Veterans Field. As of this writing 207 alumni themselves. Our franchise has an expectation of pride and
have played in the Major Leagues. The names most familiar to excellence in everything we do on and off the field. This
baseball fans include: Thurman Munson, Jeff Bagwell, Charlie excellence has led to many books being written about our
Hough, Bobby Witt, Joey Cora, Marvin Freeman, Evan Longoria, Chatham team, including “The Last Best League” by Jim Collins.
Spencer Torkelson, Alek Manoah and most recently Jeremy Our Chatham team is also the subject of the only Hollywood
Pena the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 World Series. A list of movie ever made about a Cape League Team “Summer Catch”,
all Chatham major league players can be found on the west wall which starred Freddie Prinze and Jessica Biel.
of the Veterans Field press box. We cannot thank our fans and supporters enough. We
Overall, some of the best years of the Chatham franchise were frequently hear from our fans, that their love of the team and
in the 1990’s. The decade saw Chatham win Cape Cod Baseball league is based on, “it feels like old time baseball.” And from
League championships in 1992, 1996 and 1998. Leadership was our players the sentiment is, “it was the best summer of my life.”
provided first by manager Rich Hill and then by John Schiffner, So here is to the next 100 years of enjoying this jewel called the
who led the team for 25 years. Another prominent manager Cape Cod Baseball League and to the franchises and individuals
who make it all possible.
6 2023 CHATHAM ANGLERS YEARBOOK