Harwich Mariners
The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Field in the historic village of Harwich Center.
Harwich has won three CCBL championships in the 21st century, most recently in 2024 by defeating the Bourne Braves two games to one to win the best of three championship series. The title was the team's fifth in the CCBL's modern era and sixth overall. Since the club's inception, over 100 players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball.
History
Pre-modern era
Early years
Organized baseball in the town of Harwich dates to the late 1800s. As early as 1873, the "Independent Base Ball Club" had been organized and was playing at the "Brooks Estate" in Harwich. The Harwich town club took on Sandwich in an 1884 contest, and played the "Yarmouth Grays" on multiple occasions in 1886. In 1903, the town's "Old Home Week" featured a three-game baseball series in which the Harwich team defeated Sandwich twice and Hyannis once. The home club was described as "the best that ever represented Harwich," and featured several collegiate players, as well as local hurler Dick Gage, who in 1905 was described as "by far the best pitcher on the Cape."The early Cape League era (1923–1939)
In 1923, the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and initially included four teams: Falmouth, Chatham, Osterville, and Hyannis. This early Cape League operated through the 1939 season and disbanded in 1940, due in large part to the difficulty of securing ongoing funding during the Great Depression.Harwich originally entered the Cape League as part of a combined Chatham-Harwich team that competed in the league from 1927 to 1929. The team's home games were split between the two town fields. In the inaugural 1927 season, the team finished fourth in the five-team league, but nevertheless was described as "the hardest hitting team in the league." 1927 Chatham-Harwich first baseman Jack Burns went on to play in seven major league seasons for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers. In all three seasons from 1927 to 1929, the team featured Boston College batterymates pitcher Pete Herman and catcher George Colbert, as well as flashy infielder Artie Gore. The trio of Herman, Colbert and Gore later teamed up again with Barnstable to bring that club multiple Cape League championships in the 1930s. Gore went on to a major league umpiring career, working ten years in the National League, including two World Series assignments.
In 1930, the Chatham-Harwich team split and the two towns entered individual teams in the league, with Harwich playing its home games at Brooks Park. Throughout the 1930s as other teams struggled to stay in the league, Harwich was consistently among the best funded and best supported teams in the Cape League.
One of the first Harwich players to go on to the major leagues was Milton, Massachusetts native Bill Chamberlain. In 1932, Chamberlain was pitching for Harwich when he was noticed by a scout for the Chicago White Sox. Chamberlain was playing in Chicago by the end of the season.
In 1933, Harwich won its first Cape League championship. The team starred all-league selection Frank Skaff of Villanova, an outfielder who "covers acres of territory, catches everything in sight," and was "the dread of all opposing pitchers", and who went on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers two years later. The Cape League split its regular season in 1933, and held a playoff for the league title between the winners of the first and second halves of the season. Harwich, winners of the season's second half, faced first-half winners and back-to-back defending league champion Falmouth. Harwich took the first game of the best-of-five championship series with a 4–2 home win, then went on the road and dished out a 10–1 pummelling at Falmouth Heights. The series returned to Harwich for Game 3, where the home team sent ace hurler Al Blanche to the mound. Blanche, a Somerville, Massachusetts native who went on to play with the major league Boston Braves, outdueled Falmouth's Harold Poole, 3–1, to complete the three-game sweep and secure the title for Harwich.
In 1937 and 1938, Harwich was led by player-manager Neil Mahoney, an all-Cape League selection at catcher who went on to be scouting director of the Boston Red Sox. Mahoney's 1937 Harwich team featured Holy Cross pitcher Art Kenney and former Chicago White Sox outfielder Bill Barrett. Barrett had played several productive seasons in the major leagues, and finished tops in the Cape League in 1937 with a.440 batting average, as his "potent bat of bygone glory still a mean threat." Kenney played in the following season for the major league Boston Bees. Mahoney's 1938 team narrowly missed bringing Harwich its second league title, finishing the season just one game behind pennant-winning Falmouth.
The Upper and Lower Cape League era (1946–1962)
After a hiatus during the years of World War II, the Cape League was reconstituted in 1946, with Harwich joining the Lower Cape Division. In the inaugural season of the revived league, Harwich defeated Barnstable in the playoffs for the Lower Cape title, but was shut down by Upper Cape champ Falmouth in the league championship series. The 1946 season also featured the league's first All-Star Game, held at Harwich's Brooks Park. The contest matched a team of CCBL all-stars against a team of Boston Red Sox tryout players chosen by scouts of the major league team.In the 1949 and 1950 seasons, Harwich fielded two entries in the Cape League, as the Cape Verdean Club of Harwich joined the league's Lower Cape Division.
Harwich did not reach the league title series again until 1962 when the team was downed by Upper Cape powerhouse Cotuit after defeating Chatham for the Lower Cape title. Harwich's 1961 and 1962 teams featured CCBL Hall of Famer and longtime New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello, who played in the CCBL until 1964, then skippered Sagamore to the league title in 1965.
File:Bill Richardson, official DOE photo.png |thumb|right|140px|Former New Mexico Governor and US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson pitched for Harwich in 1968.
Modern era (1963–present)
In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the NCAA. The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be a formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius.The league was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. Harwich joined Orleans, Chatham, Yarmouth and a team from Otis Air Force Base in the Lower Cape Division.
The 1960s and 1970s
The Harwich teams of the mid- and late-1960s featured several notable players. Harwich's native son and Boston College hurler Peter Ford spent four summers with the team, posting a combined ERA of 3.36 with 18 wins and two league all-star selections. Ford later served as a Cape League vice president, and was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2010.Harwich's 1966 team featured CCBL Hall of Famer Ed Drucker, who batted.382, set a league record with eight triples, and was named league MVP. The 1967 Harwich team featured Northbridge, Massachusetts native and future major leaguer Glenn Adams, a center fielder who slugged three triples in a single game for the Mariners, and blasted a homer in the CCBL All-Star Game at Eldredge Park.
In 1968, CCBL Hall of Fame manager John Carroll took the reins and led the Mariners to a 26–13 record, winning the Lower Cape Division in the team's final season at Brooks Park. The team included pitcher Bill Richardson, who went on to become the Governor of New Mexico and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. In the 1968 title series, Harwich faced Upper Cape champ Falmouth, who prevailed three games to one in what was the first of Falmouth's four consecutive titles from 1968 to 1971. The following year the Mariners moved to their new home at Whitehouse Field. The CCBL held its 1969 All-Star Game at the new ballpark, the Lower Cape emerging with a 4–0 victory.
CCBL Hall of Famer Fred Ebbett took over the Mariners' managerial post in 1971 after over 20 highly successful seasons coaching baseball at Harwich High School. Ebbett skippered the team in 1971 and 1972, then again from 1975 to 1977. He went on to serve as CCBL Commissioner from 1984 to 1996, where he was a driving force behind the league's momentous transition to an all-wooden bat league in the mid-1980s.
The Mariners qualified for the playoffs in 1974 behind CCBL Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Andy Muhlstock, but were bested in the semi-final round by Orleans. Piloted by first-year manager Don Prohovich, Harwich advanced to the CCBL title series in 1978 and followed up that appearance with a return to the finals in 1979. In both title series, the Mariners were defeated by a dominant Hyannis team that had rolled through the two regular seasons with records of 31–11 and 33–7–1.
File:Carl Yastrzemski 1976.jpg |thumb|right|140px|Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski was a fixture in the Harwich dugout during the 1981 MLB players strike.
The 1980s bring a pair of league titles
In both 1981 and 1982, the Mariners boasted the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award winner: Greg Myers in 1981, and Scott Murray in 1982. The 1981 team featured Florida State University's Mike Yastrzemski, son of Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski. Nearing the end of his major league playing career, the elder Yaz found himself with time on his hands that summer due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike. As a result, he spent much of June and July in the Harwich Mariners' dugout keeping an eye on his son's progress. The 1982 Mariners featured CCBL Hall of Fame slugger Pat Pacillo, who walloped 10 homers on the season.In 1983, Harwich finally broke through and claimed a CCBL title. Skippered by Steve Ring, the team returned the powerful Pacillo, who was good again for eight homers and a.338 batting average, and even went 1–0 with a 4.82 ERA as a pitcher. Rob Souza went 7–2 on the mound in the regular season, and led the league with a 2.45 ERA. The star of the team however was the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner, Cory Snyder. The CCBL Hall of Famer clouted an amazing league record 22 home runs with 50 RBI and 47 runs scored. He hit home runs in four consecutive at bats on July 7–8, and twice hit three home runs in a game. The Mariners finished the regular season in third place, but eliminated Hyannis two games to one in the playoff semi-finals to earn a berth in the best-of-five title series against top-seeded Cotuit.
In Game 1 of the 1983 championship series, the Mariners came out on the wrong end of a 1–0 pitchers' duel, won on an RBI single by Kettleer Will Clark. Games 2 and 3 were played as a doubleheader. In the front end of the twinbill, Harwich jumped all over the Kettleers with a seven-run second, including a grand slam by Jon Pequignot. Souza went the distance in a 16–6 Mariner rout at Lowell Park. The back end of the doubleheader was played at Whitehouse Field, where Harwich hurler Jeff Koenigsman stymied the Cotuit attack. The Mariners took it, 7–3, to go up two games to one. Games 4 and 5 were played the following day as another doubleheader. With their backs against the wall and trailing through much of Game 4 at home, the Kettleers staged a late-inning comeback to knot the series with an 8–7 win. The Game 5 finale at Harwich was an all-time classic. Cotuit got a three-run homer in the top of the first, and Harwich answered in the bottom of the frame with a Pacillo grand slam. Harwich starter Mike Ulian was hit hard for seven runs, and Souza, who had pitched a complete game the day before, came on and was effective in long relief. Mariner Doug Shields cranked a three-run homer in the seventh, and the score was tied at 7–7 going to the final frame. Cotuit's Greg Barrios launched a two-run dinger in the top of the ninth to put the Kettleers up, 9–7, and hope was waning for the Whitehouse faithful. The Mariners came down to their final out with nobody on in the bottom half of the inning, but Pacillo doubled, and Pequignot came through with a clutch homer to send the game to extra innings. Both teams threatened but did not score in the 10th. Robbie Smith came on in relief of Souza in the 11th and set down Cotuit in order. In the bottom of the 11th, Harwich's Jim Sasko drove in Pequignot from third for the series-winning RBI and Harwich's first Cape League championship in the modern era.
The 1984 Mariners finished the regular season atop the league with an impressive 27–15 record, due in large part to the contributions of four CCBL Hall of Famers. League Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner Mike Loggins batted.343 with 13 homers and was MVP of the CCBL All-Star Game at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium. Joe Magrane led the league with six wins and six complete games, posted a 2.46 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 80.1 innings, and pitched two shutout innings and was the winning pitcher in the CCBL All-Star Game. Fellow all-star pitcher Scott Kamieniecki went 4–1 for the Mariners with a 2.14 ERA and 54 strikeouts. Casey Close was a dual threat, batting.329 with six home runs while going 2–0 with a 3.19 ERA on the mound. Close returned to Harwich in 1985 and again enjoyed an all-star campaign with 11 home runs and 30 RBI. CCBL Hall of Famer Scott Hemond was league MVP for Harwich in 1986; the outfielder/catcher slugged six home runs and led the league with a.358 batting average.
Harwich wore the league crown again in 1987 for the second time in five years. On the mound, team MVP Dan Kite posted six wins and four complete games with a 2.21 ERA, and future major league all-star Charles Nagy of the University of Connecticut and Andy Berg were CCBL all-stars in the Mariners' bullpen. The team also featured future major leaguers John Flaherty, University of Massachusetts infielder Gary Disarcina, and slugger Bob Hamelin, who led the league with 11 home runs. Led by manager Bill Springman, the Mariners finished the regular season with the league's best record, and met Cotuit in the playoff semi-finals. In Game 1, Harwich struck early at home with a three-run bomb by Steve Finken in a four-run first inning, and Kite went the distance on the hill, striking out 13 Kettleers en route to a 4–2 win. Finken hit a two-run dinger in Game 2 at Lowell Park, and teammate Tom Boyce added a pair of homers, but it wasn't enough as Cotuit prevailed, 9–8 in 10 innings. Cotuit's Troy Chacon allowed only two Mariners hits in Game 3 at Whitehouse Field, but one of them was a second-inning solo shot by Boyce. Harwich starter Nelson Arriete made the lone run stand up, going the distance in the 1–0 shutout to advance the Mariners to the title series against Y-D.
In Game 1 of the 1987 championship series at Whitehouse Field, the Red Sox chased Mariners starter Everett Cunningham from the mound in the fifth, and Nagy came on in relief trailing, 3–1. Boyce hit yet another clout in the seventh to narrow the margin, and Derek Lee proved the hero with a three-run go-ahead blast in the eighth. Nagy no-hit the Red Sox in 4 1/3 frames of relief, and the Mariners took the opener, 5–3. Kite went the distance for Harwich in Game 2 at Red Wilson Field, but scattered four runs and got little help from his bats in a 4–1 loss that knotted the series. Harwich got three runs in each of the first two innings of Game 3 on home turf, and Nagy came on in relief of starter Dave Menhart. For the second time in the series, Nagy no-hit the Red Sox over 4 1/3 innings of relief, and the Mariners came away with a 7–2 victory to secure the championship. Nagy, the playoff MVP, recorded the final out by way of strikeout against league MVP and batting champ Mickey Morandini, whom Nagy caught looking on a 3–2 count.