September 1, 2010
Getting retro with tournaments
by Brett Rudy/
Greg Gallivan and the MABL Orioles won the 2010 Cooperstown Classic.
Baseball enthusiasts love the game for its rich history. So it’s not surprising that event organizers continuously look for ways to pay homage to our national pastime – whether by playing in historic locations or representing classic teams in retro attire.
Cooperstown Classic
Six amateur baseball teams from the Boston MABL and the Diamond Baseball League drove 240 miles to upstate New York to play in this year’s 7th Annual Cooperstown Classic at the Baseball Hall of Fame. The venue was Doubleday Field, named for Abner Doubleday, the alleged originator of baseball. Games also were played at nearby Wilbur Park in the Village of Milford.
The Classic was founded in 2004. The first champions were the MABL’s Boston Marlins, who defeated the White Sox, 6-1, in the finals. In 2005, the Brockton Reds of the Diamond Baseball League (formerly the MIBL) entered the tournament, led by Frank Alexopoulis, and proceeded to win four consecutive titles. During the span from 2005-2008, the Brockton Reds were a remarkable 16-0 in tournament play.
The Boston Orioles of the MABL, under manager Jason Bressner, joined the fray in 2006 and quickly grew to become Brockton’s stiffest competition, losing to the Reds in the 2006 and 2008 finals, as well as the 2007 semifinals. Driven to avenge these defeats, the Orioles have not lost since falling in the 2008 finals. After ending the Brockton run of perfection during a 2009 opening-round game, a first championship was in sight; however, bad weather intervened on the tournament’s final day and no winner could be crowned.
This year, the Orioles were not to be denied. Led by pitcher Bo Gillette, the Orioles went 4-0 in this year’s tournament to secure their first Cooperstown Classic title, ultimately outlasting a tough Ben’s Dream White Sox team in the finals by a score of 8-6. Gillette was nothing short of legendary, garnering both a complete-game win (against the Brockton Reds) and then a save (against the DBL Diamondbacks) on the tournament’s first day, only to come out of the bullpen on the following day in the finals to throw another 3.1 innings and collect his second win.
Oldtime Baseball Game
The 17th Annual Injured Workers Pharmacy Oldtime Baseball Game was played in August at St. Peter’s Field in North Cambridge, Mass., as a celebration of the national pastime. From its humble beginnings in 1994, the game has grown considerably over the years yet has remained loyal to its mission of offering a glimpse of what it was like in the old days, when hundreds of fans would turn out to root for their town team in various local semipro leagues.
What makes the Oldtime Baseball Game so special is its dazzling collection of flannel uniforms that represent virtually every era in baseball history. Used just once a year for the Oldtime Baseball Game, the uniforms include such long-ago teams as the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns, Homestead Grays, Kansas City Monarchs and San Francisco Seals.
Although the Oldtime Baseball Game includes amateur players from schools throughout the Boston area, more than 40 past participants have gone on to play professionally. Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena, who played in the 2008 World Series and the 2009 All-Star Game, was a participant in the Oldtime Baseball Game in 1996 and 1997.
Bill Monbouquette and Mike Pagliarulo were named managers of this year’s game, and are natives of Medford. Monbouquette won 114 games during his 11 seasons in the majors, including a 20-10 record for the Red Sox in 1963. He also threw a no-hitter in 1962. Pagliarulo played most of his 11-year career with the New York Yankees, hitting 32 home runs in 1987. He was also a key member of the Minnesota Twins’ World Series championship team in 1991. Lou Merloni, a Red Sox Nation fan favorite and native of Framingham was also on the roster to play for the third time.
This year’s game was played as a fundraiser for The Marley Jaye Cherella Memorial Fund, which is dedicated to supporting research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome being done at Boston Children’s Hospital. Marley Jae Cherella was just five months old when she died of SIDS in 2008. The goal of the Marley Jae Cherella Fund is to one day eliminate the tragedy of SIDS and guarantee that every baby has a chance to survive and thrive.
Additionally, a pre-game ceremony was held in memory of the late Greg Montalbano, a former Red Sox minor-league pitcher who was only 31 when he died of cancer last summer. A native of Westborough and later a standout at Northeastern University, Montalbano was a participant in the Oldtime Baseball Game in 1997 and 1998.
Cape CodClassic
The 16th Annual Cape Cod Classic will be held Labor Day Weekend on the fields of the Cape Cod Baseball League – the country’s premier amateur collegiate summer league.
The annual contest began in 1995 behind the leadership of Gary Vallerand, now of the Waltham Red Sox of the Men’s Senior Baseball League. After two seasons, Peter Beck and Alex Masel of the Somerville Senators took over. They’ve been running the tourney ever since. The venues for the games include Whitehouse Field, home of the Harwich Mariners, Veteran’s Field, home of the Chatham Anglers, and Stony Brook Field, home of the Brewster Whitecaps. Beck also is hoping to secure Eldredge Park, home of the Orleans Firebirds.
This year’s Classic will showcase 14 teams from five states. The Bourne and Sagamore divisions each will have seven teams. Each team will play four games in pool play. The division winners then will play for the championship. From Massachusetts, the Worcester Stars have played each year since the Classic’s inception, as have the four-time champion Middlesex Thunder.
Teams crossing state lines to participate include the Washington Monuments from Connecticut, the Merrimack Dodgers from New Hampshire, the Rome Dodgers from New York and the Burlington Black Sox from Vermont. The Framingham Orioles of the Metrowest Adult Baseball League will be back to defend their 2009 title.
