November 3, 2010
Newark will join Can-Am League in 2011
by NEBJ Staff/
It’s not often that leagues rather than teams make trades, but the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am League) and the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs (Atlantic League) engineered a deal at the conclusion of the season. The leagues agreed to transfer the Newark Bears, who have played as a member of the Atlantic League since its inception, to the Can-Am League for the 2011 season.
“We are once again delighted to work with the Can-Am League,” said Atlantic League Founder & CEO Frank Boulton. “Bears Baseball can continue in Newark for many years to come and build upon its natural geographical rivalries within the Can-Am League thanks to this cooperative effort.”
Said Can-Am commissioner Miles Wolff, “It is exciting for the Can-Am League to be able to add Newark to our roster. The Bears have a great history, and they will be an important part of our league.
“Our relationship with the Atlantic League enables us both to work together in the strengthening of independent baseball.”
The addition of the Bears means the Can-Am League lineup for 2011 will include three Massachusettts entries – the Brockton Rox, Worcester Tornadoes and Pittsfield Colonials – to go along with the New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Capitales and Sussex Skyhawks.
The 2011 Can-Am League season begins May 26. The final regular-season game is Sept. 5.
Lee’s hat heads to Hall of Fame
You may recall former Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee appearing on the mound for the Brockton Rox in a Can-Am League game against the visiting Worcester Tornadoes on Sept. 5. The 63-year-old Lee, who pitched in the major leagues from 1969-82, including 10 unforgettable seasons with the Red Sox, went 5 1/3 innings in the Rox’ 7-3 victory, allowing two runs on five hits with a strikeout.
As it turns out, that performance has earned the outspoken left-hander his own place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame requested the Brockton cap worn by Lee in the game be donated to the museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., according to the Rox. It will document Lee’s appearance as making him the oldest player to pitch in a minor-league game, as well as winning it.
According to the Rox, the likely destination for Lee’s cap will be the Hall of Fame’s Records Room, which will open in 2011. Until then, the donation of the artifact for the museum’s collections will allow for the Hall to document the unusual story of Lee’s outing.
Cape Cod Baseball League adopts changes for playoffs
The Cape Cod Baseball League announced that the new playoff format expansion from six to eight teams adopted this past season will return in 2011, and that playoff games at non-lighted fields will begin at 4 p.m. instead of 3.
The new starting time was voted on and passed by the CCBL Executive Committee with the idea that more working fans could attend playoff games in early August. More than 300,000 fans attended CCBL games in 2010, including 10,470 at the league’s All-Star Game at Fenway Park. According to league figures, a record 44,121 fans attended games during the playoffs in early August.
Four special events took place in September involving the CCBL and the Red Sox, including the Gentleman’s Smoke fundraiser at the Chatham Bars Inn; the Red Sox Hall of Fame Luncheon at Fenway Park; the BoSox Club Awards Luncheon honoring the CCBL champion Cotuit Kettleers; and the Boston Red Sox Listening Tour at the JFK Hyannis Museum and the Cape League’s own Hall of Fame.
Green Monster scorekeepers stand tall
In the October issue of the New England Baseball Journal, we ran a story by Bill Nowlin on Fenway Park’s Green Monster and life inside the famed wall. During games, those working on the manually operated scoreboard remain for obvious reasons obscure. Outside of the wall, however, they have become far more visible with fans with the establishment of a website to help raise money for animals in need in Boston.
All proceeds derived from the website, www.sillylittlescorekeepers.com, which celebrates one of the oldest manually operated scoreboards in Major League Baseball, will go to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. The site will feature a Silly Little Store, where fans can purchase t-shirts and hats with the Scorekeepers moniker, Silly Little Scorekeepers.
Christian Elias and Nate Moulter will take fans of the legendary scoreboard into the Green Monster for a virtual tour of the historic area visited by so many great players of baseball’s past and present. The website also will feature a Q&A with the Scorekeepers, archival video and a photo gallery for fans of all ages.
Elias, who finished his 20th season as the “guy inside the Monster,” came up with the idea of the website and its cause two years ago.
“It has been an unbelievable experience to be inside the scoreboard for over 1,400 games, and I wanted to share that with passionate baseball fans,” he said. “People from all across the country are so interested in the history of the scoreboard and all the players who have visited that I thought this website would be the perfect way to share our story.”
Said Susan Ruderman, director of advancement for the Animal Rescue League of Boston, “Chris Elias has been stepping up to the plate for us for several years. He is one of our MVPs in helping to advance the [Animal Rescue] League. We are delighted that proceeds from this celebration of two decades behind the Green Monster will also allow us to care for even more animals in distress.”
The Animal Rescue League of Boston is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing domesticated animals and wildlife from suffering, cruelty, abandonment and neglect. Since 1899, it has advocated the philosophy of its founder, Anna Harris Smith, that “Kindness Uplifts the World.”
