08/04/2020 4:53 AM Article By: Mike Richard
Cape League Highlights (1970-74)
1970
June 16 – Jim Van Der Beek of Wareham strikes out 17 batters in an 8-2 win over Harwich
June 17 – Orleans blasts Harwich, 23-3
June 18 – 26 ex-Cape Leaguers are chosen in the annual Major League Baseball draft
June 28 – Jim Jachym (Falmouth) strikes out 21 batters, including the first five of the game, in a 1-0 win over Harwich
July 20 – At Yankee Stadium, the Cape Cod All-Stars beat the Atlantic Coast All-Stars, 6-3 behind winning pitcher Paul Mitchell of Falmouth. Cape Cod Times reporter Judy Walden travels to Yankee Stadium for the game, but is not allowed to sit in the press box which had yet to allow women reporters into the area dominated for years by male sportswriters.
July 28 – All three games on this evening end in shutouts: Yarmouth 6 – Cotuit 0, Wareham 6 – Falmouth 0 and Chatham 1 – Harwich 0.
Aug. 17 – Yarmouth’s Fred Thatcher and Brian Martin team up to no-hit Chatham and win the game, 4-3, despite giving up seven walks.
Aug. 20 – Mike Eden of Orleans wins the batting title with a .378 average, while Wareham’s Jeff Peeples is voted top pitcher with an 8-4 record and 1.38 ERA.
Aug. 27 – Wareham’s Jim Prete is named league MVP
1971
June 23 – Orleans pitcher Mike Pazik strikes out 18 in a 6-0 one-hitter against Wareham and the next day is signed by the New York Yankees.
June 27 – Harwich beats Bourne in a 14-inning game, 5-4.
July 5 – Jim Durkin (Wareham) K’s 14 in 5-3 win over Bourne
July 5 – The second 14-inning game in a week’s time sees Cotuit beat Falmouth, 4-3.
July 17 – The Cape League beats the Atlantic College All-Stars, 6-3 in Chatham with Falmouth’s Paul Mitchell the winning pitcher for the second year in a row.
1972
June 16 – Brian Herosian of Falmouth strikes out 15 against Orleans, 4-1.
July 9 – Cotuit catcher Bob Roemer sets a modern record with eight RBI, going 3-5 in a 17-4 win over Falmouth.
July 16 – The annual Cape League All-Star game pits a team of all-stars against defending champ Falmouth, and the Commodores win in a rout 8-1 as Falmouth pitcher Mike Flanagan earns the win.
July 18 – Wareham and Yarmouth play to a 3-3 tie called after 14 innings due to fog.
July 26 – Orleans’ Tom White has 16 strikeouts in 5-3 win over Wareham
Aug. 2 – Chatham’s Bill Fuller strikes out 18 batters in 7-4 loss to Cotuit.
Aug. 7 – This time Fuller strikes out only 14, but Chatham picks up an 8-2 win over Wareham
Aug. 13 – Cotuit’s Joe Zylka hits 14th home run of the season in 9-7 win over Chatham. Zylka breaks the single season of 11 set by Dick Licini of Bourne in 1968.
Aug. 15 – At the end of the regular season, the Bourne Canalmen decide fold and will not return to the league until 1988.
1973
July 14 – Cotuit routs Wareham, 22-8
July 16 – In a game that played on for 14 innings, Yarmouth and Harwich settle for a 2-2 tie which was ended at the 11:30 p.m. curfew
July 23 – The Cape League All Stars beat the Atlantic Coast Baseball League, 13-7 at Yankee Stadium. The winning pitcher is Dave Schuler of Yarmouth, while MVP honors go to Jim Riggleman of Falmouth.
Aug. 9 – The longest scoreless tie to date ends after nine innings with Orleans and Falmouth compiling the goose eggs for a 0-0 final.
Aug. 11 – John Caneira of Chatham strikes out 17 batters in a 3-1 win over Falmouth.
1974
June 18 – Yarmouth commits seven errors in a 7-2 loss to Cotuit
June 18 – Orleans issues 16 walks in the game, but still comes away with a 6-5 win over Falmouth
June 27 – After 14 innings, Wareham and Harwich play to a 3-3 tie.
July 14 – Trailing 6-0 going into the seventh inning, Cotuit scores 13 runs to go on to defeat Chatham, 13-6
July 28 – Harwich is issued 8 straight walks by Chatham pitchers in the seventh inning, leading to a 13-7 win.
Aug. 4 – The Atlantic All Stars upset the Cape Cod Baseball All-Stars, 4-2 at Falmouth’s Guv Fuller Field. Tom Sohn of Atlantic All Stars is MVP and the catcher for the Atlantics is current major league manager Joe Maddon.
Aug. 8 – In a 16-inning marathon, Wareham beats Cotuit, 4-3.
Aug. 17 – Wareham’s Phil Welch is named league MVP, while Andy Muhlstock of Harwich is named winner of Benjamin F.C. Whitehouse trophy for best pitcher (1.09 ERA, 6-4 record; 89 K’s in 91 innings).
Aug. 21 – Mike Kiner’s two-out single scored Jeff Washington in the last of the ninth as Orleans edges Cotuit, 4– 3 in game three of the finals to take a 2-1 series lead.
Aug. 22 – In another sudden death win, Rick Misenti’s bunt single was thrown away scoring Paul O’Neal from second base in the bottom of the ninth as Cotuit evened up the series with Orleans at two wins apiece with a 3-2 victory.
No-Hitters (1970-74)
Date Pitcher Team Opponent Score
Aug. 17, 1970 Fred Thatcher, Brian Martin Yarmouth Chatham 4-3
June 17, 1971 Mike Pazik Orleans Harwich 6-0
June 26, 1971 Rick Burley Cotuit Harwich 2-0
July 21, 1971 Russ Peach Falmouth Yarmouth 3-0
Aug. 12, 1971 Jim Jachym Falmouth Cotuit 3-0
June 23, 1973 Fred Stewart Chatham Harwich 2-1
Cape League Records set
1971: Errors, team – 105, Harwich; Shutouts – 4, Rick Burley, Cotuit (tied)
1973: Consecutive losses, team – 15, Orleans
Cape League Playoff Champions (1970-74)
1970 Falmouth sweeps Orleans, 2-0
1971 Falmouth beats Orleans, 3-2
1972 Cotuit beats Chatham, 3-1
1973 Cotuit beats Yarmouth, 3-1-1 after second game ends 6-6 in 11 innings and is ruled a suspended game
1974 Cotuit beats Orleans, 3-2
Cape Leaguers to Major League Baseball (1970-74)
1970 – Falmouth: Bob Allietta, Paul Mitchell; Orleans: Mike Eden, Jim Norris, Mike Pazik; Yarmouth: Stan Thomas
1971 – Chatham: Warren Brusstar, Joe Wallis; Falmouth: Paul Mitchell; Orleans: Mike Eden
1972 – Bourne : John Caneira; Chatham: Tom McMillan, Joe Wallis; Falmouth: Billy Almon, Mike Flanagan; Harwich: Doug Corbett; Orleans: Joe Kerrigan: Wareham: John Poff; Yarmouth: Dave Schuler
1973 – Chatham: Dave Bergman, John Caneira; Cotuit: Dan Goodwin, Jack Kucek; Falmouth: Billy Almon; Orleans: Pat Putnam; Wareham: John Poff; Yarmouth: Dave Schuler
1974 – Chatham: Dave Bergman, Dan O’Brien; Cotuit: Steve Cormier, Jeff Reardon; Falmouth: Marvis Foley, Rich Gale; Harwich: Jim Beattie
Mike Richard is the official historian of the Cape Cod Baseball League and can be contacted by email at [email protected].
