daily fog: punched out

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

daily fog: punched out

The biggest sign that pitchers are a little bit ahead of hitters right now? In five games last night, Cape League hitters struck out 94 times. Every game had the teams combining for double-digit strikeouts, with a whopping 27 in Harwich's win over Chatham. The A's struck out 17 times, themselves.

So I guess you could say last night was a good one for pitchers. Wareham's Max Perlman (Harvard) had probably the best night, and I'm sure for him, it felt like it was a long time coming. Perlman didn't pitch at all this spring at Harvard. He saw some action in Wareham's preseason games, but this was his first meaningful start in quite some time.

And he delivered. The 6'6 righthander struck out seven and allowed just three hits in seven shutout innings to lead the Gatemen past Orleans 2-0. Jimmy Saris (Georgetown), Josh Slaats(Hawaii) and Mike Seander (Duke) teamed up to relieve Perlman and kept the shutout intact.

Elsewhere

If Perlman had the best overall performance, the best strikeout numbers came from Harwich's Ryan Quigley (Northeastern). He struck out 11 in six innings as Harwich beat Chatham 4-1. Quigley struggled mightily this spring for Northeastern, but it didn't show last night.

Hyannis' Andrew Carraway (Virginia), who I really like on paper, made his first start and pitched five spotless innings. He struck out seven, didn't walk anybody and allowed only four hits in 5.1 scoreless innings. Hyannis beat Falmouth 1-0 on the strength of a bases-loaded walk to Casey Frawley (Stetson).

Brewster and Y-D notched the first tie of the Cape League season. The game ended after the potential winning run was thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. Buddy Bauman (Missouri State) threw five shutout innings for Brewster, while Craig Fritsch (Baylor) tossed six scoreless frames for the Red Sox.

Cotuit was the only team that got its offense in gear last night. The Kettleers beat Bourne 10-4 thanks to three-hit days from Brett Jackson (Cal) and Dallas Poulk (NC State).

With two games in the books for everybody, three teams are off to 2-0 starts -- Harwich, Hyannis and Cotuit. Chatham and Bourne are both 0-2.

According to the Baseball America Draft Database, Ryan Lavarnway has signed with the Boston Red Sox. The Yale catcher was slated to play for Hyannis this summer. He was a sixth-round pick of the Red Sox. Initially, some reports suggested he would be on the Cape trying to improve his stock, but that's not the case.

That's a big loss for the Mets, but they made a big addition, too. Big East co-Player of the Year Chris Dominguez (Louisville) just showed up on their roster. Dominguez was a fifth-round pick of the Rockies but announced last week that he plans to return to school. A slugging third baseman, Dominguez played for Harwich last summer and struggled a bit. I'd expect bigger things this year.

What to Watch For Tonight

Sean Black (Seton Hall), the highest unsigned pick in the 2006 draft, gets the start for Harwich at home agains Y-D. Black pitched briefly for the Mariners last summer, but is coming off a very good spring for Seton Hall.

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as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008