Inducting the Cape League Dozen

November 1, 2002 | The Barnstable Patriot | By Mark Mumford

 

Varitek on the verge - Jason Varitek (left) in his Cape League days, preparing for his stellar career as catcher for the Boston Red Sox.

The tall tales should be flying around the Chatham Bars Inn tomorrow like a juiced-up ball jumping off a bat at Coors Field on a hot, summer night in the Mile High City.


If you aren't one of the lucky 300 or so who's already scored a ticket, forget it, there won't be any room for you at the Inn for tomorrow's Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It should come as no surprise that the event sold out as quickly as Drew Bledsoe jerseys in Buffalo, considering the intriguing blend of characters in this year's class.


The 12 inductees cover all the bases. Topping the list: Red Sox mainstays Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra. Rounding out the lineup are pitchers Ron Darling and Paul Mitchell, big league manager Buck Showalter, beyond-colorful umpire Curly Clement, Cape Cod Baseball League Vice-President and showman extraordinaire Dick Sullivan, former administrators Bernie Kilroy and Russ Ford, as well as former CCBL player/managers George Greer, George Karras and Bill Livesey.


Hyannis Mets fans can summon up a little extra pride in the cases of Showalter and Varitek.


Showalter had an off-the-charts season in Hyannis in '76. Fresh from Mississippi State, he checked in with the third highest batting average in CCBL history, smacking the ball at a gaudy .434 clip. He played error-free ball that summer in the outfield and was rewarded with a spot on the CCBL All-Star team and the league's MVP award.


Showalter was drafted by the Yankees and after a spell in the minors ended up as the Yanks' skipper. No job security in the Bronx, and Showalter moved on to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks and after some airtime at ESPN, he's taking over managerial duties in the Lone Star State with the Rangers.


Varitek spent two seasons with the Mets in the early '90s. In '91 he hit a rather pedestrian .271, but he was on fire in '93, hitting .371. The three-time All-America catcher out of Georgia Tech had a peach of a time winning the batting title and an MVP award.


Not to be outdone, Cotuit Kettleers aficionados have three inductees: Ron Darling, George Greer and Bernie Kilroy.


In 1980, Darling had a season in Cotuit that could stand with any in Cape League history. The Ivy League hurler out of Yale went 4-3 on the mound, but he combined that with hitting .336 with six homers and 26 RBI. He was named MVP and in the CCBL All-Star tilt at Yankee Stadium he had a day that sounds as if it was lifted from some cheesy screenplay, hitting a single, a double, a home run and then pitching the ninth inning and getting the save.


George Greer, out of the U-Conn, was a terrific player for the Chatham A's from '65-'67, but Kettleer fans remember Greer as Cotuit's skipper from '79-87. Greer's teams went 213-143-2 with three playoff championships. Twice Greer was the Cape League's manager of the year.


Boston College Eagle Bernie Kilroy, in his Cotuit uniform, was a nightmare for his Cape League opponents for a seven-year stretch in the 1960s and he followed that with two years as CCBL Commissioner. The pitcher, outfielder and first baseman was 33-10 as a hurler during the regular season and he managed to top that by going 8-0 in the playoffs. In '64, Kilroy was flirting with being unhittable. Check out these stats: 8-0, 1.44 ERA, 72 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 62 innings pitched. In '66, the K's came at a pace of 12.5 per game.


George Karras did everything but shine the umpires' shoes during a Cape League career that spanned from '29-62. He was a player, a manager, an administrator and even Upper Cape League president from 1955-1962. One of his highlights as a player was the one-hit shutout he threw for West Barnstable against Sagamore in 1940.


Those are some of the fine points about the inductees that wore uniforms directly associated with the Town of Barnstable, but the other half-dozen fresh Hall-of-Famers certainly added to the charm of the League, enjoyed by fans from one end of the peninsula to the other.