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ECAC umpire Partnership

12/12/2000 5:07 PM

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For immediate release:  12 December, 2000


The Cape League Forms Unique Partnership with ECAC

HYANNIS -- In what may be deemed a landmark affiliation for the Cape Cod Baseball League, the league's executive committee announced today its unanimous vote to utilize the 306 NCAA-sanctioned umpires of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). 

       ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco, ECAC assistant commissioner of officiating Steve Bamford and CCBL Commissioner Bob Stead announced Wednesday evening (Dec. 6) the three men had recently been in extensive negotiations to revamp the league's officiating structure and had resolved to join forces following the impromptu resignation of 2000 Cape League Umpire In Chief Don Fredericks. 

       Fredericks, who had been hailed for his outstanding performance after the untimely death of late CCBL Umpire In Chief Dick Clegg, resigned unexpectedly last month to attend to family needs. 

       The league's vote stipulates a one-year agreement between itself and the ECAC to cull 75 of the ECAC's 306 umpires to officiate Cape League games. Each Cape League game will now utilize a three-umpire crew rather than the two used last season. 

       Cape League coaches will also be able to rank and comment on umpire performance on-line at the ECAC web site, a process which ECAC officials for all sports now undergo after each college athletic competition. CCBL coaches and league officials will also be able to log on the ECAC's web site (www.ECAC.Com) to view the 2001 CCBL Schedule and the umpires penciled in to officiate each game --- well ahead of any particular game day. 

       Stead and Buttafuoco also announced that the responsibility of managing the umpires will fall upon the shoulders of two men, rather than one -- Stead will now serve a dual role as CCBL Commissioner and Umpire in Chief, while Bamford will serve as CCBL Supervisor of Officials. Bamford will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the umpires while Stead's role will entail more of an on-field presence. 

       Headquartered in Centerville since 1974, the ECAC boasts 306 member colleges and universities. It runs 108 athletic championship events each year, the most of any college athletic conference in the nation. The Cape League embarks on its 116th season in 2001 and is considered to be the premier amateur baseball league in the world. 

       For more information, please contact CCBL Public Relations Director  Sean Walsh at (508) 801-0090.