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Class of 2009 to Be Elected to Cape League’s Hall of Fame

10/13/2009 3:18 PM

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for immediate release: 13 October 2009

Class of 2009 Elected to Cape League’s Hall of Fame
Ceremony Scheduled Saturday, Nov. 14, at Chatham Bars Inn
Tickets Still Available; Gammons and Valentine Expected to Attend
   

CHATHAM, Mass. – Tickets are still available for the 10th Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Chatham Bars Inn. 

BobbyValentine_Mets.jpg
Bobby Valentine

     Tickets are priced at $75 each and may be purchased by mailing a check to CCBL Hall of Fame Tickets, P.O. Box 266, Harwich Port, MA 02646. 

     Expected to be in attendance are ESPN analysts Peter Gammons and Bobby Valentine, former big-league player and manager who played for Yarmouth in 1967. The ceremony will also include a new video presentation featuring the incoming class.

     This year's brunch buffet will be the “Thurman Munson Commemorative Brunch”, recognizing the former Cape League's contributions to the League. It begins at 10:00 a.m., preceding the induction ceremony.

     For the first time, the CCBL Hall of Fame Committee elected an incumbent member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The late Harold “Pie” Traynor heads the 10-member Class of 2009, announced June 7, during the league’s annual First Pitch Brunch at the 99 Restaurant in West Yarmouth, Mass. That brings the total membership in the Cape League Hall of Fame to 98. 


     Longtime Pirates third baseman Traynor played for both Falmouth and Oak Bluffs in 1919 and is one of only two Cape Leaguers to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (former Red Sox and White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk is the other.). He is joined by four other former big leaguers -- Cotuit outfielder Greg Vaughn, who starred for the Brewers; Harwich hurler Joe Magrane, who pitched for the Cardinals, White Sox and Angels; slugging Hyannis catcher Bill Schroeder, a former Brewers player and the team’s current television analyst, and Orleans double threat Art Quirk, who pitched for the Orioles and Senators. 

     Completing the list are Wareham and Yarmouth-Dennis designated hitter/first baseman Mark Angelo, Orleans slugger John Awdycki, Chatham closer Zane Carlson, All-Star player and manager Lou Lamoriello and Chatham manager Joe “Skip” Lewis.


Mark Angelo, Wareham & Yarmouth-Dennis
     The Florida Southern standout, a 1981 All-American and member of the Division II National Championship team, played in the Cape League for three seasons (1980-82) with Wareham and Yarmouth-Dennis, batting .317 with 26 home runs, 33 doubles and 110 RBI. He hit .335 with a league-leading 14 homers and 47 RBI in 1981 for the Red Sox and followed that with a .325/12/44 campaign in ’82. He is the only player to have two seasons with 100 or more total bases and the only player to have hit 10 or more home runs in two separate seasons. 


John Awdycki, Orleans
     The UMass product won the CCBL batting title in 1965, hitting .407 for Orleans with 44 hits, 28 RBI and 22 runs scored. A two-time All-New England and All-Yankee Conference selection for the Minutemen in 1963-64, Awdycki led UMass to a 32-22-1 overall record in his three varsity seasons and was named Team MVP in 1964, hitting .303 as a first baseman-outfielder. In 1966, he was one of the top hitters in the semi-pro Quebec Provincial League for Thetford Mines, where his manager was fellow 2009 CCBL Hall of Fame inductee Lou Lamoriello. John hit .320 playing first base and Thetford Mines made the playoffs. He was a coach at Orleans in CCBL from 1968-75 and was also GM at Orleans in his last season.


Zane Carlson, Chatham
     The flame-throwing right-hander from Baylor finished his three-year career with Chatham as the Cape League’s all-time saves leader (34) to go along with a 2-4 record, 2.23 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. After pitching for Team USA in 2000, Carlson compiled a 1.23 ERA with 12 saves at Chatham in 2001 and then won the Russ Ford Award as the league’s top reliever in 2002 with a 2-2 record, 3.13 ERA and 12 saves. He topped it off in ’03 by posting 10 saves and a sparkling 1.35 ERA. He was chosen by the Kansas City Royals in the 27th round of the 2004 MLB amateur entry draft.


Lou Lamoriello, Harwich, Orleans, Bourne/Sagamore & Yarmouth
     This Johnston, R.I., native via Providence College spent six summers on Cape Cod diamonds as a player and manager. He played at Harwich (1961 & 1962), Orleans (1963) and Bourne (1964), where at age21 he also assumed the role of manager. He captured the CCBL Championship as Sagamore’s non-playing field boss in 1965 and he managed the Yarmouth Indians in 1967. His 1965 title-winner featured two future CCBL Hall of Famers – UConn shortstop Bob Schaefer and Providence College pitcher Noel Kinski. Lamoriello was a three-time All-Star who played third base, shortstop, catcher, left field and center field, compiled a career regular-season batting average of .325 and hit .372 in 12 career playoff games. He spent 20 years as a coach and administrator at PC before being named president and general manager of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils in 1987 and is currently in his 22nd year with the Devils, whom he has guided to three Stanley Cup championships. 


Joe “Skip” Lewis, Chatham
     In five seasons as manager at Chatham in the 1960s, Skip won four Lower Division championships and captured the 1967 league title by defeating Falmouth. His teams finished as runner-up three times, losing to Sagamore and Lou Lamoriello in 1965 and to Falmouth and Bill Livesey in ’66 and ’69. Like Lewis, both Lamoriello and Livesey would later be elected to the CCBL Hall of Fame. His five-season 132-59-3 record produced a CCBL-best .688 career winning percentage. Lewis was the first manager, and one of only two, to win 30 games in consecutive seasons (1966-67). CCBL Hall-of-Famer Bob Schaefer (with Hyannis in 1978-79) is the other, and the two remain the only managers in league history to have won 30 games more than once. Lewis averaged a league-best 26.2 wins per season in his five years in the Cape League and was the first manager to capture three straight division titles. 


Joe Magrane, Harwich
     This left-handed pitcher out of the University of Arizona led Harwich to a league-best 27-15 record in 1984 as he tied for the CCBL lead in wins (6), complete games (6) and shutouts (2), while finishing third in innings pitched (80.1) and strikeouts (77) and fourth in ERA (2.46). Magrane was the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game vs. the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League played at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium and was credited with the win for pitching two shutout innings while giving up a hit and one walk and striking out one in the CCBL’s 7-3 victory. The St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 1 draft choice in 1985, he made his big league debut in 1987 and pitched eight seasons in the majors – six of them with St. Louis – compiling a career record of 57-67 with a 3.81 ERA. His best season was 1989, when he won 18 games (18-9) and posted a 2.91 ERA for the Cardinals. He is currently a commentator for MLB Network. 


Art Quirk, Orleans
     A Rhode Island high school star who achieved further prominence at Dartmouth College, Quirk made one of the most memorable Cape League debuts ever. The little left-hander took the mound for Orleans on an early June evening in 1958 and proceeded to strike out 17 and go 3-for-5 at the plate as he led Orleans to an easy victory over Dennis. Two weeks later, he threw a three-hitter in which he fanned 15. Quirk’s pitching and batting prowess carried Orleans into the playoffs as he compiled a spectacular 9-0 record with a 1.12 ERA and a league-leading .475 batting average. Although sidelined by a late-season leg injury, he signed with Baltimore in 1959 and spent five years in professional baseball, including 1962 as an Oriole and 1963 with the Washington Senators. After baseball, he embarked on a successful business career, raised a loving family and earned statewide recognition in Connecticut for his tireless volunteer efforts on behalf of many worthy causes. He and his wife Kitty will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this fall.


Bill “Rock” Schroeder, Hyannis
     This slugging catcher led Clemson to the 1978 ACC championship and continued his heavy hitting as he sparked the Hyannis Mets to a dominating 31-11 CCBL season. Bill’s 15 home runs set single-season records that still stand for the most ever by a Met and most by a Cape League catcher. He was the seventh player to lead the CCBL in two Triple Crown categories – home runs (15) and RBI (38) – and received three post-season honors – All-League catcher, Outstanding Pro Prospect and Most Valuable Player. He was named Player of the Week for hitting .556 with five homers, nine runs scored and nine RBI (July 14-20); had a 14-game hitting streak in which he batted .392 with seven homers and 19 RBI (July 12-29), and in the playoffs he hit .308 with a homer and seven RBI. Bill was voted the first-team catcher on the CCBL 1970s All-Decade Team. He played eight MLB seasons, the first six with Milwaukee, which drafted him in the eighth round in 1979, and has been an analyst on Brewers telecasts since 1995.


Harold “Pie” Traynor, Falmouth & Oak Bluffs
     The first incumbent member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1948) to be elected to the Cape League Hall of Fame, Traynor played for a team which represented both Falmouth and Oak Bluffs in 1919. He hit a robust .447 with Falmouth and led the team to a combined 18-7 record with his overall batting average of .322. A seven-time NL All-Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Traynor compiled a .320 lifetime batting average during 16 seasons, hitting .300 or higher 10 times. He was voted the best third baseman in the first half of the 20th century by The Sporting News and served as a Pirates’ player-manager, scout and broadcaster. 


Greg Vaughn, Cotuit
     The Sacramento City star led Cotuit to two Cape Cod Baseball League championships in his two seasons with the Kettleers. He hit .261 with four home runs and 12 stolen bases in 1984 and returned in 1985 to win league MVP honors by batting .343 with 10 home runs, 29 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He is one of six players to reach double digits in both steals and home runs in a season. Vaughn signed with Milwaukee after being drafted in the first round in 1986. He also played for the Padres, Reds, Devil Rays and Rockies. He belted 50 home runs in 1998 and was a four-time MLB All-Star.  

  

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