Hyannis Harbor Hawks Dedicate Press Box to Jack Aylmer

Jack Aylmer, a retired rear admiral, USMS and president emeritus of Mass. Maritime Academy, was honored before Sunday’s night’s Hyannis Harbor Hawk's game against Bourne when the new field house at McKeon Park was dedicated in his honor. 

During the mid-1970’s, the Cape’s largest village was looking to start a baseball team and Jack Aylmer stepped up to the plate.

“Jack Aylmer was truly a driving force behind the formation of the Hyannis franchise,” said CCBL Judy Walden Scarafile. “Without Jack’s hard work and expertise, it would never have become a reality.

The former state senator joined a small circle of friends and put together a plan which enabled the then Hyannis Mets franchise to begin play behind Barnstable High School in 1976.

Eventually, Aylmer would help the Hyannis Mets (now the Hyannis Harbor Hawks) migrate over to McKeon Field (now McKeon Park) in Hyannis, a field which his father helped build back in the mid-1920s.

Barnstable was an early entry in the Cape League, playing against Sandwich on July 4, 1885 in what is considered the origin of the nation’s top amateur summer league. Town teams were formed shortly after Union soldiers returned home from the Civil War in 1865.

Barnstable fielded powerhouse teams in the 1930’s led by CCBL Hall of Famer Len Merullo, who later starred with the Chicago Cubs.

Nat (Buck) Showalter, current Baltimore Orioles manager, was the Mets’ first star as he captured the CCBL batting championship in 1976 with a .434 average, third best all-time in the modern era.

Hyannis captured back-to-back league titles in 1978-79 led by future Hall of Famers Ross Jones, Ron Perry, Jr., Bill “Rock” Schroeder, who hit 15 HR in ‘78 and manager Bob Schaeffer.

After finishing with the worst record in the West Division last season, the new-look Harbor Hawks boast the loop’s best record at 17-8 and lead their division by six points over second place Bourne.

Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) is one of the league’s top hurlers with a 4-0 record and a 1.31 ERA along with Scott Firth (Clemson) who is 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA.

Cape League This Week

Triple-threat hitter – Victor Roache is making a bid to become a triple-crown winner after going 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBI in an 8-2 win over Y-D Sunday.  The Georgia Southern slugger ranks first with a .387 batting avg., is one behind Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville) of Orleans with five HR and leads the league with 22 RBI.

 Bourne Supremacy – The Bourne Braves lead the Cape League with a 1.99 ERA, paced by Ryan Eades (LSU) who is 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA, Slade Smith (Auburn) who is 0-2 with a 1.31 ERA and Thomas Collier (San Jacinto CC) who is 2-1 with a 1.35 mark after hurling six innings of two-hit ball in a 2-0 win over Falmouth Saturday.

Falmouth Flame Thrower – Joe Bircher (Bradley) leads the Cape League with 34 strikeouts and has compiled a 1-1 record with a sparkling 1.30 ERA.

 Go-Go Kettleers – It’s no surprise Cotuit is among the team leaders in stolen bases, one behind Hyannis with 52. The Kettleers are paced by league leader Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech), son of Atlanta GM Frank Wren, with 13 and Patrick Biondi (Michigan) with 11 thefts.

How Do You Spell Relief? – After five runs came across the plate in the first two innings at Chatham, the deep Harwich bullpen hurled 10 consecutive scoreless innings to earn a 6-5, 12-inning win Sunday in the Cape League Sunday Night Baseball broadcast on WEEI Cape Cod (96.3 FM). A pinch double by Jabari Henry (Florida International) led the uprising for the first-place Mariners, who got the win from Carter Capps (Mount Olive) on the mound.

Walk-off Wonder – Max Muncy slammed a three-run, walk-off homer to lift Wareham to an exciting 6-5 win tough-luck Chatham at Spillane Field. The Baylor slugger went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs for the Gateman.

Adios to Former Red Sox – A fond farewell goes to Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams, who passed away last Thursday at age 82.  He managed the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox to the 1967 AL pennant and also led the Oakland A’s, San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos to first-place finishes…Also passing away last Tuesday was former Boston shortstop Don Buddin at age 77. He spent five seasons with the Red Sox, including 1961 when he hit .263 with 42 RBI. He was traded for SS Eddie Bressoud to the Houston Colt 45’s in ‘62.

CCBL Alumni: Where Are They Now? -  Former Cape League hurler Kyle Weiland (Falmouth ’07) was brought up from Pawtucket and started for Boston…Congrats to Jacoby Ellsbury (Falmouth ’04) and Kevin Youkilis (Bourne ’00) of the Red Sox, David Robertson (Y-D ’06) of the Yankees, Matt Wieters (Orleans ’06) of Baltimore for being selected to the AL All-Star Team. Ellsbury is hitting .316 and leads the AL with 28 stolen bases, while “Youk” is batting .285 with 13 HR and 63 RBI…Selected to the NL squad were Lance Berkman (Wareham ’96) of St. Louis, Tim Lincecum (Harwich ’05) and Brian Wilson (Hyannis ’02) of San Francisco and Ryan Braun (Brewster ’06) of Milwaukee… After enjoying a cup of coffee with Detroit, former Hyannis Met Charlie Furbush was optioned back to Toledo (IL)…Fire-balling Daniel Bard (Wareham ’05) of Boston extended his scoreless streak to a personal-best 19 1/3 innings Sunday in a win over Baltimore.

This Date in Hisotry – Cape League Hall of Famer Harold “Pie” Traynor (Falmouth ’19) of the National League stole home in the 1934 All-Star Game, a fact blurred after Carl (Meal Ticket) Hubbell struck out five straight future Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons and Osterville’s own Joe Cronin.

Did You Know? – Former Cape Leaguer Steve Greenberg (Falmouth)’s Hall of Fame Dad, Hank Greenberg, totaled 107 RBI at the All-Star break in 1935, but didn’t make the AL squad that season because of two first basemen named Gehrig and Foxx. The big Detroit first baseman led the AL with 170 RBI that season.

Next Broadcast – The next Cape League Sunday Night Baseball Game broadcast on WEEI Cape Cod 96.3 FM will be the Hyannis at Yarmouth-Dennis game which begins at 5 p.m. Larry Egan and John Garner will provide the commentary.

Editor's note: John Garner and Geoff Garner of the Cape League contributed to this report.