Page 20 - Chatham Anglers 2017 Yearbook
P. 20

CHATHAM’S FAB FIVE – THE TEAMS WHICH WON THE TITLE



        1967                                                    His day job during the summer of ‘67 was at the Chatham Parks Department, working
        Summer baseball has been played in Chatham since the early 1900s, and it was the 1967   alongside Munson, who captured the league’s MVP that season.
        team that brought the town its first title of the modern era, the first of five.  Chatham had   Baird was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1968 and in 1969 he Carlton Fisk’s teammate
        reached the finals the previous two seasons, but had come up short against Sagamore   with the team’s Double-A affiliate in Pittsfield, MA. Baird believes that puts him in
        and Bourne, respectively.                               exclusive company of being able to say he pitched to both Fisk and Munson, who were
        The ‘67 team, though, would not be denied. They cruised to a 30-4 mark, led by Manager   at the heart of the heated Red Sox-Yankees rivalry in the 1970s.
        Joe “Skip” Lewis. Regarded as one of the Cape League’s greatest teams, Chatham defeated   Today, Ed Baird is the Anglers treasurer and merchandise coordinator, where you can
        the Falmouth Commodores for the championship            find him manning the merchandise stand at the base of the press box behind home
        That season’s best known alumnus was Kent State’s Thurman Munson, the seven-time   plate. If you find yourself at Veterans Field this summer, stop by and say hello to “Big” Ed.
        All-Star catcher for the New York Yankees. In ‘67, Munson hit .420 with four home runs   1982
        to pace the Chatham offense. Two years later, after leading Chatham to the title, he was   After breaking through in ‘67, the A’s reached the finals four times from 1969-1980, but
        the Yankees starting catcher.                           could not capture another Cape League title. Then came 1982.
        While Munson was the biggest name on the ‘67 squad, he was hardly its lone major   It was the first title for the legendary Eddie Lyons, who managed Chatham for 14
        contributor. Seven members of the roster were eventually enshrined in the Cape Cod   seasons and was part of the inaugural Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame class in
        Baseball League Hall of Fame, including Munson, Manager Lewis, George Greer (UConn),   2000. Joining Lyons on the bench was Assistant Coach John Schiffner, who was only a
        Joe Jabar (Colby), Steve Saradnik (Providence) and Ed Baird (UConn).   few years removed from his own Cape League playing days in neighboring Harwich.
        Jabar (7-0, 1.23 ERA) joined with Baird (6-1, 2.18 ERA) to form a dynamic front end   Offensively, the team was paced by Wake Forest’s Billie Merrifield, who led the club with
        of the rotation. Baird, who was in his third summer with the A’s, still looks back with   eight home runs and 40 runs batted in. The pitching staff was led by Oklahoma State’s
        wonder and appreciation 50 years later.                 Gary Kanwisher, who compiled a 4-2 record to go along with a team-best 1.57 ERA and
        “If you’re lucky enough to spend a summer in Chatham, you never forget it. And I got   59 strikeouts was named the League’s Pro Prospect of the Yea.. Kanwisher would spend
        to spend three summers there,” said Baird.              three seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers system, while Merrifield would reach Triple-A
                                                                                              with both the California Angels and
                                                                                              Texas Rangers. A generation later,
                                                                                              Merrifield’s son, Whit would lead
                                                                                              the South Carolina Gamecocks to an
                                                                                              NCAA Championship, play for the A’s
                                                                                              and make to the Big Leagues with the
                                                                                              Kansas City Royals.
                                                                                              Eastern Illinois’s Jeff Yocum was the
                                                                                              team’s starting catcher. Today, he goes
                                                                                              by Dr. Yocum, and remembers that “by
                                                                                              summer’s end, (it) was a gritty bunch
                                                                                              of ball players. We got ‘hot’ late in the
                                                                                              summer, didn’t want the season to
                                                                                              end, and got great production from
                                                                                              everyone – even the guys who joined
                                                                                              us late in the season.”
                                                                                              In the finals, Chatham swept Hyannis
                                                                                              to bring the trophy back to Veterans
                                                                                              Field for the first time in 15 years. As
                                                                                              Dr. Yocum reflected 35 years later,
                                                                                              “Yes, the summer of 1982 – a Cape
                                                                                              League Championship has a special
                                                                                              place in my heart and I’m sure for my
                                                                                              teammates as well.”
                                                                                              1992
                                                                                              Exactly a decade after Ed Lyons’s
        THE 1967 CHATHAM SQUAD WON THE CAPE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP. THE TEAM INCLUDED: THIRD ROW (FROM LEFT): FRANK DILL (FAN); GEORGE GREER (OF); ED BAIRD (P);   team caught fire late in the season,
        JOHN FROBOSE (P); MERRILL DOANE (GENERAL MANAGER). SECOND ROW (FROM LEFT): DAN GODBY (OF); JOHN WILLIAMS (OF); GARY LAUTZENHISER (1B); CHUCK SCHMIDT
        (SS); RON LEMONDS (3B). FIRST ROW (FROM LEFT): STEVE SARADNIK (2B); DAN GABRIEL (P); DON WIELAND (P); THURMAN MUNSON (C); JOE “SKIP” LEWIS (MGR.). FRONT   Manager Rich Hill’s squad was hungry
        ROW (FROM LEFT): JOHN ERICSON (BAT BOY). NOT PICTURED: DAVE BALDWIN (P); BOB BONACCI (C); BARRY BOR (IF); ED BRAVO (IF); BUDDY CALDWELL (OF); JOHN CURTIS   for a title. Chatham had dropped the
        (P); DICK HANSELMAN (P); JOE JABAR (P): MIKE KELLY (C); KEN RHYNE (OF); BOB WHITFIELD (OF).
        18   2017 CHATHAM ANGLERS YEARBOOK
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