Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Cape Cod Baseball League
Floor Speech
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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the Cape Cod Baseball League's 100th anniversary.
Now 1 of the country's top collegiate summer baseball leagues, the Cape Cod Baseball League was founded in 1923. At its inception, the league consisted of 4 teams: Chatham, Falmouth, Hyannis, and Osterville. During the early years, teams were not limited to only playing other teams within the league. Falmouth even played the major league Boston Braves, who later became the Atlanta Braves, in 1929 and lost by only 1 point in the exhibition game.
Recovering from the Great Depression and with World War II on the horizon, the Cape League shutdown in 1940. However, when the league reopened in 1946, fans and players quickly came back. The league continued to grow and was divided into the Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. When the Cape Cod Baseball League returned after the war, the league also implemented a new rule that teams could no longer hire professional or semi-professional baseball players who received a salary. Previously, teams consisted of a mix of local, semipro, and college players, but as the Cape Cod Baseball League grew in popularity, teams like the Sagamore Clouters began to recruit college baseball players. This strategy helped the Clouters to secure 4 championship titles in the 1950s. With more college players being recruited, the Cape Cod Baseball League was sanctioned by the NCAA as a summer collegiate league on March 9, 1965.
Today, the Cape Cod Baseball League is an elite collegiate baseball league made up of 10 teams: the Bourne Braves, Brewster Whitecaps, Chatham Anglers, Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Harwich Mariners, Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Orleans Firebirds, Wareham Gatemen, and Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. The Cape Cod Baseball League has more than 350 alumni playing in the major leagues each year. Since the league's inception in 1923, over 1,600 Cape Cod Baseball League players have gone on to play in the major leagues.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor the Cape Cod Baseball League. I ask that my colleagues join me in wishing the league continued success and all the best in the years to come.
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