Cape Cod Baseball Hall of Fame inducts eight new members

Bob Corradi recalled the day back in 2000 when he, along with Judy Walden Scarafile, Paul Gallop, Barry Souder, Dick Sullivan and Jim Higgins sat in the living room of the late Bob Stead, discussing the possibility of creating a Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.

“Back then, it was to be a place to honor the best of the best,” said Corradi. “We wanted to do it professionally, and we wanted to do it now.”

Corradi has come full circle following his induction into the 2020 Hall of Fame class on Sunday at the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Harwich.

The event, scheduled for last year but put off by the COVID pandemic, was held before a capacity crowd.

Corradi joined fellow Cape League executive Sol Yas, manager Harvey Shapiro, scout Charles “Buzz” Bowers and former league players Tyler Horan, Harry Nelson, Kevin Newman and Cliff Pennington, the latter two Major Leaguers, into the hallowed halls.

“I’m a Cape Cod kid,” said the Bourne native, who was the longtime athletic director and baseball coach at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. “And for a Cape Cod kid to be up here receiving this award with a couple of major leaguers, well, it’s something very special.”

Corradi and fellow CCBL Hall of Famer Jack Aylmer founded the Bourne Braves franchise in 1988, which played home games at Mass Maritime. He also made the MMA facility available for the annual CCBL pre-season tryout. He was presented by Kate Gallop, in honor of her late father Paul who was initially supposed to present him.

The ceremony was emceed by hall of fame committee member John Garner, filling in for usual master of ceremonies Scott Wahle who was unable to attend due to a family situation.

Garner led the assemblage in the singing of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game,” followed by opening remarks from Cape League president Chuck Sturtevant.

Each hall of famer was introduced by a presenter before their acceptance remarks.

Bowers, who passed away in 2015, was presented by his former boss in scouting with the Boston Red Sox Amiel Sawdaye, current assistant general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and accepted by his daughter Linda

After playing seven seasons from 1950-57 in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, Bowers spent 60 years as a major league baseball scout. For many years, he scouted players in the Cape League and is credited with signing former Red Sox players Lou Merloni, Carl Pavano, Brian Rose and Steve Lomasney.

Horan, a Middleton, native presented by his father Roy, was a Virginia Tech product who starred in the Wareham outfield in 2012 leading them to the Cape League championship. His 16 homers tied Dave Staton’s modern-day league wooden bat record set in 1988, and he had 52 hits and 40 RBI.

Named the Cape League’s top New England prospect, he quipped how his mother once made him a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich before having his best game of the Cape season. It soon became a pregame ritual. He was drafted by San Francisco and played five years in the minors, batting .260 with 55 homers and 191 RBI.

Nelson, who was introduced by his brothers Edward and Rob, won the 1964 CCBL batting title for Bourne with a .390 average. As both a pitcher and an outfielder, he was selected to the Upper Cape All-Star squad. He signed with the Yankees in 1965 as a pitcher and won 18 games in two seasons of Class A ball before a rotator cuff injury curtailed his career.

Newman, the current shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was presented by his former Falmouth assistant coach Brad Stoll. He stated how happy he was to be able to show his wife Shayne and newborn daughter Addison where he played for two summers.

“It was nice to bring my wife and my daughter back through Falmouth,” he said with a smile. “Just the drive in, passing through the towns, the memories came back.”

A two-time Cape League batting champion, Newman led Falmouth to the playoffs in 2013 and 2014. He hit .375 in 2013 and .380 in 2014 winning the Pat Sorenti League MVP award his final season. He was selected by Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft and has enjoyed a four-year career as a shortstop and second baseman with the Pirates.

He said he and his former Commodores teammate Steve Duggar, a current outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, faced one another this past summer rekindling Cape League memories.

“Then he’s in the outfield, and he dove and took two hits away from me in a series,” Newman chuckled, “And I was like, ‘Man, what are you doing?’”

Pennington was presented by Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy who called the switch-hitting shortstop, “The epitome of a player who never took a pitch off.”

He batted .277 with 41 hits and 21 stolen bases with the 2004 Commodores. Pennington had an 11-year career as an infielder with the Athletics, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Angels, and Reds, becoming the first position player to pitch in a playoff game before retiring after 2018.

Shapiro, who was introduced by his children Scott and Nancy Nelson, has managed 23 seasons in the Cape League, 18 with the Bourne Braves and five with Falmouth. He will manage at Wareham this coming season. His 503 career wins are the third-highest in league history, including 28 playoff wins.

He has coached more than 80 major leaguers, including 15 first-round draft picks. He also had more than 30 years of baseball coaching experience at the college level at Springfield, University of Hartford and Bowdoin.

Yas, presented by his son David, has made a valiant comeback after suffering a debilitating fall last year. Involved in the Cape League for over 25 years, he was the GM of the Brewster Whitecaps for seven years, winning a league championship in 2000.

He was senior deputy commissioner and director of officiating since 2001. Each summer he has also overseen the home run hitting contest at the All-Star game.

Before the ceremony, several other awards were presented such as the Lifetime Achievement Award to Kevin McLain, who was instrumental in making managing the audio and visual aspects of the Cape League Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for over 15 years.

The Richard (Dick) Sullivan Executive of the Year Award to Michele Pavlu, who worked tirelessly to develop league policies and procedures to enable the Cape League to return to play last season following the COVID shutdown of 2020.

And the Peter Gammons Award of Excellence and Distinction, presented by the Hall of Fame sportswriter to the Yawkey Foundation which has provided more than $3 million in grants to the Cape Cod Baseball League over the years. Former Red Sox vice president John Harrington accepted the award, representing the foundation.

In summing up his award, Corradi mused on the very first induction held back in 2000.

“I remember Bob Stead said to Paul Gallop after that first one, ‘I think we hit a home run,’” he recalled emotionally, “Well, for me, today felt like I hit a walk-off for myself and my family.”

Mike Richard can be contacted at mikerichard0725@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Baseball League holds Hall of Fame ceremony, inducts 8