Page 20 - Chatham Anglers 2017 Yearbook

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