Local Connections Through the Cape Cod Baseball League and Beyond

by Jenna Schmidt

The Cape Cod Baseball League will be starting up again in mid-June. In the last world series 30% of the rosters consisted of former CCBL players. Former coaches for the Chatham Anglers and the Hyannis Harbor Hawks remember their summers coaching fondly. John Schiffner was the head coach for the Chatham Anglers from 1993 to 2017.

“I always have a funny story about Homer, the mascot of the Falmouth Commodores,” says Schiffner. “Yeah, one year it was blazing hot down in Falmouth, and for some reason it was kiddie's day or whatever it was. Homer was going around like it was in between the innings or something like that. He's got a trail like 20-25 kids and it's just you just tell he's miserable because you got the giant, giant head on, you know? So I go, hey, how are you feeling there, Homer? You just f off, coach.”

Schiffner, better known as Schiff, says of having former players in the World Series.

“It's almost indescribable because you spend you know... the whole summer with these kids and to see them achieve at that level, it's fantastic,” says Schiffner. “It's a wonderful, wonderful experience but it's so great when you, with the exception of the World Series, the kids, when they get drafted, you see their name come up, they get drafted and that's fantastic. And then you hear that they got brought up to the big leagues. And you know, I'm an old softy. I start crying when I hear that.”

Schiff’s players in the World Series included Evan Longoria and Zac Allen.

“Evan Longoria, unless there was some major injury, he was going to be in the big leagues... I mean, he had a few beers with the boys, but he was not the party animal,” says Schiffner. “It was, you know, working on his game, whether it was fielding ground balls, working on his throwing mechanics, doing long toss, obviously hitting. That's what's carried him, and while he was here, he was here to showcase so that he could get to the point he's at right now.  Zac Allen, just a good kid. I mean, just funny, great sense of humor. Worked extremely hard because like I said, he didn't have the physical tools that a lot of pitchers have today... I'm not trying to knock him. But he's not big... He never showed you the chip on his shoulder except in how he prepared himself and how he worked. But you know, again, he didn't take himself too seriously. He was always the funniest guy in the dugout, you know.”

Schiffner’s former players were both on the Diamondbacks but outside of the Cape League he coached the GM for the Rangers. Of rooting for one team or the other he says, “No, I can't. You know, you're looking at three of my most favorite players. They're special young men all in their own right.”

Chad Gassman was the head coach of the Hyannis Harbor Hawks from 2009 to 2019. Gassman calls the Cape League, “the best collegiate summer Baseball League in the country, and Hyannis, the organization just basically adopted my family as their own, and my kids at the time and my wife loved going up there.”

Gassman says of Ryan Thompson, “He was a shutdown reliever type, so I didn't know how he was going to develop. But no, it does not surprise me he's in the big leagues. But you got to realize every one of those kids out there has unbelievable talent. So, you can't go wrong if you say, oh, they're going to be in the big leagues someday, because they could all be in the big league someday and then whatever happens after that, you just don't know.”

One of Gassman’s other World Series players, Mitch Garver, had an interesting start in the CCBL. “Mitch Garver is a really cool story,” says Gassman. “He wasn't initially on our roster because he was draft eligible, so I think we all thought he was going to sign, and he didn't. So, the next thing you know we find out about him and he's available, we bring him up and he had a great year. So, when you ask about projectability, if they're going to be in the big leagues, I knew Mitch Garver was going to hit at any level and that was an easy one. I knew he had the ability to hit at any level.”

 Gassman says his former players, “...had those intangibles that I talk about, very good work ethic, very good teammates, very dependable. So yeah, they had those things that produce success. Now that's always really important.”

These World Series players’ time on Cape Cod consisted of one or maybe two summers of their lives. Gassman says, “It is so cool that the Cape Cod Baseball League got to be a part of their journey in a small way.”

The Hyannis Harbor Hawk dressed up for Christmas in July. (Norma Schmidt)

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