RIGHT FIELD FOG

Craig Hansen
Harwich 2004
Pitcher
St. John’s

In his Cape League career, Craig Hansen only pitched 22.1 innings.

But those innings were really something.

Hansen came to the Cape after his sophomore year at St. John’s. He was installed as the Harwich Mariners’ closer, and soon enough, he was authoring one of the most dominant seasons by a reliever in Cape League history.

It all started on the second night of the season, when Hansen pitched one inning against Brewster, striking out two and allowing no runs on one hit. He would go on to have a lot more innings just like that.

Only with fewer hits.

Hansen finished the summer with remarkable numbers: 22.1 innings, 41 strikeouts, two walks, nine hits allowed and a 0.00 ERA. He saved 10 games, good for second in the league. His WHIP was 0.50. His K/9 was 16.7. His opponent’s batting average was .120.

He was essentially untouchable, and plenty of people noticed.

Thought Hansen didn’t win the league’s relief pitcher award, he was an all-star and an all-league pick. Baseball America tabbed him as the league’s No. 3 prospect, much higher than anyone would have predicted when the summer began.

After the Cape

Hansen was drafted by the Red Sox with the 26th overall pick in the 2005 draft. He was in the majors by the end of the 2005 season but hasn’t been able to sustain any success. At this point, his career major-league ERA is 6.34. In 2008, Hansen was traded to the Pirates as part of the Manny Ramirez-Jason Bay deal. Hansen pitched in five games for the Pirates in 2009 before missing the rest of the season with an injury.

Dallas Buck
Falmouth 2004 & 2005
Pitcher
Oregon State

In his first two years at Oregon State, Dallas Buck played football and baseball. He eventually settled on baseball, and his time on the Cape may have had a lot to do with that decision.

Buck’s first season in Corvallis was nothing to write home about. He went 3-6 and had an ERA over five.

But that summer, it was a completely different story. Buck came to Falmouth and dominated.

He went 4-1 and led the league with a 0.77 ERA. He struck out 65 — second in the league — and walked 20. In 58.1 innings, he allowed just 26 hits. At the start of the summer, he went 15 innings without allowing a run, and he only allowed five earned runs the whole year.

Buck’s showing in ’04 vaulted him into the national consciousness, and he really planted his feet there the next spring when he went 12-1 for the Beavers with a 2.09 ERA and 118 strikeouts. He was a consensus first-team All-American.

In the summer of 2005, Buck was back in Falmouth and he got lost in the shuffle a little bit. He arrived late after the College World Series, and in a year that featured a huge crop of pitching stars, Buck’s 3.86 ERA in 32.2 innings didn’t stand out.

But taken as a whole, Buck’s Cape League career was pretty special.

After the Cape

Buck won a College World Series with Oregon State in 2006 and was drafted in the third round by Arizona. He had Tommy John surgery in 2007 and was traded to the Reds in 2008 as part of the Adam Dunn deal. In 2009, Buck pitched in Double A and had a 4.82 ERA in 37.1 innings.

Warner Jones
Wareham 2003 & 2004
Infielder
Vanderbilt

The Wareham Gatemen played 77 games in 2003 and 2004.

Warner Jones played in every single one of them. More importantly for our purposes, he had a hit in a whole lot of them.

The Ironman is also the decade’s Hit King. Jones had 64 hits in 2003, a high for the decade, and he added 57 more in 2004. There wasn’t much power or run production. For that matter, there weren’t many walks — 10 in 77 games. It’s no coincidence that Jones ranks third and fourth in single-season at-bats in the Cape League record books.

But I don’t think anybody minded that Jones was taking his swings. He was practically an institution for the Gatemen, and their lineup wouldn’t have been the same without him.

Jones came to Wareham after his freshman season at Vanderbilt and delivered one of the best offensive seasons in the league that year. He finished third in batting average at .344 and led the league in hits. He had 11 doubles, two triples and a home run.

In his sophomore year at Vandy, Jones delivered more of the same, playing in every game for the Commodores, leading the nation in hits and finishing with a .414 batting average. Back in Wareham for the summer of 2004, Jones hit .303 with 16 doubles and 21 RBI, led the league in hits again and earned all-league honors for the second year in a row.

After the Cape

This portion of Jones’ story is different from most on this list. After earning first-team All-American honors as a junior, Jones was drafted in the 17th round of the 2005 draft by the Detroit Tigers. He chose not to sign, but it had nothing to do with leverage or a desire to play another year in college. Jones went to law school an decided not to pursue a baseball career. He kept a blog going for awhile and now works for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Nashville.

Shaun Seibert
Brewster 2006
Pitcher
Arkansas

The first start of Shaun Seibert’s summer didn’t yield the prettiest of stat lines: 4.2 innings, three hits, five strikeouts, four walks, four runs. But one number stood out in that stat line: zero earned runs.

It would continue to stand out for the duration of a remarkable summer.

It wasn’t always easy for Seibert, who walked almost as many hitters as he struck out, but the end result was almost always the same. In seven of his eight starts, he didn’t allow an earned run. His ERA was 0.00 until July 31 — his seventh start — when he allowed two runs to Harwich.

If not for those two runs, Seibert would have become the first pitcher in league history with a 0.00 ERA and enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. As it was, Seibert finished with a 0.39 ERA, which ties him for second in the league record books. It also ties him for the best mark this decade.

Seibert came to the Cape after his sophomore season at Arkansas, where he went 4-0 with a 2.79 ERA. After that first start on the Cape, Seibert consistently found a way to keep teams off the scoreboard. The rest of the summer, he allowed just five total runs and just the two earned runs. He also found a way to win, leading the league in wins and going 6-0.

With the ERA title also on his resume, Seibert was picked as the co-winner of the league’s Pitcher of the Year award, along with Y-D’s Terry Doyle.

After the Cape

Seibert made six appearances for the Razorbacks in 2007 before undergoing Tommy John Surgery. It was an inopportune time. Seibert returned in 2008 but didn’t recapture his form right away and had an ERA of 7.46 in only 25.1 innings. After going undrafted in 2008, Seibert signed on with the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League, where he continued to pitch this season.

Aaron Crow
Falmouth 2007
Pitcher
Missouri

At the beginning of the summer of 2007, Aaron Crow found himself as a well-regarded but unheralded pitcher in a league full of big hitters.

By the end of the summer, he had made a bigger splash than all of them.

Crow came to the Cape after his sophomore season at Missouri. He made his first two appearances out of the bullpen, turning in good performances but not giving any indication of what was about to happen.

Then he became a starter, and the rest was history.

Flashing a high-90’s fastball, Crow quickly became a dominant and overpowering starter, which is saying something when you consider the competition. His Cape class featured the likes of Gordon Beckham, Jason Castro and Yonder Alonso.

At times, Crow was a bigger story then all of then. He finished the year with a modest 3-1 record, but nothing else was modest. His ERA was .67, he struck out 36 and he walked just nine. In 40.1 innings, he allowed only 19 hits.

And he was at his best when the lights were brightest.

Crow earned the starting nod for the West in the all-star game and authored the signature moment when he struck out the side in the first inning with overpowering stuff. The performance was so good, Crow was given the West’s All-Star MVP award — just for that one inning.

That showing undoubtedly stuck in the minds of scouts. Crow was awarded the league’s top prospect award, and Baseball America also tabbed him as the league’s best.

After the Cape

Crow was drafted by the Nationals with the ninth pick in the 2008 draft but he didn’t sign. After pitching in independent ball for a tuneup last spring, Crow got picked again in the first round in 2009, this time by the Royals at No. 12. Crow has signed with the Royals, but he hasn’t made a minor-league debut.

Pete Stonard
Cotuit 2002
Infielder
Alabama/San Diego State

As I’ve noted in some earlier posts, the first few years of the decade were dominated by pitching — sub-one ERA’s and not many guys hitting over .300.

In that era, Pete Stonard stood out. It’s not a stretch to call him the best all-around offensive player of those first few years.

Because Stonard could do almost everything.

He came to the Cape after a huge sophomore season at Alabama, where he batted .411, setting a new school record for batting average by a sophomore. He didn’t have a roster spot on the Cape until late in the spring, but the Kettleers had to be thrilled that they got him.

Stonard was named the league’s Player of the Week for the first week of the season and he continued to scorch for most of the summer. A line-drive hitter who batted leadoff, Stonard was the catalyst for Cotuit’s run to the regular-season division title. He ended up with a .348 average, a .419 on-base percentage, a league-best 56 hits, six extra-base hits, 27 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

Stonard won the batting title by a wide margin and his all-around numbers garnered him the league’s MVP award.

Baseball America picked him as the league’s ninth-best prospect.

After the Cape

Stonard transferred to San Diego State for his junior season and hit .368 for the Aztecs. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2003 draft by the Padres but only played one season of minor league ball before retiring.

Bob Brownlie
Falmouth 2000
Pitcher
Rutgers

Bob Brownlie is one of many Cape League pitchers who put up incredible numbers in the early part of the decade, the kind of numbers that haven’t been seen in recent years.

Brownlie stands out because he did it with just one year of college under his belt.

He came to Rutgers as a highly-touted pitcher, having been drafted in the 26th round after his senior year of high school. He might have gone higher if he hadn’t made it clear that he wanted to play in college. At Rutgers, he was an instant star, going 9-1 and earning Big East Freshman of the Year honors in his first season. His coach at Rutgers, Fred Hill, told the New York Times, “We expected him to be good, but I don’t think anybody expected him to be this good. His composure and mound presence are what separates him from other freshmen.”

On the Cape, he continued to separate himself.

He made his first start on the season’s first day and pitched seven innings of three-hit ball. He struck out 12, walked two and didn’t allow an earned run.

The rest of the summer, Brownlie delivered more of the same, and he made a huge splash in late July, when Team USA came to Chatham to play a team of Cape League all-stars. In one inning, Brownlie struck out two, including an all-everything first baseman named Mark Teixeira.

Brownlie finished the regular season with a 4-2 record, a 2.01 ERA and a league-best 73 strikeouts in 62.2 innings.

He won the award as the league’s top pro prospect, one of the few freshmen to claim that title.

After the Cape

Brownlie pitched for Team USA after his sophomore season then was picked 21st overall by the Cubs in the 2002 draft. He has bounced around the minors since then, splitting the 2009 season between an independent-league team and the Braves’ Triple A affiliate.

Joe Blanton
Bourne 2001
Pitcher
Kentucky

When it comes to strikeouts in the Cape League, I think it’s fair to say that — these days — 60 is a pretty good benchmark. You get to 60, and you’re doing a lot of things right.

Joe Blanton is one of the few who surpassed that mark.

And he surpassed it by a lot.

Playing for Bourne in 2001, the 6’4 righty totaled a league-best 77 strikeouts. In looking back, that’s tied for the third-highest total of the decade. And Blanton is one of just six players in the decade to get past 70.

Blanton had his success in part because he was a workhorse. He led the league in innings pitched with 68. For comparison’s sake, the leader in innings pitched in 2009 was Chris Sale with 55 innings.

But Blanton didn’t get 77 simply be being out there a lot. Flashing a strong repertoire, he was one of the league’s most overpowering pitchers. He ended up going 5-2 with a 2.25 ERA. His K/9 ratio sat at 10.19.

Blanton’s big summer helped him become one of the top prospects for the 2002 draft.

After the Cape

Blanton was picked by Oakland with the 24th overall pick in the 2002 draft. He reached the majors after just two minor-league seasons and he’s been a middle-of-the-rotation starter ever since. He pitched for the Phillies this year and posted a career-high in strikeouts.

Todd Cunningham
Falmouth 2009
Outfielder
Jacksonville State

When the man in charge of umpires is rooting for you, you’re doing something right. In the stretch run of Todd Cunningham’s remarkable summer, that’s exactly how it was.

“I know I’m not supposed to root for anybody,” said Sol Yas, the league’s Umpire in Chief, in a story on the league web site, “but I hope he gets a few more hits and reaches .400.”

In the end, Cunningham didn’t get to .400.

But he sure made himself a lot of fans in the process.

Cunningham came to Falmouth with solid credentials, but without the pedigree of some fellow standouts. He hails from Jacksonville, Ala., and he attends Jacksonville State. It’s a good baseball school, but not a big-time baseball school. Cunningham hit .339 as a sophomore.

In Falmouth, he exceeded every expectation that could have possibly been laid out.

From the moment he arrived, he started hitting — and never stopped.

Cunningham led the league in batting average for much of the summer and as late as August 1, he was over .400. If he had finished at .400, he would have been the first Cape League to do it since 1990.

Ultimately, he finished with a .378 average, to go with three home runs and 22 RBI. He won the league’s top prospect award.

For those who watched him on a day-to-day basis, those results were almost secondary, just a validation.

“I think his work ethic is the most important quality Todd possesses,” Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy said. “A lot of baseball people say that and it’s become kind of cliché. But he really is the first one here everyday, taking extra cuts, working with coaches, just trying to get better.”

I’d say it worked.

After the Cape

Cunningham will be back at Jacksonville State for his junior season in 2010. Baseball America picked him as the league’s ninth-best prospect, and compared him to ’08 MVP — and first-round pick — A.J. Pollock.

Brian Stavisky
Hyannis 2000 & 2001
Outfielder
Notre Dame

Before I started this blog, I was a Cape League but not a fanatic. I had a two-week window every summer when I would dive in head-first, but apart from that, I wasn’t an avid follower.

But for some reason, Brian Stavisky stuck with me, even then. To this day, when I think of Hyannis, Stavisky’s name often pops into my head. It could be because 2000 was my first all-star game. My dad and I sat beyond the center field, with Stavisky playing right in front of us.

In the grander scheme of things, I remember him because he was a mainstay. That’s a rare characteristic for a Cape League player, but Stavisky fit it to a T.

One of the keys to Notre Dame’s resurgence under then-coach Paul Mainieri, Stavisky came to Hyannis in 2000 after a great freshman season in South Bend. He picked up where left off in and then some once he arrive on the Cape. Stavisky batted .324, good for second in the league. He also had two homers, 14 doubles and 26 RBI. He was an all-star starter and an all-league selection.

After another good year at Notre Dame, Stavisky headed back to Hyannis in 2001. Though his average wasn’t as high — he hit .262 — he was still a major part of the lineup. He ended up batting .263 with 16 extra-base hits, four home runs and 19 RBI. Again, he was an all-star starter.

After the Cape

Stavisky was picked in the sixth round of the 2002 draft by Oakland. Playing in the High-A California League in 2004, Stavisky hit .343 with 19 homers and was named league MVP. Since then, he’s spent most of his time in Double A, with steady numbers. He was signed by the Phillies as a minor-league free agent in 2008. They sent him to Double A, where he hit .279 with 11 homers in 2009.