Hyannis Mets

The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play their home games at Judy Walden Scarafile Field at McKeon Park. The team is owned and operated by the non-profit Hyannis Athletic Association.

Hyannis most recently won the CCBL championship in 1991 when they defeated the Chatham A's two games to none to win the best of three championship series. The title was the third in team history, having won back-to-back league championships in 1978 and 1979. Hyannis joined the CCBL in 1976 as an expansion team, bringing the number of teams in the league at the time to eight.

History

Pre-modern era

Early years

Baseball in the villages of Barnstable dates back to the early days of the sport on Cape Cod. The Barnstable Cummaquids were organized in 1867 and battled the "Yarmouth Mattakeesetts" on at least three occasions that year. After splitting their first two recorded contests, the seemingly evenly-matched teams met for a highly-anticipated third game, this time as an attraction at the Barnstable County Fair. The Cummaquids took the lopsided match, 30–13, and with their victory secured the prize of a "beautiful silver mounted carved black walnut bat costing $15." The Barnstable team met up with a team from Yarmouth again in 1883 for a July 4 contest that had become an annual event. U.S. Congressman Samuel Winslow hurled for Barnstable while a student at Harvard in 1884. An 1885 poster advertising another July 4 contest, this time between Barnstable and Sandwich, was uncovered by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Although no formal league had been established at this time, the poster became the source for the traditional dating of the Cape League's origin to 1885.

From 1888 to 1892, the Hyannis town team was sponsored by "gentlemen of leisure" Charles B. Cory and Charles Richard Crane, who funded and played on the club. At Cory and Crane's expense, various well-known professional and amateur players were brought in to play alongside the Hyannis locals. In 1888, Cory and Crane outfitted the club in "suits which were of the best white flannel and red stockings," and secured the services of pitcher Dick Conway and catcher Mert Hackett, both formerly of the major league Boston Beaneaters. In 1889, Hackett was back, along with Barney Gilligan, who had played for the 1884 major league champion Providence Grays, where he was a teammate of Cape Cod native Ed Conley and batterymate of Baseball Hall of Fame hurler Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn. Hackett was back again as team captain in 1891, and in the first game of the season, Hyannis hosted a team from Boston that featured Baseball Hall of Famer George Wright at shortstop. After the season, Cory published an extended ode to the Hyannis ballclub in the style of Ernest Thayer's ''Casey at the Bat''.

The Hyannis town team had its share of stars during the early years of the twentieth century. In 1909, former major leaguer Fred Klobedanz pitched for Hyannis. Klobedanz had pitched several seasons with the National League Boston Beaneaters, posting a 26–7 record in 1897 and a 19–10 record in the team's 1898 pennant-winning season. The 1909 Hyannis team also featured Princeton gridiron All-American Sanford White, and Brown University hurler Arthur Staff, who led the team as player-manager through much of the following decade. During this period, the Hyannis team periodically played squads from naval ships docked at or near Cape Cod. In 1909, 1,500 fans saw Hyannis turn a rare triple play in a victory over the team from the USS ''Missouri'', and in 1911 and 1914, Hyannis played several games against the team from the USS ''Nebraska'', billed as the "Base Ball Champions of the Atlantic Fleet."

Holy Cross star Ed Gill tossed no-hitters for Hyannis in 1916 and 1917, and in the latter did not allow a ball to be hit to the outfield. Gill went on to play in the major leagues for the Washington Senators. Cape Cod native Joel "Joe" Sherman of Yarmouth pitched for Hyannis for many seasons. As a young man, he had played for the team from 1906 to 1913. Then after a 14-year hiatus he returned to play again for Hyannis from 1927 to 1931. In between, Sherman had a brief stint in the majors with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in 1915. Sherman's long career with Hyannis, predating even the formation of the league itself in 1923, accounts for his being referred to by some as the "father of the apeleague."

The early Cape League era (1923–1939)

In 1923 the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and originally included Falmouth, Chatham, and two Barnstable teams: Osterville and Hyannis. Hyannis played home games at Hallett's Field on Main Street in downtown Hyannis, and Osterville played at West Bay Field in Osterville. After the 1930 season, the two teams merged into a combined "Barnstable" team, with home games being split between the two ballparks. Funding for town teams during this period was difficult to secure. Teams depended largely on the town itself to appropriate funds, and the impact of the Great Depression made this an especially difficult annual town decision. As a result, the Barnstable team was forced to withdraw from the Cape League for the 1938 season, but was back in 1939, though the league itself folded after that season.

The town's teams had great success in the early Cape League, winning a combined seven league championships during the 17-year duration of the league. The Osterville team won the title in 1924 and 1925. Osterville and Hyannis agreed to share the title in 1926, as weather and the departure of college players for school prevented the scheduling of a decisive game. Hyannis took the title in 1927, and Osterville was back on top in 1928. The combined Barnstable team was league champion in 1934 and 1937. The Barnstable teams of this era were replete with college stars and semi-pro players, many of whom went on to major league careers.

Hyannis boasted a "parade of sluggers" that included Georgetown University football star Tony Plansky, who went on to play for the NFL's New York Giants. In 1999, Plansky was ranked by ''Sports Illustrated'' as the #25 all-time greatest sports figure from Massachusetts. He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2001. Other Hyannis sluggers included NYU's Ken Strong, another collegiate football star who went on to a long NFL career and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brockton, Massachusetts native and Boston College shortstop Freddie Moncewicz played for Hyannis between 1923 and 1927, winning the league title as player-manager in 1926 and 1927, then played for the Boston Red Sox in 1928, and returned to his post as Hyannis player-manager in 1929. Newburyport, Massachusetts native Paddy Creeden joined Hyannis while still a student at Brockton High School in 1924. He played for Hyannis again from 1926 to 1930, and was described as a "very smart ball player, especially fast on his feet and one of the league's leading base stealers." After a brief stint with the Boston Red Sox early in 1931, Creeden returned to play with Barnstable for the remainder of that season. During this era, Hyannis played periodic exhibitions against well-known barnstorming teams such as the House of David, who defeated Hyannis in a 1927 contest, the Lizzie Murphy All-Stars, whom Hyannis defeated in 1930, and the Philadelphia Giants, who played Hyannis in 1926, 1928 and 1929, and featured the celebrated battery of Will "Cannonball" Jackman and Burlin White. In 1929, Hyannisport summer resident and ex-Boston mayor John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald performed his well-known rendition of '' Sweet Adeline'' at a benefit concert for the Hyannis baseball team.

Osterville's 1924 pennant winners featured Shanty Hogan