Cape League Baseball Players in the Major Leagues: Cape Cod Playing Years, 1883-1962
This article was written by Mike Richard
This article was published in Cape Cod Baseball League: From College Stars to Big League Futures (2026)
The Barnstable (Hyannis) team of the Cape Cod Baseball League assembled for a photograph at Hallett’s Field in Hyannis on August 6, 1935. Lennie Merullo (front row, last on the right) played shortstop for seven seasons for the Chicago Cubs and upon retirement as a player was a major-league scout for 53 years. In addition, future Red Sox pitcher Ted Olson (back row, third from left), as well as Johnny Spirida (back row, far right) who went on to play in the NFL with the Washington Redskins played on the team. (Photo: Miriam Hill Trimble)
Quite likely, Fred Tenney went through much of his baseball life apologetically explaining that he wasn’t that Fred Tenney.
That Fred Tenney was a first baseman with the Boston Beaneaters whose career spanned 20 seasons from 1894-1907, with two more years with the New York Giants where he amassed over 2,000 hits with a .294 batting average.
However, this Fred Tenney had his own claim to fame, which was that he was the first Cape Cod baseball player to move on to a professional baseball career.
After graduating from Brown University, he became the high school principal in Yarmouth on Cape Cod from 1881-85 and played for the Yarmouth town baseball team during the summer of 1883. Eventually, Tenney would have a brief one-year baseball career where he played for both the Boston Reds and the original Washington Nationals of the American Association. In the late nineteenth century, the professional league would merge into major-league baseball’s National League.
Tenney would be the first of more than 50 players who honed their skills in the Cape Cod Baseball League before moving on to a major-league career.
Prior to becoming a league which attracted college talent, Cape Cod baseball was comprised of town teams made up of players from area colleges and prep schools, along with some semi-pro players and other local residents.
In 1963, the Cape Cod Baseball League reorganized, becoming officially sanctioned by the NCAA. It was the defining line when the league began to recruit college players and coaches from beyond Cape Cod, which at one time was limited to Cape Cod residents.
The Boston suburb Somerville High School seemed to be a breeding ground of baseball talent with alumni Walt Whittaker, Ed Gill, Harold “Pie” Traynor, as well as high school teammates Frank “Shanty” Hogan, Danny MacFayden, and Haskell “Josh” Billings all using the Cape League as a springboard to the majors.
As interest in baseball on Cape Cod grew and more and more players came to the easternmost spot in Massachusetts to play, college players from throughout New England saw the opportunity the summer baseball league afforded. These players would later embark on a pro career.
Boston College would produce Pat Creeden, Bill Cronin, Ed Gallagher, Freddie Moncewicz, Dinny McNamara, Emil Roy, Ed Gallagher, and Jud McLaughlin, while at Holy Cross the lineup included Gill, Blondy Ryan, Al Niemiec, Al Weston, Wilfred “Lefty” LeFebvre, Bob Daughters, Joe Mulligan, Rosy Ryan, Art Kenney, as well as Horace “Hod” Ford out of Tufts.
From New Hampshire, alumni of Dartmouth included Fletcher Low, David Morey, Red Rolfe, Ted Olson, and Art Quirk, while from Rhode Island came players from Brown University – Ray Tift, Hal Neubauer, and Art Meriweather, and Providence College – Ed Wineapple and Al Blanche.
In addition, native Cape Codder Joe Sherman of Yarmouth, who played at Barnstable High School, found his way to the pros, as did Waddy McPhee, who played for the Brockton Shoemakers of the old New England League.
Several players would also land on Cape Cod after their own professional careers ended such as Al Weston and Bill Barrett. In addition, a trio of former Boston Beaneaters – Dick Conway, Mert Hackett, and Fred Klobedanz – found the Cape to their liking following their major league days.
And speaking of a springboard, Russ Gibson, who helped lead B.M.C. Durfee High School of Fall River to the 1957 Class A state baseball title, found himself playing for the Falmouth All-Stars right out of high school. After hitting a home run in his first game in the Cape League, he was immediately signed by the Boston Red Sox and went on to a six-year major-league career after spending his first 10 years in the minor leagues.
MIKE RICHARD has been the historian of the Cape Cod Baseball League since 2018. He spent 35 years in public education, both as an English teacher and later a guidance counselor before retiring from Gardner (Massachusetts) High School in 2013. A longtime columnist for the Gardner News, he also wrote sports columns for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the Barnstable Patriot, and the Cape Cod Times. He has authored two sports history books: Glory to Gardner: 100 Years of Football in the Chair City, and Super Saturdays: The Complete History of the Massachusetts High School Super Bowl, as well as contributions to many SABR publications. Also known for his exhaustive research of Massachusetts high-school sports history, he is historian of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and is responsible for all records and statistics for the annual state tournament programs. He and his wife, Peggy, live in Sandwich on Cape Cod and are the parents of two grown children, Casey and Lindsey, and two grandchildren, Theo and Grace.
APPENDIX
Here is a list of all Cape Cod Baseball players during the pre-Modern era (1883-62) who also played professional baseball. This list also includes former Cape Leaguers who went on to manage, umpire, and serve as major-league scouts. Nearly a dozen more played in the National Football League or the National Hockey League.
