Editing Cape Cod Baseball League (section)

==History==
[[File:Pie Traynor.jpg |thumb|right|140px|[[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]] [[Pie Traynor]] played for Falmouth in 1919]]
[[File:DannyMacfaydenGoudeycard.jpg |thumb|right|140px|[[Danny MacFayden]] (Osterville 1924, Falmouth 1925) played for the [[Boston Red Sox]] from 1926 to 1932]]
[[File:Aaron Judge in 2017 (36281893203).jpg |thumb|right|140px|[[New York Yankees]] captain [[Aaron Judge]] played for Brewster in 2012]]

===Pre-modern era===
{{See also|Category:Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era)|label 1 = Pre-modern era Cape Cod Baseball League players}}

====Origins====
As early as the 1860s, baseball teams representing various Cape Cod towns and villages were competing against one another. The earliest newspaper account is of an 1867 game in [[Sandwich, Massachusetts|Sandwich]] between the hometown "Nichols Club" and the visiting Cummaquid team. Though not formalized as a league, the games provided entertainment for residents and summer visitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sandwichhistory.org/dbayley/POSTS/p%3D1057.htm |title=Cape Cod Baseball: The First Team Was In Sandwich |publisher=sandwichhistory.org |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wayneindependent.com/article/20070810/NEWS/308109939 |title=Al Irish a walking history of Falmouth baseball |publisher=wayneindependent.com |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref>

In 1885, a [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] baseball game was held matching teams from [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]] and Sandwich.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://capecodlife.com/its-been-70-great-years-for-the-cotuit-kettleers/2/ |title=It's been 70 great years for the Cotuit Kettleers |date=5 January 2017 |publisher=capecodlife.com |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref> According to contemporary accounts, the 1885 contest may have been at least the twelfth such annual game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.sabr.org/journals/cape-cod-league-a-talent-showcase |title=Cape Cod League a Talent Showcase |publisher=sabr.org |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref> By the late 19th century, an annual championship baseball tournament was being held each fall at the Barnstable County Fair, an event that continued well into the 20th century, with teams representing towns from Cape Cod and the larger region.

In 1921, the Barnstable County Agricultural Society determined to limit the fair's annual baseball championship to teams from Cape Cod. [[Falmouth, Massachusetts|Falmouth]] won the championship in 1921,<ref>{{cite news | title = County Fair at Barnstable | pages = 8 | newspaper = Yarmouth Register | location = Yarmouth, MA | date = August 27, 1921 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Sturgis/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=SYR%2F1921%2F08%2F27&id=Ar00814&sk=A8993D71&viewMode=image }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Barnstable Fair | pages = 7 | newspaper = Yarmouth Register | location = Yarmouth, MA | date = September 10, 1921 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Sturgis/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=SYR%2F1921%2F09%2F10&id=Ar00701&sk=D472BE9D&viewMode=image }}</ref> and [[Osterville, Massachusetts|Osterville]] in 1922.<ref>{{cite news | title = Barnstable County Agricultural Society Fair | pages = 4 | newspaper = Barnstable Patriot | location = Barnstable, MA | date = September 4, 1922 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Sturgis/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=BAR%2F1922%2F09%2F04&id=Ar00403&sk=3BBBD904&viewMode=image }}</ref> Interest in baseball was growing, as was a movement to create a formal league of Cape Cod teams.

====The early Cape League era (1923–1939)====
The "Cape Cod Baseball League" was formed in 1923, consisting of four teams: Falmouth, Osterville, [[Hyannis, Massachusetts|Hyannis]], and [[Chatham, Massachusetts|Chatham]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Cape Cod Baseball League | pages = 6 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = July 14, 1923 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1923%2F07%2F14&id=Ar00607&sk=AE96C1BE&viewMode=image }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://falmouthcommodores.com/about-us/ |title=Falmouth Commodores' History in the Cape Cod Baseball League |publisher=falmouthcommodores.com |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref> Teams were made up of players from local colleges and prep schools, along with some [[Semi-professional sports|semi-pro]] players and other locals. One notable player during this period was [[North Truro, Massachusetts|North Truro]] native [[Danny MacFayden|Danny "Deacon" MacFayden]], who went on to play for seventeen years in the major leagues.<ref name=HOF2012 /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/macfada01.shtml |title=Career statistics of Danny MacFayden |publisher=baseball-reference.com |access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref>

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the composition of the league varied from season to season. Towns did not opt to field teams in every season, and teams from other towns such as [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]], [[Harwich, Massachusetts|Harwich]], [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]], [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], and [[Wareham, Massachusetts|Wareham]] joined the league. Teams were not limited to league play, and often played teams from towns and cities in the larger region, as in 1929 when Falmouth played an exhibition game against the major league [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Falmouth to Play Braves | pages = 4 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = August 22, 1929 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1929%2F08%2F22&id=Ar00416&sk=EB79C6ED&viewMode=image }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Falmouth Has Grip On League Winners Pennant | pages = 1 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = August 29, 1929 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1929%2F08%2F29&id=Ar00103&sk=287D80B5&viewMode=image }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Braves Beat Falmouth 8–7 | pages = 12 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = August 29, 1929 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1929%2F08%2F29&id=Ar01200&sk=964E00A3&viewMode=image }}</ref>

The league enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the 1930s, and even engendered competition in the form of the Barnstable County Twilight League and the Lower Cape Twilight League. However, as the cumulative effects of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] made it increasingly more difficult to secure funding for teams, the Cape League disbanded in 1940.

====The Upper and Lower Cape League era (1946–1962)====
With young men returning home after World War II, the Cape League was revived in 1946. The league now excluded paid professional or semi-pro players, and for a while attempted to limit players to those who were Cape Cod residents. The league was split into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions, and in addition to many of the town teams from the "old" Cape League, new teams now joined such as those representing the [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]], [[Otis Air National Guard Base|Otis Air Force Base]], and the Cape Verdean Club of Harwich among others.

===Modern era (1963–present)===
In 1963, the Cape Cod Baseball League was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the [[NCAA]]. The league would no longer be limited to Cape Cod residents, but would recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide radius.

In 1985, the league moved away from the use of [[baseball bat|aluminum bats]], and became the only collegiate summer league in the nation at that time to use wooden bats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capecodbaseball.org/about-ccbl/welcome-page/ |title=Welcome Page |publisher=capecodbaseball.org |access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref> This transition began a period of significant growth in the league's popularity and prestige among MLB [[scout (sport)|scouts]], as well as among college players and coaches. This popularity has translated into over one thousand former players who have gone on to major league playing careers, including multiple members of the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]].