Editing Cape Cod Baseball League (section)

====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.