The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Bell to Play in Prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League
6/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 12, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB senior outfielder Phil Bell has signed on to play for the Hyannis (Mass.) Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League for the upcoming summer season that kicks off for the club on Friday. Bell hit .336 with 37 RBI and 17 stolen bases this past season with the Blazers, helping the team finish in a tie for fourth in the Conference USA standings.
Beginning its 123rd season in 2007, the 10-team Cape League originated in 1885 with individual town teams and was then reorganized into the Cape Cod Baseball League in 1923 with teams in Chatham, Falmouth, Hyannis and Osterville. The league is now the premier collegiate baseball summer league in the country.
"The Cape is one of the longtime prestigious leagues and it's a great opportunity for Phil and we're proud for him and our program," said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. "He belongs there and can absolutely play at that level. We're rooting for him and hope he does really well."
A total of 198 former Cape Leaguers currently perform in the major leagues, including former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito, former MVP Frank Thomas, former AL batting champion Nomar Garciaparra, World Series MVP Darin Erstad and current Boston Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, who played for the Hyannis Mets in 1991 and `93.
Bell met up with the club in Hyannis, Mass. just days before the team's home opener and says he's excited about the challenge of competing with the top collegiate players in the country.
"The league is pretty well known as a pitching league so I'll be going against 90-plus pitching everyday," Bell said. "My goal is to hit .300 this summer and to get ready for next year."
Aside from facing several of the top pitchers in the country, Bell will also have to contend with using a new bat, as a unique feature of the Cape League is that it is a wooden bat league.
"I think it will make me more of a pure hitter because you have to hit the sweet spot or else you'll saw it off," said Bell on swinging a wooden bat all summer. "We had an intrasquad scrimmage yesterday and I hit one that would've been a hit in college but here it just went to the infielder."
Despite being enthralled with the opportunity to play in a league that has produced some of the games all-time greats, Bell already has his sights on rejoining his Blazer teammates in the fall to get ready for the 2008 baseball season.
"The signing class coming in is going to be great and the guys we have coming back are great," Bell said. "I think we can be a very good team next season and I'm excited to come back and have a good senior season."
When Bell suits up with his Hyannis teammates on Friday against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox at 5 p.m. ET, he will be dawning the same uniform as several current Major League Baseball standouts such as Veritek (Boston Red Sox), Eric Hinske (Toronto Blue Jays), Eric Byrnes (Arizona Diamondbacks), Pat Burrell (Philadelphia Phillies), Kris Benson (Baltimore Orioles), Matt Morris (San Francisco Giants) and Casey Blake (Cleveland Indians).
