A great ball game last night at Cotuit’s Lowell Park, beginning with the dedication of the press building to the original Mister Kettleer: Arnold Mycock. I don’t know Arnold very well, he’s a quiet man who keeps to himself in the grandstand behind the Kettleer’s dugout, usually with a scorecard and paying keen attention to the action out on the diamond. Behind the quiet demeanor — what Coach Mike Roberts called the most humble man he had ever met — Arnold Mycock is a legend not only as a founder of the Cape Cod Baseball League — the preeminent wooden bat summer college league — but also for the four league championships he delivered in his tenure as the general manager of the Cotuit Kettleers, his 63 years of volunteer service to the team and the league, and his quiet devotion to the purest form of baseball that exists (in my opinion).
From cleaning the restrooms to washing the uniforms to mowing the grass twice a week, Arnold did it all.
Arnold’s superlatives are more than impressive. He was the first person inducted into the CCBL hall of fame. More than 40 of his players went onto to the major leagues. Joe Girardi of the Yankees played for Arnold. Ron Darling of the Mets did. And New Mexico governor Bill Richardson pitched for Cotuit in the 60s. Arnold was a killer scout for the Kettleer’s have won 14 League championships thanks to his off-season trips to the south and west to look for up and coming college talent.
This past winter Arnold was given an meritorious service award by the American Baseball Coaches Association for his contributions to college baseball.
Every time I sit in the bleachers with my pals and marvel at the perfection of free baseball that I can watch in bare feet, with no lights, frolicking mascots, I give thanks to Arnold and the Cotuit Athletic Association for their hard work. It makes my annual donation to the cause and the few bucks I slip into the kettles during the third inning feel very tiny in comparison to his devotion and the ongoing commitment by the entire organization.
Those of us who spent summers chasing fly balls and seeing the MBL stars before they were stars understand what you have written. Arnold and all the others who have made Cape League Ball possible understand what is meant by ” for the love of the game”. I am unable to be there as I am overseas and ” on mission”. I am sad to miss the fun of a game from the bleachers in Cotuit….it is part of Summer that is irreplaceable.