UT Alum Eric Beattie Selected to Cape Cod League Hall of Fame
WEST YARMOUTH, Mass. - Former University of Tampa baseball standout Eric Beattie is among the five inductees to be inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame, as announced by the league office.
Beattie is among the five former CCBL stars that comprise the 15th CCBL Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted at the Chatham Bars Inn on Saturday, November 15. Current Minnesota Twins outfielder Sam Fuld (Hyannis, 2003) is also part of the smallest class in the 15-year history of the Hall.
CCBL Senior Vice President and Hall of Fame Committee member Jim Higgins made the announcement during the league's annual First Pitch Brunch at the 99 Restaurants.
Fuld, whose best seasons came as a member of Tampa Bay and was featured in the award-winning 2003 documentary "Touching the Game - The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League," will be enshrined with three former Outstanding Pitcher Award winners: Eric Beattie (Bourne, 2003), southpaw Phil Corddry (Orleans, 1968) and Bob St. Pierre (Falmouth, 1994); as well as Donald Hicks Sr., a longtime Mashpee player and former league MVP, who will be inducted posthumously.
Among the big leaguers who are CCBL Hall of Famers are Fuld, Matt Wieters (Orleans, '06; Class of 2013), Andrew Miller (Chatham, 2004-05; Class of 2012); David Bush (Chatham, 2000-01; Class of 2011), and David Aardsma (Falmouth, '02; class of 2010), who each played in a big league season before being inducted.
Longtime major league star Mike Lowell (Chatham, 1994) was also a member of the class of 2011, but the former Red Sox third baseman retired following the 2010 season.
Beattie pitched for the Spartans from 2002-04 accumulating a career record of 30-13 with a 3.41 ERA. In 288.0 innings, the hurler notched 278 strikeouts. Among career leaders, he currently ranks third in shutouts (4), fifth in fewest walks allowed per 9 innings (1.81), fifth in wins, sixth in lowest batting average against (.252), seventh in innings pitched, seventh in games started (42), seventh in complete games (9) and eighth in strikeouts.
A second round selection by the Detroit Tigers in the 2004 MLB Draft, Beattie was a first-team All-American in 2003 while also being named the Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore. In 2003, he was also named the SSC Male Athlete of the Year for all sports. He concluded his career as a two-time all-conference selection for UT.
In alphabetical order, here is the Class of 2014:
Eric Beattie, Bourne
The Tampa hurler turned in one of the most impressive seasons in Cape League history during the summer of 2003, going 4-0 with a league-leading 0.39 ERA, second lowest in the league's modern era behind only Hall of Famer Eric Milton's 0.21. Beattie struck out 51 batters and walked only six, allowing 23 hits in 46 innings, while pitching Bourne to the West Division title. After allowing just two regular-season earned runs, Beattie gave Bourne a 1-0 lead in its playoff series against Hyannis when he tossed eight shutout innings while ringing up12 strikeouts for one of the best playoff pitching performances of the decade. He won the CCBL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year Award and was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 2004 amateur draft. He pitched in the Tigers' organization in 2005-06 before signing a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2007.
Sam Fuld, Hyannis
This exciting Stanford product enjoyed an outstanding 2003 summer for the then-Hyannis Mets. A human highlight film in center field, the speedy Fuld finished second in the batting race behind Brewster's JC Holt, hitting .361 with 28 runs scored and 10 stolen bases, as the Mets finished a point behind Bourne in the West Division standings. Fuld has played in the major leagues since 2007, compiling a .246 career batting average with the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay, Oakland and, currently, the Minnesota Twins. His best season was with the Rays in 2011, when he hit .240, stole 20 bases and scored 41 runs. Fuld is a native of Durham, N.H., and his father Ken is a dean at the University of New Hampshire.
Donald Hicks Sr., Mashpee and Cotuit
One of the top pitchers in the Cape League during the late 1940s and '50s, Hicks led the Mashpee Warriors to the 1948 league championship and was named MVP in 1950. Hicks possessed a blazing fastball, a good curve and a change-up that froze hitters. When the Mashpee team withdrew from the league in the mid-'50s, Hicks joined the Cotuit franchise. Donald was an elder of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, a former captain of the Mashpee Fire Department and served as recreational director for the Town of Mashpee in the '60s.
Bob St. Pierre, Falmouth
An Outstanding Pitcher Award recipient, this Richmond hurler went an impressive 9-1 with a 1.44 ERA for the 1994 Falmouth Commodores. Claiming the best record in the league, he started 10 games, pitching a whopping 75 innings and racking up 72 strikeouts, tops in the league that summer. In the CCBL All-Star game, he pitched two innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. The Maryland native was selected in the seventh round of the 1995 amateur draft by the New York Yankees, for whom he played in the minors until 1998.
Phil Corddry, Orleans
With a league-best 9-2 record, 92 innings pitched and a league-high 108 strikeouts, the Maryland southpaw was the top pitcher in the Cape League with the 1968 Orleans Cardinals. Ending with a 1.76 ERA, he was chosen to start for the Lower Cape Division in All-Star game held in Chatham, giving up a walk and striking out two in two innings. Following his phenomenal summer on the Cape, Corddry was drafted by Boston and played in the Red Sox minor league system from 1969-72, advancing as far as Class-AA.
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