Who are the Bay Sox? And what is Summer College Baseball?

by Bob Bowen

Most people in the SouthCoast know, by now, that there is a baseball team called the New Bedford Bay Sox playing ball around here someplace. Many folks don’t know what kind of team the Bay Sox are and just how good the baseball is.

The Bay Sox are a “summer college baseball team.” That means they are a team made up of the best talent drawn from the best college teams from around the country. Virtually every state in the nation has a team playing in one of the nearly 40 leagues playing baseball during June and July. But, not all leagues and not all places are created equal. This kind of summer baseball holds a special, long, and storied history in New England. The Cape Cod Baseball League was founded nearly 140 years ago. The Bay Sox play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (the NECBL); a league entering its third decade of play. History and tradition matter for baseball players. The best of the best want to come here. The best of summer college baseball is played in the Cape League and the NECBL. Welcome to Bay Sox country.

So, just how good is the NECBL? If you visit the league web site (http://www.necbl.com) you can help in the countdown to the 100th league alum to play in Major League Baseball. The 2013 baseball season is less than two months old and already 33 NECBL’ers have been called up to play in “the Show”.

What is the draw for a player to give up a summer vacation to play in the NECBL for teams like the Bay Sox? O.K., it’s a fair question.

First, the league is sponsored, endorsed and partially funded by Major League Baseball. Big league scouts go where the League believes the talent plays. The talented play here. Second, the League plays with wooden bats . . . just like Big League baseball. Colleges use aluminum bats. This is more important than you might think. From the time a kid starts Little League to the time they enroll in college they use aluminum bats. Aluminum bats are durable and don’t break. Switch to a wooden bat and lot of things change – the “feel” of hitting is different. Players need that experience and scouts needs to see how players hit when it’s the “crack of the bat” and not “the ‘ping’ of the bat”. Some baseball folk call Leagues like the NECBL, “wooden bat leagues.” Third, players come because it is a chance to play with other college stars and under great coaches. The Bay Sox Head Coach is Rick Miller. Coach Miller played 15 years in the majors, 12 with the Red Sox, and it shows. He knows baseball and the players know he knows baseball. For them it’s a perfect combination of team, team mates and coaching.

Chris Denorfia played two years in the NECBL and seven in the Majors: “I look back very fondly on my time playing summer ball there. I came from a Division III school and getting a chance to play against a lot of bigger Division I baseball players, definitely gave me the exposure that was necessary in order to move on.”

Andrew Bailey, Red Sox star and 2009 American League Rookie of the Year: “That was one of the greatest summers of my life, getting to have that experience of playing baseball for the entire summer”.

And for some it is chance to come home for the summer. The Bay Sox always bring home players with connections to here. They have earned the right, through their college play, to shine in front of friends and family. Ask Brian Rose about that. Brian has come full circle. Pride of Dartmouth High, Red Sox starter, five years in the majors and now an important part of baseball life in the SouthCoast and Special Advisor for the Bay Sox.

So, it seems that the answer to the question of “who are these guys” is pretty simple. They are the elite of the country’s college players, being coached by gifted former players and playing in front of some of greatest fans ever – you.

Want more? Go to www.nbbaysox.com.

NewBedfordGuide.com readers save 33% off New Bedford Bay Sox season tickets! $75 season tickets cost $50: http://nbbaysox.com/view/nbbaysox/merchandise-29?promo=BAYGUIDE

[Show as slideshow]