Friday, August 3 was quite a day in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Harwich’s Eric Jagielo (Notre Dame) hit three home runs in a doubleheader as the Mariners set a new Cape League record. They now have 61 home runs.
A few miles away in Brewster, Hyannis lefty Sean Manaea (Indiana State) delivered another dominant start and struck out 10 to give him 85 on the year, which breaks the modern record of 82 set by Daniel Bard in 2005.
So yeah, quite a day. I think a few game balls from yesterday may be headed for the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.
Harwich has been hitting home runs at a ridiculous pace all season, so much so that it almost became ho-hum, especially when they slowed down a little bit. There were games early on where they were hitting five or six. Dropping to one or two a game made it seem routine.
But make no mistake — there is nothing routine about hitting 61 home runs.
If you were making a list of unbreakable Cape League records, the home run mark would probably make the cut. It’s not as untouchable as strikeouts or batting average, but it’s up there. Orleans set the mark of 59 in 1981 — with metal bats.
Considering recent history, it would have been hard to imagine anyone approaching that with wood. The 2007 Y-D Red Sox, perhaps the best team on the Cape in the last decade, had four future first-round picks, trotted out a power-hitting lineup, played at cozy Red Wilson Field — and hit 41 home runs.
The 2012 Mariners beat that mark a while ago, and though their pace and their lineup changed, it became apparent in the last few weeks that they were probably still going to break the record.
Jagielo took care of it himself.
Probably the most consistent of Harwich’s home run hitters, Jagielo tied the record with a first-inning solo shot. Then in the second game of a doubleheader, Jagielo hit a two-run bomb in the fourth inning to break the record. For good measure, he smacked a solo homer in his next at-bat and finished the night 5-for-5.
Jagielo now has 13 home runs, tied for the league lead. But his homers Friday were more about another league lead.
He officially made his team the most powerful club in Cape Cod Baseball League history.
Strikeout King
The Cape League’s strikeout record probably is untouchable. It’s 126 and it was set when teams played a lot of games.
That’s why Daniel Bard’s 82 became the new measuring stick. At least until yesterday.
Manaea continued his amazing summer by delivering one of his most dominant performances yet. He took a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the eighth before an Aaron Judge (Fresno State) single broke it up. Manaea ended up with eight innings of one-hit baseball and his third consecutive start with no runs allowed as Hyannis won 8-0.
Along the way, he struck out 10 to bring his record-breaking total to 85.
This, too, is a pretty amazing feat. The 85 strikeouts have come in just 51.2 innings pitched. By comparison, Bard’s 82 came in 65 innings.
There’s also the environment to consider. Bard hit his mark in a year dominated by pitching. He was one of six players with 60 or more strikeouts.
This year, Manaea is the only one over 60. And he’s pitching in perhaps the most offense-heavy year in the wood-bat history of the Cape League.
It hasn’t mattered. Even if they were using metal and the ball was juiced, I’m not sure hitters could catch up to Manaea.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Another busy day, with six teams playing in various doubleheaders. Bourne visits Brewster and Cotuit on its playoff hunt, while Hyannis hosts Falmouth. It should be a good game in Harwich, where Y-D comes to town with Andrew Thurman on the hill.