Alumni Profile: Mark Mulder

In light of former Bourne Brave Grayson Garvin's recent SEC Pitcher of the Year award, this week we're looking at another big, left-handed pitcher in Mark Mulder.

 

Mark Mulder pitched for the Bourne in 1997, compiling a 5-2 record in his only season with the team.  He was drafted second overall in 1998 out of Michigan State University by the Oakland Athletics, and quickly made his way through the A's minor league system.  He made his Major League debut in April of 2000, and went on to a 9-10 record in his rookie season.  His second Major League season was his best, as he won a league-leading 21 games with a league leading 4 complete-game shutouts and 153 strikeouts, earning him second place in the Cy Young voting.  For the next four years, Mulder teamed up with Tim Hudson and Barry Zito to make up one of the best young pitching trios in recent memory.  Over that span, Mulder won at least 15 games each year.  He also led the league in complete games twice and shutouts twice over that span.  This led to all-star appearances in 2003 and 2004.

In December of 2004, the small-market Athletics, knowing they couldn't afford to resign Mulder when his contract expired, traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton.  Mulder had a very successful first season in St. Louis in 2005, going 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA in 32 starts.  He got off to another good start in 2006 before his shoulder began to bother him.  After attempting an unsuccessful comeback late in 2006, he opted for off-season shoulder surgery.  However, he was never able to make a full recovery.  He got his shoulder cleaned up again after the 2007 season and planned to attempt another comeback in 2008.  He only made two appearances in 2008, one in relief.  His final career start lasted 1/3 of an inning.  He struck out Jimmy Rollins then threw 8 straight balls before leaving with a shoulder injury.  The Cardinals released Mulder shortly after.  He officially retired in 2010 at age 32, nearly 2 years after his last career start.  

Mark Mulder was yet another bright young pitching star whose career was derailed by injuries.  After such a promising start, you can't help but wonder what might have been if Mulder had remained healthy.  Would he be right there with Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia as the best lefties in the league? He started his career better than both of those pitchers before getting injured.  As a 33 year-old this year, it is distinctly possible that a healthy Mulder (with a few more years of experience) could have been the best left-handed pitcher in the majors.  Sadly we will never know.

Career Notes:
2 time All-Star (2003, 2004)
Led AL in Complete Games (2003, 2004)
Led AL in Shutouts (2001, 2003)
103-60 career record
Hit .280 with 1 HR in 2006 (only career HR)

Just Win Baby: Harvey Shapiro

Harvey has over 30 years of baseball experience at the college level and over 10 with the a Cape League, the past 8 years have been with the Bourne Braves.  In those 8 seasons Harvey has compiled the most wins in Braves history with 174. To go along with his place in Braves history, Harvey is also in the top ten in wins for the Cape League with 262, good for fifth place all-time.
    Harvey has won 5 division titles in his 8 years with the Braves, with 3 appearances in the Championship Series. In 2009 Harvey led Bourne to the franchise’s first Cape League Championship! Harvey managed the West squad in the annual All-star game an amazing six times: in  1995(as Falmouth manager) and  2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010 with the Braves. He has had the privilege of coaching a number of Major Leaguers including Darin Erstad, Jeff Weaver, and Micah Owings, who played for him right here in the Cape League.
    Harvey’s baseball resume does not stop there; he also has international ties, having served as the Dutch National Baseball Coach for three years, where he coached in two world championships in Cuba and Holland.  He has conducted clinics in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Holland, Germany, and the Netherlands Antilles. Harvey is also a published author on baseball and has served on various collegiate and international committees.


In twelve seasons of managing Cape League teams, Falmouth and Bourne, Harvey Shapiro has his place among the top managers in Cape League history.

T-5th      All time in season managed with Y-D manager Scott Pickler
262        Regular Season wins are good for fifth all time
523        Games managed- 6th all -time
   7         Career playoff appearances
 11         Playoff victories, good for eighth all-time
 23         Playoff games
   5         Number of first place finishes -- third most all-time

    1        Cape League Championship

"We're Hockey Fans but were playing golf today"

Everyone has Bruins fever and rightfully so, but they don't play tomorrow afternoon, so take a page out of Happy Gilmore's book and switch to golf..even if it is just for the day.

Go Bruins!

												BOURNE BRAVES OPEN The third annual Bourne Braves Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, May 20, 2011 at the Falcon Golf Club at Otis   Dinner to be served immediately following completion of round. Schedule Registration  --  12:00 noon Shot Gun Start  --  1:00 pm Dinner immediately following Tournament Format Best Ball Scramble Tournament Cost $340.00 per foursome ($85/individual will be partnered on a team)                                                                   Prizes:  *Hole in One   *Closest to the pin  *Longest drive   *Mulligans    *Goodie Bags Proceeds go to the Bourne Braves.      Please support us as a golfer, sponsor or gift donor. Golf includes green fees, cart, dinner and gift bag Dinner will be provided following the event Special high-profile sponsorship opportunities are available, including special recognition and signage - click here for opportunities Register as soon as possible - click here for form Should you not be part of a foursome, we will assign you to a group. For More Info. Call Jeanne @ 508-759-9420

A 10 yr old's Field of Dreams: Youth Clinics

The Bourne Braves do a lot of community service, but the aspect of community involvement that separates the Braves from all the other teams around is their Youth Clinics. Every team does have a youth clinic program that they offer to the community but the Brave’s is at the head of the class.
    The program runs by the week for six weeks throughout the summer. Participants get to pick their week they wish to learn from the players and coaches who take the field every night for the Braves. The clinics are organized and run by an intern with the Braves in coordination with the pitching coach, Josh MacDonald. 
    Some weeks the turnout is reasonable with about 45 participants, but other weeks have seen upwards of 75 kids, all of whom are under the supervision of the five workers. Somehow they make it go off without a hitch.
    At the end of each week the kids get shirts for their participation and the players sign everything from hats and gloves to even an arm, which more often than not leads to the declaration “I’m never showering again!’ by the kids.
    The icing on the cake of the week is when the kids come to the game of the week and go on the field and stand next to their favorite players for the National Anthem. No other league offers this close of a connection between fans and players than the Cape League, and no other team does it better than the Braves.

  

For just $75.00, our clinics are Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am - 11:30 am at Doran Park with check-in and warm-up from 9:00 - 9:30 am. Rain or shine we will be playing baseball. Coach Josh MacDonald will be running the 2011 clinics with several Braves players.  Clinics are for boys and girls ages 5-12 and will take place during the following weeks the summer of 2011:

Week 1 – June 27 – June 30
Week 2 – July 5 – 8
Week 3 – July 11 - 14
Week 4 – July 18 – 21
Week 5 – July 25 – 28
Week 6 – Aug. 1 – 3 (This week the clinic will run M-W, 9-12:30)

NEW THIS YEAR
Week 4 – July 18 – 21
The Bourne Braves would like to offer an opportunity for the older baseball players that want to improve their level of play. This week only, we are offering a clinic for players 12 to 15 years old to work with the college level players and coaches  help them improve their skills. They will be playing on the Bourne Braves field.

Check out the Registration form here!

Alumni Profile: Bill Mueller

In honor of the greatest rivalry in sports, lets look at former Brave, Bill Meuller. 
Dave Roberts may have stolen the base, but former Bourne Brave Bill Mueller was the one who drove him in with a single off Mariano Rivera to send the game into extra innings, you know the rest of the story.

After playing for the Bourne Braves in 1992, he was drafted in the 15th round by the San Fransisco Giants, making his Major League debut in 1996. Mueller played third base for the Giants fairly regularly for five seasons, until he was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the 2001 season.  He returned to San Francisco in September 2002 in a trade for pitcher Jeff Verplancke. Before the 2003 season, Mueller was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent. In his first year in Boston, he won the American League batting title with a .326 average. He also set career highs with 45 doubles and 19 home runs. He had never previously hit more than 10 home runs or 29 doubles in any season. He contributed nearly half of his career home runs during his three years with the Red Sox. Mueller developed a reputation for consistency throughout the major leagues. In fact, for five of his ten years in the major leagues, his batting average was between .290 and .295. His minor league numbers were very much the same, consistently between .290 and .310.
After the Red Sox he signed with the Dodgers where he only played 32 games before being forced to retire due to knee issues.

The definition of a consummate professional, Bill Mueller played the game the right way from his days on the Cape with Bourne to the final at bat some 3,000 plus miles away  in 2006 with the Dodgers.

Playing Career:

• San Francisco Giants (1996–2000)
• Chicago Cubs (2001–2002)
• San Francisco Giants (2002)
• Boston Red Sox (2003–2005)
• Los Angeles Dodgers (2006)

Career Highlights:

• Was the American League batting champion in 2003 with a batting average of .326.
•  Won the American League Silver Slugger Award for third basemen in 2003.
• On July 29, 2003 against the Texas Rangers, became the only player in major league history to hit two grand slams in a single game from opposite sides of the plate. He in fact hit three home runs in that game, and his two grand slams were in consecutive at-bats.

Bourne Braves 2011 Roster Heavy with Returning Players

By Ashley Crosby
Social Media Editor - Cape Cod Bsseball League

BOURNE, Mass--The 2011 Bourne Braves staff will have a few familiar faces on the field in their hunt for a second championship title in the past three years, as they have seven players from the regular season West Division Championship team returning to beautiful Doran Park.

     Pitchers RJ Alvarez (FAU), Kevin Brady (Clemson), Will Jolin (UConn), Michael Morin (UNC), and Robert Orlan (UNC), along with catcher Josh Elander (TCU) and outfielder Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) will all be back for their second year.

     General Manager Mike Carrier hopes his 2010 veterans can provide a stable core and inspire confidence in his incoming players.

     In particular, his pitching staff is loaded with returning players, an advantage in a wood-bat league typically dominated by pitchers. Alvarez had a 0.79 ERA in 22.2 innings of relief in 2010, second on the team only to starter and the league’s BFC Whitehouse Outstanding Pitcher Grayson Garvin (Vanderbilt).

     Jolin and Morin, the only two tested starters among the returning pitchers, combined for 68 strikeouts with only 28 walks.

     "The two pitchers from UNC (Morin and Orlan) had some success as freshmen and I expect them to be better this season," said Carrier. "Most the players who return to college after a successful season on the Cape tend to have increased confidence in themselves. I would even predict an All Star spot is possible for Morin if he has the season I hope he has this summer. And Ryan Eades (LSU) is a great young pitcher who should fill a solid relief role for the Braves."


To read the rest of this piece By Ashley check out  the full article!