The Boston Mariners are a member of the Atlantic division in the Boston Men's Baseball League, the largest amateur baseball league in New England. The team, which plays at ballfields in and around the Boston-area, entered the league in 2002. In 2006, the Mariners reached the Atlantic Division Finals after failing to finish a season with a record above .500 in previous years. The Mariners are managed by Matt Englander, who has served in that capacity since 2005.

History

Saturday League Phillies

In 2001, in response to a larger than expected showing at the league's April tryout, a Saturday League was created comprised of 4 franchises: the Marlins, Orioles, Brewers, and Phillies. The 4-team league served as the minor league to the MABL's major league. While teams played 9 innings compared to the MABL's 7 innings, the season was shorter and games were once a week on Saturdays. The Saturday team rosters were created randomly from players who were not selected at the draft, with each team ensured of having a player for each position in the field. The Phillies won the 2001 Saturday League Championship, and would form the core of the Mariners team that was promoted to the MABL in 2002.

The league appointed Paul Cassidy and Brendan Power as managers of the Phillies. From there, the roster was randomly filled with such players as Brian Wildeman, Tom DeVeau, Matt Englander, Darren Martineau, Mark Balfe, and Bill Frabrizio. EJ Freni and Scott Miller joined the squad on referrals from Martineau and Englander respectively. This rag-tag Phillie bunch, which also featured characters such as Jamie Heos, Peter Griffith, Hugh Quinn, and Jeff Graham, defeated the Marlins in the semi-finals of the Saturday Playoffs and swept the Orioles in the final round. Power took home season MVP honors, while Matt Englander won the Cy Young award as the Saturday League's top pitcher.

Boston Mariners: Season 1

With memories of the Saturday League championship still in their minds, the Phillies were invited to join the Boston 18 MABL for the 2002 season. Switching from the Saturday League, considered the minors, to the MABL represented a signficant advancement skill-wise. As such, the Phillies needed to add additional talent to be competitive with other MABL squads. The first step was a new look. Manager Brendan Power, having taken over for Paul Cassidy, chose to become the Boston Mariners. Players would wear the Seattle Mariners' navy batting practice jerseys with grey pants and the all-navy Seattle cap. The next step would be to find the right players to wear the Mariner blue.

With Brendan Power, Brian Wildeman, Tom DeVeau, Darren Martineau, Mark Balfe, and Bill Frabrizio carried over from the Phillies team, a number of new and veteran players were added to the squad. Corey Aldoupolis (Red Sox), Andrew Cournoyer (Saturday Brewers), and Steve Gray (Saturday Orioles) brought prior MABL experience to the Mariners. Power used the draft to pickup Jeff Rausch (#7 overall pick) and Kevin Gallagher. EJ Freni brought his brothers Jon and Mike on board. And finally, free-agent pickups Dave Salafia, Justin Wetherby, and Josh Plosker rounded out the squad.

The 2002 season started on April 27 with a 5-4 loss to the Red Sox. It wasn't until June 3, or 6 games later, that the M's notched their first franchise win against the Reds (comprised primarily of former Saturday League players). The team ended the season with an 8-17-1 record, missing the playoffs by several games.

Top Hitter: Jon Freni (.412 avg, .459 obp, 1.107 ops)
Top Pitcher: Kevin Gallagher (3-6, 3.12 era, 52 k's)

Boston Mariners: Season 2

See Also

Boston Men's Baseball League

External Links

Boston Mariners<br>

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