In 2003, Fred Ebbett, Sr. passed away, his son Fred is a very good friend of mine and soon to be godfather to my daughter. I wrote this for a website called thisistheyear.com, a Sox website.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."
Bart Giammati
We here at thisistheyear.com are filled with heavy hearts at the passing of Fred Ebbett, Sr. Mr. Ebbett was a giant in the world of amateur baseball and also as an educator, administrator and as a father.
Fred Ebbett was the commissioner of the Cape League for thirteen years, bringing that league to a state of international prominence. Mr. Ebbett was perhaps best known for reintroducing wooden bats to the league, gathering the interest of major league scouts and much needed revenue from Major League Baseball. An understanding that aluminum bats were the same aberration to the game as artificial turf, steroids or cookie cutter seventies stadiums was part of it, but an understanding that sometimes the way things were done are the way things should be done. The smell of freshly cut grass and some of the nation’s best players participating in the national pastime funded largely by the passing of the hat spoiled both Cape residents and tourists alike. By bringing in wooden bats, Mr. Ebbett helped to create the premier amateur baseball league in the United States. Today, 183 Cape League alumni are players in the major leagues, an astonishing number when the number of foreign players and kids out of high school that never qualified for the Cape League are taken into account. Whenever you watch a major league game, you are watching a bit of the legacy of Fred Ebbett.
Many of us knew Mr. Ebbett as an educator. For me, it was as my vice principal. Mr. Ebbett was the disciplinarian and many who walked asunder would know is office. At the time, as many of us will remember, he seemed to be unfair and strict. In fact, as an older man I now realize that he was trying to teach one of life’s great lessons, self-respect. Long before the Orprah-esque new age ideal of teaching self-esteem, Mr. Ebbett was doing just that in a non-contrived way, forcing us with a steely stare to look at our actions for what they were. While our teenage irrational exuberance blocks out many of the memories, my memory is that I never spent a minute in that vice principal’s office that I did not deserve, and I think many of my classmates upon reflection would feel the same way. In a sense being taught the lesson of responsibility for our actions, no matter how long that lesson took to finally sink in.
Mr. Ebbett was known as Mr. Harwich, a man who brought his positive outlook on life to all. In all his years as a coach, teacher, referee, manager and commissioner he touched the lives of thousands. I also know Mr. Ebbett as the father of a man that I see as a brother and understand how his life was touched as well. We all mourn for Mr. Ebbett and his family and wish to celebrate his life as a baseball legend and genuine human being. Living his life as an example as a man should live his life with dignity, hard work and respect. A throwback to the way things should be.
Our hearts go out to his wife Sheila, and his children Christina, Mariah, Fred, Jr., and Kyle.
A Celebration of Fred's Life will be held July 13, 2003, 4 p.m., at Whitehouse Field, Harwich, MA. Donations may be made in his memory to Harwich Citizens Scholarship Foundation, Oak Street, Harwich, MA 02645
"I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, and give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses and be a blessing to us." -- Walt Whitman, 1846
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