On Aug. 13, 2018, Mike Mobbs and the Wareham Gatemen defeated the Chatham Anglers to win the Cape Cod Baseball League championship. Mobbs was in his first season as hitting coach with the Gatemen, but his growing business forced him to step away from college coaching in 2021; he moved into a role coaching at Don Bosco Prep school in New Jersey. Despite leaving the coaching scene in Wareham, Mobbs always wanted to return at some point to make another Cape League championship run with the Gatemen.
Last summer, that opportunity arose. “I missed college coaching so much that I decided to give up my ownership stake in the business I had started,” Mobbs said. “So, it gave me the freedom to come back to Wareham last summer and then follow it up again this summer.”
Mobbs played baseball at Fordham University and coached at both Felician University and New York University. He said that after his final season playing in 2013, he “fell in love with coaching and turned that into coaching in college.”
Now back with Wareham, Mobbs has the Gatemen bats on fire, as they lead the Cape League in XBH, SLG and OPS. They are at the top of virtually every offensive statistic, but Mobbs is the last person to take credit for the team’s prowess at the plate. “I didn't play a role in their success getting into the Cape,” he said. “All I really desired to do for them as we began this summer was learn their routine and learn their swing.”
Mobbs praised the group of talent around him and talked about how he understands the trials and tribulations of baseball. Whether you go 4-for-4 or 0-for-4 at the plate during a game, there’s always something to be taken away from that. “Earning their respect and trust early on” is key to success for any coach, Mobbs said. Once his players trust him, he can provide critical, constructive feedback with the help of data analytics.
“I know that hitting is not easy, so I never try to make hitting sound easy,” Mobbs said. One tool Mobbs uses to keep in touch with players he’s coached is a text group chat that consists of over 140 people. “I send a message of faith every day,” he said. “Our identity is not found in being a baseball player.” This is one of the most important lessons Mobbs passes to his players, and he knows that in high-pressure environments when money and draft stock are at stake, it's something he can do to take pressure off their backs.
One unique coaching quality Mobbs has is his personal brand. A “Mobbism,” which he has trademarked, is a saying he frequently uses when training his players. It originated when a high schooler called one of his phrases a “Mobbism,” a play on the classic Yogi-isms from the great Yogi Berra.
“Hey, you should put that on a shirt!” a couple of his players suggested. Mobbs thought about the idea and decided “it could help [the players] remember them if I’m wearing it on my chest while we’re in the cages.” Mobbs now has an online store with clothing depicting a number of Mobbisms and other sayings.
It grew quickly with Wareham, too, with the players catching onto Mobbisms early on. “If we did a competition in the cages during our early work, the winner of the competition would get a Mobbism shirt or a Mobbism hat,” Mobbs said.
During his time with the Gatemen, Mobbs has been able to use a combination of his coaching skills, personal brand, and faith to connect and build relationships with his players. Outside of the obvious goal of winning the Cape League championship, Mobbs said his goal is “developing relationships with these guys that'll last well beyond the summer.” Playing in the Cape League is a memory they will never forget, and to be a part of that experience isn’t something Mobbs takes lightly. Having a crucial role in their development as not just baseball players but humans is an opportunity he cherishes.
Mobbs wants to “help them leave here better than they came, so that they can have a great spring season in 2025 and then hear their names called in the draft.” After his first year with Wareham, the championship run in 2018, they had 34 players drafted the following summer, and that’s something he takes great pride in.
On multiple occasions, Mobbs credits his former coaches, including former Major League managers Hal Lanier and Doc Edwards, as well as Kevin Hooper, who is now the Atlanta Braves Minor League development coordinator. Mobbs also speaks about how learning from Don Sneddon, who unfortunately passed last April, was one of the main things that drew him back to Wareham. Sneddon was the Gatemen manager when the team won in 2018.
“I was really blessed to be around some super smart baseball men that have been around the game and professional baseball their whole lives,” Mobbs said. Many of the lessons he learned came from these men, and now he has the opportunity to pass on their wisdom.
Now, with just a few games left in the 2024 regular season, Mobbs and the Wareham Gatemen are gearing up for the playoffs. No matter the results, though, the relationships that last a lifetime are what’s most valuable to everyone involved with the Cape League.
“It’s really all about the relationships that you build with guys; doing everything you can to help their dreams become a reality.”
Photograph by Kyndall Williams
