Six Standouts Elected to Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame

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WEST YARMOUTH, Mass. The Cape Cold Baseball League Hall of Fame Committee today announced the induction class for 2025 at the Cape League’s annual First Pitch Brunch at the 99 Restaurant.

The 2025 Cape League Hall of Fame class includes playoff MVP Gary Alexander (Orleans 1986), league MVPs Nick Gonzales (Cotuit 2019) and Travis Jankowski (Bourne 2010-11), outstanding pitcher Pat Pinkman (Wareham 1999-2000), longtime coach, manager and administrator Bob Stead (Yarmouth-Dennis & Bourne) and 1957 batting champion William (Bill) Walker (Chatham 1957-58).

In addition, the Hall of Fame Committee announced Gary Ellis, longtime member of the Y-D Red Sox organization and advisor to the Hall of Fame Committee, as the posthumous recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Larry Egan, play-by-play broadcaster, producer and engineer for the Cape League Game of the Week on 96.3 WEEI from 2001-22, as the recipient of the Peter Gammons Award. Additionally, Cape League President Andrew Lang named Senior Deputy Commissioner Ted Lekas as Executive of the Year for the 2024 season.

The Cape League Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Wequassett Resort in Harwich, Mass. Tickets can be purchased by calling Mary Henderson at (508) 922-7388.

Gary Alexander, Orleans

An outstanding outfielder from Arizona, he had one of the most productive playoff performances of all-time in leading Orleans to the 1986 Cape Cod Baseball League championship. He was named MVP of the playoffs that year with a .471 batting average (6-15), four home runs, five RBI and a 1.200 slugging percentage. In addition, his three home runs in the first game of the finals against Cotuit is still a Cape League record. That season, he batted .316 (42-133), led the league in runs scored with 37, and tied for the league lead in home runs with 12. He also had nine doubles, 32 RBI, 34 bases on balls and a .654 slugging percentage. Gary was selected by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round of the 1987 MLB draft. He spent six years in Minor League baseball where he had 89 home runs and 331 RBI, rising to Triple A level with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons before retiring from baseball in 1993. Gary became a high school baseball coach and is presently owner of the Alexander Baseball Camp in Oakley, Calif.

Nick Gonzales, Cotuit

The standout second baseman out of New Mexico State University led the 2019 Cotuit Kettleers to the Cape Cod Baseball League championship. Selected the Pat Sorenti League MVP winner, he led the league in hits (54), runs (39), doubles (14), triples (4), slugging percentage (.630) and on base percentage (.451). In addition, he was second in batting (.351), RBI (33) and had seven home runs, was the All-League second baseman and the Cotuit team MVP. During his junior year at New Mexico State, he hit .448 with 12 home runs over 16 games before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gonzales in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft. He spent the 2021 season with Greensboro of High-A East, and Altoona of Double-A in 2022. In June of 2023 he moved from Triple-A Indianapolis of the International League to the Pirates where he has spent the past three seasons. In 2024 he took over the starting job at second base with a .270 average, seven home runs and 49 RBIs in 94 games.

Travis Jankowski, Bourne

This talented outfielder from Stony Brook had two productive seasons for the Bourne Braves in 2010 and 2011, winning the 2011 Pat Sorenti League MVP Award. That year he batted .329 BA (57-173) and led the league with 57 hits, 31 runs, seven triples and 77 total bases. He added six doubles, 22 RBI, 15 stolen bases and a .445 slugging percentage. His seven triples in 2011 tied for second all-time in the league, the year he was named an All-League outfielder. The San Diego Padres selected him in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft. His Major League career has included seasons with the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers (where in 2023 he led the team in stolen bases en route to their first-ever World Series championship) and the Chicago White Sox. He is currently an outfielder with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pat Pinkman, Wareham

The Virginia Tech hurler enjoyed a dominant two-year stint for the Gatemen, compiling a 7-2 record in 1999 with a 1.34 ERA, leading the league in innings pitched (74) and strikeouts (71) and he was named the league’s Outstanding Pitcher, West Division All-Star and All-League pitcher. He enjoyed a command performance in 2000, going 5-2 with a 2.05 ERA and striking out 39 in 57 innings. At Virginia Tech, Pinkman was a freshman All-American and A-10 Rookie of the Year. He set freshman records in wins (7), innings pitched (89), Ks (81), pickoffs (10) and complete games (7). As a sophomore, he set a NCAA Div. I record with 19 pickoffs and posted nine CG’s. Pinkman served as pitching coach at Seton Hall, Fordham, Marymount (Va) and Washington U. in St. Louis on two separate occasions, 2012 & 2014. Between those seasons, Pinkman returned to Virginia Tech to finish his degree, serving as a student assistant coach. Pat served as VP and lead instructor at Pinkman Baseball Academy from 2002-11.

Bob Stead, Administrator, Manager, Coach and Player

The Doane (Neb) U. product, known as “Coach” around Cape Cod, ran the gamut in the Cape League, serving as a coach, manager, scout and league commissioner. The personable Stead managed Yarmouth-Dennis from 1975-78 and the Bourne Braves in1995 and 1996, served as Cape League commissioner from 1999-2003 and was a founder and a former chair of the Cape League Hall of Fame committee in 2000. He was an amateur scout for the New York Yankees and Mets, attended UMass-Amherst and graduated from Doane University. Having moved to Dennis Port at the age of 13, he joined the staff at Dennis-Yarmouth High School in 1973 until 2013 and served as assistant football, JV boys’ basketball and assistant and head baseball coach under inaugural Cape League Hall of Famer Red Wilson. In the 1980s and 1990s he led the Dolphins girls’ hoopsters to great success and is the all-time winningest basketball coach in D-Y history. Sadly, Bob passed away in 2019. He is survived by wife Connie, sons Doug and Kyle, daughter Amy and several grandchildren.

William N. Walker, Chatham

The Wesleyan product was a hitting machine following his freshman season in 1957, leading the Cape League with a .432 batting average for the Chatham Townies. For one amazing season, Walker caught fire and never cooled off. Playing for Chatham of the Lower Cape League in 1957, he was named Player of the Week after scoring or driving in all his team’s runs and stealing home. After leading New England college players in home runs as a senior in 1960, he played minor league ball in the Orioles’ system for one season. He led Wesleyan to records of 13-2 in 1958 and 11-2-1 in 1959. Walker is the author of five popular novels of inter-war Europe. He has experience as a diplomat, government official and international businessman. Walker was ambassador and chief trade negotiator for the U.S. in multilateral trade negotiations in Geneva, where he was America’s senior diplomat. He was general counsel of two government agencies and served as director of presidential personnel for President Gerald Ford. After leaving government, Walker became a partner in a Wall Street law firm, running an international law practice. Later, he established a company devoted to international business and is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus award from Wesleyan U. He is the father of three children and lives with his wife Janet on Cape Cod.

About Cape Cod Baseball League

The Cape Cod Baseball League (Cape League), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is the premier collegiate summer baseball league in the nation, officially formed in 1923, but with roots dating back to 1885. Players from across the United States representing all NCAA college divisions are recruited to play in the 10-team league. Teams are located across Cape Cod, MA, in Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Cotuit, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Orleans, Wareham and Yarmouth-Dennis. In 2024, 415 Cape League alumni appeared on MLB team rosters, while more than 1,600 have done so all-time. For more information, visit CapeCodBaseball.org.

About the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame

The Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame was established in 2000 to honor those who, through their exceptional achievement or volunteerism, have made lasting contributions to the game of baseball on Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Baseball League. Prominent members include former CCBL alumni Frank Thomas, Lance Berkman, Nomar Garciaparra and Thurman Munson, as well as past League President Judy Scarafile Walden and longtime League volunteer Jim Higgins. The Hall of Fame serves to collect and preserve the history of baseball on Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Hall of Fame collection serves as an archive of artifacts from the Cape Cod Baseball League including photographs, uniforms, baseballs, bats and trophies that signify crowning achievements in the Cape Cod Baseball League.