Once again the Wareham Gatemen have been selected to officially open the Cape Cod Baseball League season on Sunday, June 13 against division rival the Cotuit Kettleers. It will be the only game played in the league that night.

This year, the Gatemen will be honoring the men and women of our armed forces with an on-field, special presentation and swearing-in ceremony prior to the game. Pre-game ceremonies will begin at 4:15 p.m. and game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. There will be an autograph session for all fans after the game.

The 126-year-old Cape Cod Baseball League is as much a tradition on Cape Cod as cranberries, bass fishing. With roots tracing back to Union soldiers returning home from the Civil War, the Cape League originated in 1885, was reorganized from individual town teams into the Cape Cod Baseball League in 1923, and is now the premier summer baseball league in the country.

Fielding the nation's best summer talent and each year graduating its players to stardom in Major League Baseball, the Cape League's ten teams typify all that remains pure in the game. From the use of wood bats, to the allure of the serene setting of the Cape's beaches and cool summer nights, the league offers fans a brand of baseball difficult to duplicate.

In 2009, 234 Cape League players were selected in the Major League Draft and 20 players were chosen in the first and supplementary rounds. The Gatemen have over 30 active major league alumni including former Cy Young Award-winner Barry Zito, of the San Francisco Giants, Justin Masterson, of the Cleveland Indians, Daniel Bard, of the Red Sox, and Carlos Pena, of the Tampa Bay Rays.

With free admission to all 220 regular season games, including 22 at Spillane Field, home of the Gatemen, there is little debate that the Cape League remains at the forefront of baseball today. As declared by the U.S. Congress last summer "The Cape Cod Baseball League is truly America's League"