Gatemen News Archives
06/6/08 - Pair Gatemen Among 2008 Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame Class
The 2008 Cape Cod Baseball League has announced the inductees for the CCBL Hall of Fame and former Gatemen right handed pitcher Ben Sheets, who now pitches for the Milwaukee Brewers, and former CCBL MVP Matt Murton from the Chicgao Cubs will be among those being inducted on November 22nd in Chatham.
In his first season in 1998, the Northeast Louisiana right-hander posted a 4-1 record with the Wareham Gatemen. In 68 innings pitched, he struck out 66 batters with a 2.51 ERA. Sheets was named a CCBL mid-season All-Star and to the All-League team in 1998 and was named a Baseball America Summer League All-Star. He returned in 1999 with the Orleans Cardinals and posted a 1-0 record with a 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings with 17 strikeouts. Ben was the Brewers’ first-round draft pick in 1999 and is in his eighth season pitching for Milwaukee, posting a 79-75 career record with a 3.78 ERA and 1,097 K’s. With a fast ball clocked at 96-98 MPH, Sheets struck out 18 batters in a 2004 game against the Atlanta Braves. Ben won the gold medal game in the 2000 Sydney Olympics with a complete game 3-hit 4-0 shutout over Cuba. This is the only gold medal the USA has won in baseball.
During his two-year career with Wareham, the Georgia Tech slugger led the Gatemen to two CCBL championships in 2001 and ’02. In ’01, Murton was named League MVP by leading the league in RBI (28), ranking second in batting average (.324) and compiling a perfect 19-for-19 stolen base record. He was rated as CCBL No. 3 Pro Prospect by Baseball America. In 2002, he hit .400 (22-55) with eight RBI and a .545 slugging percentage in 16 games for the Gatemen after breaking his hand at Team USA tryouts. Later that summer, he won the CCBL All-Star Game home-run hitting contest and was again ranked No. 33 among CCBL pro prospects by Baseball America. In the 2003, first-year player draft, he was selected in the first round (32nd overall) by the Boston Red Sox, and is currently in his fourth season with the Chicago Cubs, where he has compiled a .295 lifetime batting average with 28 home runs and 102 RBI. Matt was one of the prospects traded to Chicago from Boston in "Nomar Garciapara" trade during the World Series Year in 2001 for the Red Sox.
