As a 1965 graduate of New Britain High School in Connecticut, Harvey Shapiro played varsity baseball and basketball. His senior year, Harvey, a smooth fielding first baseman, was the team’s leading hitter (.375). Harvey also played baseball at the University of Connecticut and in the Greater Hartford Twilight League. He was inducted into the New Britain High School Baseball Hall of Fame, the Greater Hartford Twilight League Hall of Fame, and the City of New Britain Sports Hall of Fame and is honored to be among the 2019 inductees into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.
Harvey is returning for his seventeenth season as manager of the Bourne Braves. He has over 30 years of baseball coaching experience at the college level, including stints at Springfield College, Bowdoin College and the University of Hartford. Harvey has been a coaching mainstay in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League for more than 25 years. He is the all-time wins leader in Bourne with 370 wins, which includes 25 playoff wins and, overall, has 484 victories as a Cape manager. In addition to college coaching, Harvey has been a part-time scout for the Baltimore Orioles.
In 2017, the Braves had an exciting playoff run. After sweeping Cotuit and Wareham in the first two rounds, the team lost the deciding third game of the Championship.
In 2009, Harvey led the Braves to their first Cape Cod Baseball League Championship! The team finished the season with a record of 25-17-2 and a 1st place regular season Western Division Title. The Braves went on to sweep the Orleans Firebirds in the first round of the playoffs and then swept the Cotuit Kettleers for the Championship.
In 2014, Harvey led Bourne to their sixth regular season Western Division Title. That same year, the Bourne Braves received the President’s Cup for their achievement of the most regular season wins in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Harvey managed the Braves to the Cape Cod League playoff finals in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2017. During the 2005, 2010 and 2013 seasons, the Bourne Braves were presented with the Commissioner’s Cup, which recognizes the extraordinary accomplishments of an individual franchise.
As the manager of the Falmouth Commodores from 1994-1998, Harvey led the Commodores to a divisional regular season championship in 1994 and the playoff finals in 1996. Harvey was the 1996 Cape Cod League Manager of the Year. Before managing Falmouth, he was an assistant coach at Wareham and Yarmouth-Dennis.
Harvey has managed the West squad in seven Cape League All-Star games, two of which were at Fenway Park. He has had the privilege of coaching over 80 major leaguers who have played for him in the Cape League. Just to name a few, these players include Travis Shaw, Mitch Moreland, Darin Erstad, Adam Kennedy, Eric Milton, Mark Sweeney and Eric Wedge, who later became the 2007 American League Manager of the Year while at Cleveland. In addition, 12 of his former Cape players were drafted in the first round of the Major League amateur drafts.
Shapiro also coached the baseball team at Bowdoin for 15 years before making his final college stop as the baseball coach at Division I University of Hartford from 1999 through 2004.
For most of his professional tenure, Harvey coached both baseball and basketball at the collegiate level, including both sports at Division I. He has accumulated over 1,200 victories in four decades of coaching at various levels in baseball and basketball.
Harvey also has international ties, having served as the Netherlands National Baseball Coach for three years, and he coached the Dutch in two World Championships in Cuba and Holland. In 1985, the Netherlands won the European Championship, beating Italy five straight games, and Harvey was named the European Coach of the Year. In addition, he has conducted clinics in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Holland, Germany, and the Netherlands Antilles. Harvey is also a published author on baseball and has served on various collegiate and international committees.
Harvey is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He also holds a master’s degree in physical education from Springfield College.
Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod is where Harvey met his wife Lynne, over 40 years ago. Lynne is the one who encouraged Harvey to leave his job with the IRS and become a baseball coach, as she recognized that baseball and working with young people were his passions. Their son Scott and wife Paula, with son Theo, and their daughter Nancy who is married to Bill, and son William frequent the baseball games on the Cape. If you hear a cowbell at a Bourne Braves game, most likely it is William or Theo cheering on “Opa Harv” and his run-scoring team.
Braves Skipper Harvey Shapiro Reaches Milestone
With a 3-1 victory over Hyannis on Sunday (25 July), Bourne Braves manager Harvey Shapiro put an historic notch in his belt as a Cape League skipper. The win was number 150 in Shapiro’s illustrious career on the Cape.
Harvey Shapiro, Bourne Braves
SportsPix 2004
“This is a special league,” Shapiro said. “I’ve enjoyed coaching in this league, with the friends that you make and the players that you coach.”
The win was not only a milestone for the Braves manager, but more importantly it kept Bourne in the hunt for a playoff spot. The Braves moved into third place, a point behind Falmouth and four points behind Hyannis.
A two-run double by Joe Simokaitis gave Bourne a 2-1 lead and Kyle Padgett delivered the insurance run with an RBI single, plating Simokaitis.
Shapiro has been a mainstay in the Cape League for more than a decade. He was the head man for the Falmouth Commodores for five years, where he picked up 112 wins. At Falmouth, Shapiro won a divisional title in 1994, his first season with the Commodores, and was named league Manager of the Year in 1996 after leading Falmouth to the league championship series.
For the last two years, Shapiro has been the manager in Bourne, where in his first season with the Braves guided them to a West Division crown in 2003.
Shapiro is the 11th manager in modern-era history to reach 150 wins and has a record of 150-139-3 in his seventh season. The 39th Braves game this season will be his 300th as a Cape League manager, making him the 12th man to reach that level.
“It is a nice mark for the organization to have a veteran coach with such a resume
behind him,” said Bourne general manager Mike Carrier.
As a Cape League skipper, Shapiro has coached a number of Major League players including Darin Erstad, Eric Milton and Jeff Weaver. He and long time pitching coach Dick Schoonover also have the distinction of having managed the pitchers with the top two regular season ERA’s in the modern-era. Milton recorded a 0.21 ERA in 1996 and last season Eric Beattie had a 0.39 ERA.
Shapiro is currently the head coach at the University of Hartford. He joined the Hawks staff in 1998 after a 15 year stint at Bowdoin College. --T.J. Lasita, CCBL Intern, TJLasita@capecodbaseball.org
Comments