By Roy Reiss
March 1, 2016

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a member of your family, so it was especially difficult to learn of the passing of Nancy Roberts in February.

Nancy Roberts with grandsons Brock (in arms) and Tyler. Photo by Joe Cavanaugh

A quiet, private individual, Nancy enjoyed her time in Cotuit every summer while her husband Mike molded the latest Kettleers edition. She would make her way to Lowell Park for every home game and sit in the home grandstand quietly as the action would unfold on the field. Many of those around her wouldn’t know who she was or who her husband was, and that’s the way Nancy liked it.

There was one lasting memory that paints a perfect picture of Nancy and Mike Roberts that I’ll never forget.

It was a beautiful Wednesday Cape evening in mid August back in 2013. The Kettleers and Orleans Firebirds were battling in the 1st game of the championship series with the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th when Bradley Zimmer singled home 2 Kettleers runs which led to a 4-2 Cotuit victory. The crowd was excited and spilled onto the field after the final Orleans out. There was much celebrating as youngsters got autographs, players were interviewed, and everyone milled around the 3rd base dugout. There was Nancy standing quietly on the bricks outside the fence on the 3rd base side at Lowell Park during this happy celebration. That’s the way she liked it, just quietly watch.

Some 30 minutes or so after the game when the crowd had headed home and Lowell Park had emptied, I drove down Main Street and with the sun setting there were two individuals holding hands, walking down the peaceful, quiet street in picturesque Cotuit. Just a perfect picture of Nancy and Mike Roberts.

Jeren Kendall

One of the fun things at this time of year is tracking some of the prospects who are scheduled to play for the Kettleers this summer. Most teams have only played a handful of games yet some future Kettleers are off to superb starts. Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) has been a player of the year candidate so far with his unbelievable start. Kendall has hit .531 thru 8 games with 17 hits and 16 RBI. In addition he has stolen 9 bases which must make Coach Mike Roberts smile! His Commodore teammate Alonzo Jones is another prospective Kettleers that intrigues. The young freshman infielder has knocked in 14 runs and hit .379 in Vanderbilt’s early games.

Clay Fisher, a shortstop prospect from Univ of California Santa Barbara, is hitting .320 for his Gaucho team while Jake Bivens, a 3B-SS prospect from Michigan, leads his team with a .350 batting average. Returning veteran catcher Tim Susnara (Oregon) is doing the bulk of the receiving for his Oregon team and registered 16 put outs in a recent game.  

There was quite a reunion of members of the 2010 Kettleers championship team at the Angels Spring Training site last month. Pitchers Austin Wood, Nick Tropeano, A.J. Achter and receiver C.J. Cron all donned the Angels uniform in Tempe, Arizona.

Kettleers Korner will be anything and everything that might interest fans, past and present, about the Kettleers. Roy Reiss, who started his career working for Curt Gowdy Broadcasting, was a former sportscaster on Channel 7 and several radio stations in Boston. His son Mike now covers the Patriots for ESPNBoston.