Local kid makes good: BC and Y-D Red Sox star Mickey Wiswall lights up the Cape

Cape League All Star Mickey Wiswall
(Photo: Andrea LaFrance)

It’s a Disney story in the making: Stoneham kid loves baseball, helps propel Boston College further than ever into the College World Series tournament, and lights it up in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

In this case, the “kid” is Mickey Wiswall, a Cape League All Star who is currently batting .311 with 3 homers and 21 RBIs for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and is loving every minute of the experience.

“I feel like a little kid!” he says, “and being from Massachusetts makes it even more special.” 

A Family Affair
Playing locally means his family can make most of his games, and they do, both at BC and in the Cape League. “It’s harder in the spring because we play so many games down south,” Wiswall laments, “but my dad makes it to nearly every home game [at BC] and my mom is in Plymouth, so she’s at many games here [at YD].” 

Wiswall works with the kids at the Y-D Red
Sox morning clinic. (Photo: Andrea LaFrance)

Wiswall is the oldest of six in his family, and he clearly relishes the “big brother” role. Nowhere is this more evident than when he is working at the YD Sox “kids clinics” on weekday mornings, when youngsters from 6 to 16 are taught the game by the club’s players and coaches. “Working with the kids is a joy,” Wiswall says, and by observation, the feeling clearly is mutual.

(Every Cape League team has such a program, by the way, and they’re well worth looking into if you’re ever on Cape and looking for some top-tier, reasonably-priced baseball instruction.)

Following in the Footsteps
Wiswall is but the latest in a recent line of BC players to make their mark with Y-D, following recent college mates Terry Doyle (now pitching in the Chicago White Sox system) and Tony Sanchez (taken fourth overall in June by the Pittsburgh Pirates). “I played in the Valley League in Virginia last year,” he says. “That was great, but I wanted to play at the best level possible – and that’s the Cape.”

By all accounts, Wiswall is making the adjustment with relative ease, and he credits his experience at BC for making it so. “The biggest difference in college was the pitching, and my college coaches helped me see inside the game,” he says. “The mental aspect was especially big” – and not only on the field. “When you get to college,” he remembers, “ you’re suddenly surrounded by stud players, and you’re not in the spotlight anymore. But at BC, we didn’t have superstars or cliques. We’d always do things together all 35 of us.”

Also helpful was the fact that he’s best friends with Matt Gedman, whose father Rich played 10 of his 13 big league seasons with the Boston Red Sox and now manages the independent Worcester Tornadoes. “I talked to his dad about the inside game as well,” and the lessons learned apparently have stuck well. 

Wiswall connects -- again!
(Photo: Y-D Red Sox)

To Cape Cod and Beyond
Now that he’s on Cape, Wiswall’s baseball education is only intensifying. As it was when moving up to college, his biggest challenge is adjusting to a much higher level of pitching. “Seeing 2-0 sliders is probably the biggest jump I’ve had to make,” he says. “I’m having to take a more mature approach to hitting, especially with the wood bats.” He at least has some experience with the latter, as he has always swung wood bats during the winter.

Wiswall is generous with his appreciation for his Y-D coaches, especially manager Scott Pickler, Pickler’s son Jeff, and coach Larry Mahoney. “The time they put in with every player shows how much they want their players to succeed,” he says. He does find it strange, though, when Y-D plays the Harwich Mariners and he sees BC assistant coach Steve Englert pushing the buttons in the opposing dugout. “Well,” he says, laughing, “I know I won’t be seeing too many fastballs that night!”

Like every other player in the Cape League, Wiswall hopes to parlay his success this summer into a high draft position. Heading as he is into his junior year, he will be draft-eligible come next June, and he is open to the idea of signing and turning pro. “If the right opportunity comes along, who knows?” he says.

And if the team that drafts him is the Yankees? Smiling broadly, he says, “Beggars can’t be choosers!”