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The
CGCBL
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By James R. Hartley
Originally known as the National Capital Junior League, the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League currently consists of seven teams located in Maryland and Northern Virginia. The CGL was founded in 1945 and is one of the oldest and best organized amateur summer baseball leagues in the United States. The players are under 21 years old and come from across the country. Teams play a 40-game league schedule, which gives the college-age players an opportunity to showcase their talents and improve their skills with wooden bats. Thirty-four former Griffith League players have made it to the major leagues.
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In the mid 1960s, beautification projects initiated by Lady Bird Johnson resulted in the loss of two of the four baseball fields on the Ellipse. As a consequence, the Clark Griffith League adopted the use of aluminum bats, which had become extremely popular with amateur organizations around the country. George Mason University head baseball coach Bill Brown, a CGL alum, recalls a 60-game regular season schedule which at times pushed players to their limits. Many double-headers had to be scheduled in order to squeeze in the allotted contests.
From 1972–1986, with support from the Home Plate Club, league games were played at George Mason University in Fairfax and local high school fields throughout Northern Virginia. During that period, teams sponsored by Stroube's Mobil and coached by Doug Coughlan won the CGL Championship from 1973–1979. Those players sent several players to major leagues, including Ed Lynch (New York Mets pitcher and current general manager of the Chicago Cubs), Tim Laudner (Minnesota Twins catcher), and Bruce Bochy (former National League catcher and current manager of the San Diego Padres).
In 1985, the league increased the minimum age for eligible players from 19 to 20. During the mid-1980s, Reston teams coached by Chuck Faris dominated the CGL. Faris's Reston Raiders won the AAABA championship in 1986. Current big leaguers Willy Blair (Tigers), Mike Williams (Pirates) and Rick Reed (Mets) were coached by Faris, who currently runs the Faris Baseball School in Reston. Faris fondly looks back on his years in the league and refers to the Griffith League as "an area treasure."
1987 brought another change in venue as the league moved its games to South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. Bethesda Big Train manager Derek Hacopian, who played for the Reston Raiders under Faris in 1990, remembers South Lakes High School as a home run paradise. "With the aluminum bats, it was not unusual to see someone hit two or three homers per game," says Hacopian, who had several two-homer games himself and one three-homer game. He also holds the distinction of hitting the longest home run in Clark Griffith League history. Chuck Faris calls the Big Train manager "the best pure hitter I ever saw–period."
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