The Curious Dismissal of Cotuit Kettleers Coach Mike Roberts

New Englanders know a thing or two about suspicious baseball exits.

In October 2005 Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein quit his job and left Fenway Park wearing a gorilla suit. In 2011 Sox manager Terry Francona drove away from Fenway leaving a wake of controversy involving beer, chicken, and a growing divide with former Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino.

On February 5 the Mashpee Enterprise reported that the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Mike Roberts would not be returning after 21 seasons managing the Cotuit Kettleers. According to the press release, “The Cotuit Athletic Association announced this week that longtime field manager Mike Roberts will not be returning. The CAA thanks Mike for his successful 21-year tenure, winning the CCBL Championship three times and Coach of the Year honors twice. Mike was a material contributor to both the Kettleers’ brand and to the evolution of Lowell Park as ‘the jewel of the CCBL.’ We wish him the best in his future endeavors.” The announcement was reminiscent of Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy’s characterization of Terry Francona’s sugar coated ousting in 2011. “Terry Francona was fired yesterday. The longtime manager and the Red Sox brass used a lot of polite words and tried to make it sound mutual. They’re going with the fairy tale that the front office and the manager of eight years simply decided to part ways.”

Coach Roberts followed up with a thank you to Cotuit via social media shortly after his firing was made public. “After 21 summers coaching the Kettleers the CAA Board on Dec. 2nd informed me I was voted out. No reason given. Has been a challenging few months especially after recruiting the 2025 team & raising the Kettleers One Million Dollars Cash recently. My family wants to thank the community and the fans for being so welcoming, caring, and supportive. I will miss working with the college athletes, teaching the campers; Mary & I sharing with the children each Tuesday morning at the Cotuit Library; & visiting with so many nice people at Lowell Park. My visits with Dr. Sol Gittleman, baseball historian, will always be a highlight!” Coach Mike Roberts

The community’s response to Coach Roberts was both powerful and emotional. “So sad,” said Laura Thompson. “You will be missed Coach Roberts…thank you sir. My grandson so enjoyed his week with you and the Kettleers every summer and now that he plays high school baseball, he is forever grateful for your tutoring. He told me you taught him how to be the best. Thank you, again.” In an attempt to better understand how the CAA arrived at such a decision Marc Campbell asked, “Pardon my ignorance, but who does the voting?” Roberts replied, “15 board members who are non baseball people. Board has no oversight and very secretive so they do as they please.” “Sad that no reason was given,” wrote Neil Maciejewski, “after all your hard work and 21 summers, you deserve an explanation.” “The village loves you Coach Roberts!!!!,” wrote Paul Rifkin, who also shared memories of a long and detailed conversation he had with Roberts back in 2009. “You were not only a coach but a true gentleman with priorities that every Cotuit inhabitant should keep alive,” shared Joseph Pagliluca. “On a different note,” Pagliluca continued, “the CAA owes the residents of Cotuit an explanation on why it made this decision. We need the TRUTH and not a generic press release.” “Thank you for all you did for our community,” wrote Kim Fitzgerald. “You were a ray of sunshine everywhere you went. Always taking time to stop and say hello, especially to the kids who loved talking to Coach. Cotuit won’t be the same.” Kate Armstrong wrote, “The crew at the Cotuit Post Office always loved it when you arrived into town! You could be the Mayor! You mentored so many ballplayers. I do not understand the mindset on the decision.” Lynne Pepall said she was “dumbfounded by the news and saddened to learn it. Thank you for your commitment to the players, to the team, and to our community. Please know that you are a much valued member of the Cotuit community.” “I have to say that I was very disappointed to hear the news that Mike Roberts will not be returning as manager of the Kettleers this season,” wrote Bill Stewart. “I certainly don’t know all the details of how this came to be, but in my opinion the Cotuit Athletic Association should have done everything in their power to retain Coach Roberts. Not just for this year, but for as long as he wanted the job. I appreciate all the hard work that the CAA puts into providing a great product every summer, but they certainly swung and missed on this one. Thanks for all the memories Mike. You will be missed!” Mark Lawrence wrote, “One can only imagine the hurt you must be feeling, to be with an organization for all those years, and not be given a reason for your departure is unfathomable. What a terrible loss to not only Cotuit, but also to all the college players who will miss out on your mentorship. Though there is no way to know what happened behind the scenes with the CAA, WE all know what you have done in all your years here. All the money you raised to make Lowell Park the amazing place it has become. The inspiration to ballplayers of all ages, from the youngest kids in the clinics to future MLB stars.” And Ellen Barnaby poetically added, “What echoes summertime more in Cotuit than opening day at Lowell Park? Mike, as others have said, you will be more than missed as such an integral part of our summers.”

Coach Roberts thoughtfully took the time to respond to many of the messages expressing his appreciation to the Cotuit community while communicating his intended desire to have returned to the Kettleers. “I had planned to coach another 3-5 summer seasons. I will greatly miss so many nice people, great fans, working with college players, mentoring kids in camp, reading to children at the library every Tuesday and the July 4th activities at Lowell Park.”

“A neighborhood is defined by its residents and their interactions,” writes Yoni Appelbaum in The Atlantic. If Cotuit residents want answers they should turn their attention to the board. Any time you have unelected people in positions of power who are responsible for making decisions that affect schools, housing, or even a Cape Cod League baseball team, more often than not it is the community that ends up getting hurt. We don’t know what was said during the phone conversation between the board and Coach Roberts in early December, a call that Roberts referenced with emotion when reaching out to the community a week ago. “My heart is still broken from the December 2nd call from the CAA President and G.M.” I suspect that Coach Roberts was informed that he had been voted out by the board and told he would be working as a lame duck manager during the last year of his contract, a condition that would be untenable for a man with the commitment, integrity, and baseball acumen of Mike Roberts. And just as the Red Sox did when dismissing Terry Francona, the CAA likely assumed that Roberts would be willing to propagate the board’s fairy tale that the Cotuit Athletic Association and their manager decided to part ways amicably. You would have a better chance of seeing Coach Roberts at the Kettle Ho in Theo Epstein’s gorilla suit than purposely misleading Cotuit fans in a combined effort to cover for a lack of accountability by the board, an organization that, at least in the case of Coach Roberts, appears to be disconnected from the most important part of the game - what happens on the field.

In the Ken Burns Baseball documentary journalist Charley McDowell says, “Home plate has a little roof. It’s a little house. It brings us back to where we’re safe and where we’re cared about, where we’re loved. Coming home on a baseball diamond is pretty darn dramatic. You feel immense relief to have gotten out of all those hazards out there. Between first and third it’s hazardous territory. And then third to home is joy. You’re out of trouble, you’re coming back, and you’re running toward the home team dugout and they’re glad to see you.”

Hopefully Mike Roberts knows that despite the questionable actions of the Kettleers Board, the Cape Cod village of Cotuit will always be his home team dugout, a place where he is loved and cared about, a place that he can always call home.

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