Remembering Jess Bolen: A baseball legacy and community icon

Longtime Cape Capahas player/manager and SEMO ESPN personality Jess Bolen passed away Monday, Jan. 13, at the age of 82.

Sources told the Southeast Missourian confirming the initial report by Todd Richards of KFVS. Bolen's son and former Capahas manager, Tom Bolen, told Richards the senior passed away overnight in his sleep.

Former Capahas players remembered Bolen as a coach who saw his players as more than just a part of a team but as part of the family.

"Today, we lost a great one," said Grant Gray, who played for Bolen and the Capahas in 2013-14. "Coach Bolen was an incredible leader and a true role model. It was a privilege to play for him and be part of the Capaha organization. Skip’s influence and kindness will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with the Bolen family during this difficult time."

Bolen was a fixture in amateur baseball in Southeast Missouri. He played for the Capahas and also was the manager and general manager of the club for 50 years before retiring in 2016.

"Jess made a huge impact on my life through the game of baseball," former Capahas player Adam Connor said. "He gave myself and many players a way to continue living out their dream to play baseball, which sounds small, but it had a huge impact. For some, it was a stepping stone to the next level, for some it was their last hoo-rah. He is a person never to be forgotten."

Bolen played for the Capahas since he was a high school sophomore. His management tenure lasted 50 years with 1,514 victories and just 409 defeats. He has been inducted into the Southeast Missouri Hall of Fame (1993), the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame (2000), the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame (2008), the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (2011), St. Louis Baseball Hall of Fame (2013) and earned the Jaycees Man of the Year award in 1978 as well as the National Sportsman of the Year award.

Bolen also was a fixture on the radio airways as Eric Sean's broadcast partner during Southeast Missouri State baseball broadcasts and the morning show "The Sports Huddle" on SEMO ESPN.

"Jess was an iconic figure in our community and was always a pleasure to talk to," said Skylar Cobb, former Capahas and Southeast Missouri State pitcher and current Scott City High School baseball coach. "I’m glad I got to play for him and be around him on the Capahas and as a Redhawk. I will cherish those memories. There’s not a better storyteller than Jess Bolen and I could sit there and listen to those stories all day long. He will be truly missed. One of a kind. Prayers to Tom and TJ and the rest of the Bolen family."

The Capahas were inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Since 1980, the club has won 20 state and regional titles (and earned six other at-large berths) to advance to the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Bolen's family shepherded the oldest amateur baseball team in America throughout the majority of its legendary history. Bolen played for and coached the team. His late wife, Mary Bolen (Jan. 23, 1946-Oct. 27, 2017) was the fundraiser and organizer.

"To many, he was coach. To us ballplayers, He and Mary were family," Connor said. "They didn’t treat us as a transaction. They got to know us, fed us, teach us life lessons on and off the field, sharing stories, laughs, and memories that we will take with us to the end of our lives. Jess has gone to be with Mary, but they both continue to live through each and every one of the players and families they’ve touched in the community."

Tom Bolen also was a former player who took over as manager while Jess Bolen assumed the role of general manager during the final phase of the Capahas' long run. Mason Ahlvin played catcher during their final years and was a part of getting Tom Bolen his 100th win as manager in 2023.

"Being from Cape, (Jess) Bolen did more in my life than he knew," Ahlvin said. "Going and watching the Capahas play was always a huge memory for me. I can remember all the times we would stay after games and he and his wife would talk to us a little bit. When I finally got to play for him it opened my eyes more on how much baseball really meant to him. It was his everything. Jess was amazing, I will always see him as an amazing coach for one of the best teams I ever played for."

The Capahas, who originally got their name from their first sponsor, the Capaha Flour Company, folded on June 5, 2024, after a 130-year history. The Capahas are known for playing in one of the first night games in Capaha Park history in 1949 and playing in a game that featured Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean in 1931 and a squad filled with St. Louis Browns players in 1908.

The club has seen a handful of players carve out careers in Major League Baseball, including first-year Cape Central baseball coach Matt Palmer, and many more in the college ranks. Cobb remembered Bolen as "the ultimate player’s coach,” as many former players remembered the lasting legacy of the Bolen family and the club that tied the community together for over a century.

"Jess Bolen was the embodiment of Capaha Baseball," said Austin Dill, former Capahas pitcher who currently pitches professionally in the Frontier League. "Even when he was done managing, the years where I played for the Caps, he was at every game he could be at, and in the dugout. I always enjoyed listening to his stories from the past, not only about baseball but life in general. I truly can’t thank Coach Jess enough and the Bolen family in general for everything they have done for not only me but this community. Jess was one of a kind and any person would tell you that.

"He will be greatly missed."