The Cape League

Mo Vaughn and Lance Berkman played for Wareham...not the same time but they did play there.

Carlos Pena also played one of his two Cape seasons with Wareham.

In 3 Cape Cod seasons combined between Lance Berkman and Todd Helton managed to hit 1 combined home run.

9 of 10 teams in the Cape League had batting averages around .200 when the documentary I am watching on NESN was filmed.

I found out that there is a wooden bat making place Barnstable...also the home of Willis Reed.

An aluminum bat College game averages 3 1/2 hours

A wood bat Cape Cod game averages 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Pitching apparently rules the Cape Cod league. One Cape Cod General Manager said that college players should knock 150-200 points off there college averages.

The league also uses wooden bats which makes it tougher to hit. That probably has more to do with the lower averages then the pitching does...

I don't like Aluminum Bats...too many cheap hits. Wooden Bats sound good and make the game interesting. Too many cheap hits dilutes the game of baseball. Wooden bats have a smaller sweet spot and it doesn't just jump off the bat if you make contact the way a aluminum bat does. A wooden bat also just feels different than an aluminum bat.

The players often get jobs in the surrounding businesses. Pretty Cool...you have a day job and you play baseball at night. Not bad. Also must be weird looking at these baseball players, sometimes about to go pro in the minor leaguers.

Thurman Munson played in the Cape Cod League.

in 1988 these guys played in the Cape League and what they did for work:
Jeff Bagwell...dishwasher at Friendly's
Frank Thomas...worked at a resort
J.T. Snow
Tim Salmon
Denny Neagle
Mo Vaughn

Other players who have played and where they worked

Barry Zito played...golf course maintenance
Jason Varitek...did Laundry
Mark Kotsay..bagged Peter Gammons groceries at the A and P.
David DeJesus-fish market
Scott Strickland...landscaping
Todd Walker...Golf course
Khalil Greene
Mike Matheny..Law Firm...mowed lawn there
Brian Buchanan
Nomar Garciaparra
Mike MacDougall
Scott Schowenweis.
Darin Erstad
Scott Spiezio
Adam Kennedy

Major Leaguers Adam Kennedy and Darin Erstad both sent signed game used autograph bats to the equipment manager on Falmouth when they met at the Cape Cod League when that worker was battling cancer. He was buried with those bats and his Cape League jersey.

I also read that a game was called as a tie with a runner on third in a decisive game because there wouldn't be enough light to finish the game. That well is pretty sad. It also happened to hurt the team that Willis Reed currently interns for, the Cotuit Kettleers, who also were one of the most important teams in the development of the league. They were the first team to have all college players.

Players put on clinics too. Helps bring in attendance. Cape League develops fans. Kids get to know players through clinics, parents meet players at clinics, develop a personal connection and come back to the game at night.

Everyone who works at games volunteers. They don't make money. It's a $2,000,000 non profit league.

In watching the documentary "Touching The Game, The Story of the Cape Cod League" The Cape Cod League really appears to be a tremendous asset to the game of baseball, college baseball and major league baseball. It gives major league teams a chance to scout talent, a place for good college players to play against each other over the summer and most importantly for the game itself it develops fans and socializes the game to a new generation of people.