Hopefully the Kindle platform and/or other quick online publishing solutions will encourage more short stories like this one.

http://robinsloan.com/2009/41/

Overall, Cape Crusaders is worthy of its spot amongst the literature about the Cape Cod League. The four premier books about the league each have their own place. Baseball by the Beach by Christopher Price focuses on the history of the league. The Last Best League by Jim Collins focuses on the 2002 Chatham A’s and follows the team throughout the season. Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats by Steve Weissman takes a modern day approach and goes behind the scenes of a typical season. And finally, Cape Crusaders tells a lot of the stories about the players and other people involved in the league.

Cape Crusaders is not without its share of typos, and the author made an unusual decision naming the book the same name as an amateur soccer team. Nevertheless, it was a pleasurable read and the author seemingly holds nothing back. For example, I am sure Jeff Kent would be embarrassed to find out that the book mentions how he cried and eventually ended up quitting the Cotuit Kettleers.

Another part of the book I really enjoyed was Chapter 7: “The Icons.” The chapter looks at a dozen of the people that have dedicated their time and energy to the league. It was nice to see a section on Arnie Allen, the longtime Falmouth Commodores equipment manager who eventually passed away from cancer, and another section on Ivan Partridge, a Cotuit Kettleers fan who is famous for shouting “have a hit” and “have an out” at games. Ivan is practically the team mascot, and he does not have to wear a silly suit.

I’d recommend this book to baseball fans curious about the past lives of current major leaguers, and Cape League fans looking to hear some of the stories they may not have heard. I would not recommend this book as a first introduction to the Cape League. For that, I would recommend the documentary on DVD entitled Touching the Game: The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League and Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats by Steve Weissman.

The day after the All-Star Game was nice and sunny, so I headed to Covell’s Beach (Centerville, MA) to start reading the book.

Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats begins with Steve’s first encounter with the Cape League and explains the history behind the league. Then, the book looks at each team, their field, and other facts (e.g. Does the field have lights or not?). Steve then goes into details behind the off-season and the beginning of the season. Sprinkled throughout are player profiles with interesting facts about individual members from various teams. The latter half of the book is filled with tidbits about the league (e.g. The 50/50 raffle), and goes into detail about the season and playoffs.

Because I know a lot about the league, I was initially concerned that Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats would not tell me anything new. But, I was pleasantly surprised to learn quite a bit. The author has a great knack for unveiling interesting facts. For example, I had always wondered about the history behind the Orleans Cardinal’s mascot, Mr. Cardinal. I don’t think the other Cape League books I read even mention the team mascots (“Homer” in Falmouth and “Mr. Cardinal” in Orleans).

The story of the 2004 Cape League playoffs is told in great detail in the chapter “The ‘Second Season’.” The playoffs last less than a week, but consist of the most exciting games to watch, and I am glad that Steve decided to narrate them.

The book finishes with personal notes from players in the Cape League, a list of former Cape players in Major League Baseball, a list of Cape players drafted in 2004, and a plethora of fascinating black & white photos.

Overall, I think this book is the best option for anyone who has been, or plans to go to a Cape game and wants to learn more about the league. After reading this book, I would then recommend watching the Cape League documentary Touching the Game. For those looking for more of a story that follows an entire Cape season, look toward The Last Best League by Jim Collins, or the novel Slider by Patrick Robinson. And for those looking for historical information check out Baseball by the Beach by Christopher Price. The only book I have not yet had a chance to read is Cape Crusaders by Mike Thomas, which apparently is filled with interviews and accounts from players, coaches and volunteers.

Go to http://www.theballyard.com/beachchairs/ to buy Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats!

In brief, the story follows star pitcher Jack Faber from Louisiana, who is invited to pitch in the Cape Marlin League for the Seapuit Seawolves (which is intended to resemble pitching in the Cape Cod League for the Cotuit Kettleers). Jack’s dad–Ben Faber, a former ballplayer himself and poor farmer, is very supportive of his son. On the way to Cape Marlin, they meet up with Chicago’s Natalie Garcia, and her son, catcher Tony Garcia. Tony and Jack becomes instant friends, and Natalie and Ben establish their own special relationship. Patrick Robinson does a better job at portraying the issues and relationships in the book than the play-by-play baseball, which is forgivable.

The book is not flawless, by any means. For example, a Major League baseball player is referred to in the book as having a 14-year career and playing for the Florida Marlins first. Well, the Marlins were founded in 1993, and the book was published in 2004! Also, “Cape Cod” is printed towards the end of the book, which is most likely a mistake. Both mistakes, however are very subtle and could be ruled as non-errors.

The ending of the novel was disappointing and predictable, but overall I liked this book. I would recommend it for baseball fans and people who like a good story, but not baseball fans looking for an accurate representation of the game.

In contrast to The Last Best League, this book does not peer into the lives of the players. It is a high-level view of the league, past and present (up to 1997). The bulk of the book summarizes each generation of the league, from the town team beginnings to the modern day NCAA and MLB-sponsored league. It is mostly sequential, but jumps around a little in the individual chapters. The last part of the book summarizes the history behind each team.

I really think this book deserves another publication with an update. Another Cape League book that I will read at some point is Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats by Steve Weissman. That book was released for the 2005 season, and I foolishly passed up an opportunity to buy it and get it autographed by the author at the last game of the season at Y-D. Maybe I’ll wait for next season and see if he is there opening day at Y-D

Whether non-baseball fans will enjoy this book, I don’t know. But if you’ve ever been to a Cape game, you should probably pick this one up, as well as the Cape League documentary DVD Touching the Game. Every player who steps foot on a Cape League field has a story, and this book does a great job at capturing some of the fascinating ones. I was amazed by how much detail the book went into, seemlessly peering into player’s minds and maintaining the storyline at the same time. An excellent read that I would highly recommend.

Now, I’m going to start reading Baseball by the Beach, a slightly older book on the Cape League that takes a different spin by looking at the history behind it, beginning before the days of NCAA and MLB sponsorship.