Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats: A Celebration of the Cape Cod Baseball League [Paperback]

Steve Weissman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2005

Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats takes you on an insider's tour of the Cape Cod Baseball League to celebrate its 100+ years as a proving ground for young players and source of wholesome family fun. Along the way, it introduces you to the hundreds people who make the league experience so special: the players, their families, and their host families; the team coaches and game-day volunteers; the scouts and agents who track the players' progress; the umpires and the fans . . . they may come from different places and for different reasons, but they are joined by a single bond: a love for the game and an appreciation for the region. Come and spent a season with them!

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (March 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419605089
• ISBN-13: 978-1419605086
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Weissman contributes regularly to The Sports Exchange on WATD radio in Marshfield, Massachusetts, and advises professional and amateur sports teams about fan research and marketing strategy. A New Yorker by upbringing, he and his family have divided their time for the past 20 years between the Boston suburb of Waltham and the mid-Cape town of South Yarmouth, allowing him to bring both an insider's perspective to and an outsider's appreciation for the simple, timeless pleasure that is baseball in New England and beyond.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book for all lovers of the sport of Baseball, July 4, 2006

By 

Nuts about Books (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats: A Celebration of the Cape Cod Baseball League (Paperback)

Light easy read. Bought it for my Dad, who is a huge lover of baseball and an ex-college baseball coach. The whole family read it while on vacation in Cape Cod this summer. We found the writer's review of the history and the "business" of running this league fascinating. The personal anecdotes of past players also helped the author convince you of the special place that this league holds in the history and the future of our favorite national sport.
My advice...read the book and plan your summer vacation in Cape Cod. Then, using this book as your reference, see how many Cape Cod baseball games you can attend at as many fields in as many towns as you can. Life doesn't get much better than this!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for baseball fans old and new, May 17, 2005

By 

Julia Simpson (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats: A Celebration of the Cape Cod Baseball League (Paperback)

I am a huge fan of the Cape Cod Baseball League and the more I learn, the more I love it! If you know nothing about the league or even baseball itself now, you will become a fan as you read. This book really captures the great human stories and the inner workings of the league. It is so wonderful to experience the game at this level...to read about so many great players on the cusp of making it to the major leagues. When I meet people who don't know why baseball is still America's pasttime, I show them this book...it is great that such a pure baseball experience still exists and we can all enjoy it! A great slice of Americana!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, colorful, informative, September 2, 2005

By 

Ted Farmer (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats: A Celebration of the Cape Cod Baseball League (Paperback)

As a frequent visitor to Cape Cod for over 30 years and a baseball fan, how could it be that I've only recently attended my first Cape Cod Baseball League game? But it took just one visit and I'm hooked. Why? Maybe it's the friendly atmosphere or the colorful townies cheering on their teams along side the vacationers or the sense of community that enhances the opportunity to watch the best college players in the country playing their hearts out and showing everyone what they've got. It is a great take for the whole family or for the single fan. And it's priced right ... admission is free. Where can you get that in America these days?

Steve Weissman's book "Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats" is not a history of the CCBL (although there is enough to give you the basics), but the book goes beyond the baseball and captures the Cape League experience. It looks at the players, the teams, the host families, the fans, the volunteers and everything that makes the league tick. And best of all, it answered all of the questions I had about the CCBL. Did you know that there is a Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame in Sandwich? Did you know that many of today's major league players once played in the Cape Cod League? Did you know that many of the players are being studied by major league scouts right before your eyes? "Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats" explains it all from many different angles and makes this book a compelling, feel-good read.

I read this book twice this summer while at the beach in my beach chair. Then I'd head out to a few games afterward armed with a little more knowledge of what I was witnessing. And you know what? I may end up reading it again this winter when I want to recapture a little of that summer magic.