The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream [Hardcover]

Jim Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2004

Every summer, in ten small towns across Cape Cod, young college baseball players showcase their talents in hopes of making it to the "show." A vicious filter, the league has produced one out of every six major league players, from Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Helton to Jeff Bagwell and Barry Zito.In this brilliantly crafted narrative, Jim Collins chronicles a season in the life of the Chatham A's, perhaps the most celebrated team in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Set against a seemingly bucolic backdrop--a well-heeled resort town on the bend of the outer Cape--the story charts the changing fortunes of a handful of players, all of whom battle slumps and self-doubt in an effort to impress major league scouts and make the playoffs. Several players go home with career-threatening injuries; one blue-chip prospect fulfills great expectations while another is dubbed "the biggest disappointment on the Cape." A pitcher hides an arm injury while negotiating a minor league contract; another leaves early to tend to his dying father. And nearly all look to the following year's major league draft as a barometer of their worth. Far more than a baseball book, The Last Best League is an engrossing story about dreams fulfilled and dreams destroyed, about Cape Cod and the rites of summer, about coming of age in America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Cape Cod Baseball League, which began in the 19th century as local entertainment for summer residents, has evolved into the jewel of American amateur baseball. Sanctioned by the NCAA, the league invites the best college players to come to breezy seaside communities to work on their game during what amounts to their off-seasonâ€"late June through mid-Augustâ€"without sacrificing their amateur status. And come they do, to one of the 10 teams sponsored by small towns and New England businesses, staffed by volunteers, the players hosted by local families and given day jobs as clerks, seafood haulers and day-camp counselors. Collins, a former editor of Yankee magazine and once a Dartmouth second baseman with dreams of the big leagues, brings a local historian's eye and the heart of a fan to a chronicle of one Cape Cod League team, the Chatham A's, during the 2002 season. He has produced a book that will be a treat to casual fans who might not know the process by which college players are courted by agentsâ€"graded as to character, body type and bat speed, and then tagged with a price. Collins wisely focuses his story on a handful of the most promising Chatham players, most memorably Wake Forest's slugging third baseman Jamie D'Antona, an extremely likable nutcase, for whom readers will find themselves rooting hard. There is also the undersized Blake Hanan, the brainy Princeton righty Tom Pauly and the sphinxlike load of a pitcher, Tim Stauffer. Their crusty manager, John Schiffner, adds a little spice and tobacco juice to the mix. Along the way, readers will gain an appreciation for summer on Cape Cod and the place of baseball, as it once was, in the heart of local communities.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The Cape Cod Baseball League is not well known except to New Englanders and professional baseball scouts (one of every six major-league players competes in it). The summer league, which attracts many of the best collegiate and amateur players from around the country, provides young players an opportunity to play in a competitive environment while functioning as adults in a community. The players typically room with local families, hold jobs with local businesses, and become part of the fabric of local life. Despite the small-town atmosphere, there can be a great deal at stake. Collins, former editor of Yankee magazine and a former college player with major-league dreams, understands the league, the game, and the odd dynamic that exists when teammates are vying for a ticket on the first leg of the journey to the major leagues. His profiles of the players, coaches, and local citizens who come together in the Cape Cod League offers a captivating, timeless brew of scuffed baseballs, white sand, and pristine dreams. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738209015
• ISBN-13: 978-0738209012
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #971,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Collins is a professional writer and editor living in Orange, New Hampshire. He is a former editor of Yankee magazine and an accomplished magazine writer whose articles have twice been noted in the annual Best American Sportswriting anthologies. He is married to writer Kristen Laine, whose book American Band won the 2007 PEN/New England award for nonfiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful inside look and a valentine to America's Game..., January 23, 2005

By 

Robert Wellen (CHICAGO, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream (Hardcover)

This is a terrific book. It balances nicely between an inside look (and it is quite honest about the players and other characters, showing their true human qualities--it does not pretty them up) and an ode to the one of the last places where the true spirit of the game lives. I had long known of the league, but mostly through the reports of Peter Gammons and Baseball America. It was all numbers and thumb nail scouting reports. This book added layer after layer of humanity to these guys. It also captures quite beautifully the connection of the game and the mythical qualities and the small town virtues. It doesn't overdo it either. The touches are excellent. The narrative is a bit meandering at times, but that is ok, so is the game. A beautiful tribute to the men (mostly Pauly, D'Antona, and Stauffer) and a game that is timeless. Thank you Jim Collins.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks for the memories, May 14, 2004

By 

ED BAIRD (GREENWICH, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream (Hardcover)

I was fortunate to have played 3 summers (1965-1967) for the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League - An experience that far overshadows all of my other baseball accomplishments - I fell in love with the town & the league from the minute I first arrived.

But as the years have past, the memories have dimmed, until I read Jim Collin's book "The Last Best League"

I have to admit that I personally know many of the key characters, which alone would indicate that I should enjoy reading the story, but Jim's easy flow writing style invited me in and I didn't want to leave.

As bizarre as it may seem, as the story developed, I found myself totally absorbed as if I was actually there being a part of the scene. Whether it was in the dugout, at coach Schiffner's house discussing strategy or just walking around Chatham.

If you are a baseball fan this book is a must. It clearly takes the reader for a ride as the best college baseball players in the country begin to feel the pressure, as the competition mounts, and their dreams of playing major league baseball may either be achieved or shattered based on their summer's performance in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Thanks for the memories Jim - I enjoyed the ride

Ed Baird

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last best baseball book, June 8, 2004

By 

B. Jacobsen "whsy82" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream (Hardcover)

The author clearly loves his subjects: athletes with their chance to make it to the bigs. In particular, he loves baseball at its purist. Pure because there are no guaranteed contracts, no established stars, just college players who see their goal so close and so badly want to make the next step. Each game, and each athlete, is an adventure. It will be fun over the years to see which of the players chronicled in this book become stars in the years to come.