Baseball on the Cape

I was in Massachusetts this weekend for a lesbian wedding (only in Massachusetts!) and while I was there I stopped by Cape Cod for some fresh air, sunshine, and Cape Cod League baseball.

The Cape Cod League is where elite collegiate players spend their summers, honing their skills in front of tourists and Major League scouts. A few of my favorite things from the game I saw, featuring the Chatham A’s vs. the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox:

• They stop the game if one of the cars parked beyond the outfield fence has its lights on.

• The music they play over the PA system probably hasn’t changed in 20 years. There is no better time to play The Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life” than at a Cape Cod League game.

• Before every at bat, the announcer told us the name of the batter and what college he went to, so that we could listen and find out if any of any of our fellow alums are Cape Cod leaguers. Alas, there were no Connecticut College Camels, though my girlfriend Suz was happy to see that Chatham’s 3B went to her alma mater, Brown, and she was even more excited when he made an excellent diving catch on a hard hit grounder down the line and recovered in time to throw out the batter.

• During the 7th Inning Stretch, a couple of kids sang the national anthem from the press box. Adorable.

• Lots of people bring their dogs. One guy brought a great dane that probably weighed about 250 lbs.

• They had a raffle. Winners were announced before the ninth inning. A raffle ticket costs a dollar. Prizes included a lobster dinner for two and a gift certificate to a local pizzeria. The grand prize was half the raffle money, about $350. Not bad.

The most disappointing part of the game? Finding out that Chatham A’s 1B Allan Dykstra (Wake Forrest) isn’t related to former Mets and Phillies CF Lenny “Nails’ Dykstra. Bummer.