Cape League named 6th best baseball attraction in U.S. Article By: CCBL Public Relations Office PORTLAND, Maine – As Major League Baseball teams prepare for the start of the upcoming season, baseball travel writer Josh Pahigian is out with a new edition of "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out" (Lyons Press, 2015). The book ranks the Cape Cod Baseball League the sixth best baseball attraction in North America. The cover of the book features an aerial photograph of Cotuit’s Lowell Park. The chapter on the Cape League includes additional photographs of Lowell Park, as well as visiting information for all ten teams/parks in the league. The chapter details the league’s rich history and lengthy roster of alumni who have made good in the big leagues. It also lauds the idyllic setting for the “summer game” that the Cape League provides. In addition, the chapter suggests that readers visit the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis and the Barnstable Bat Co. Pahigian, who grew up in Central Massachusetts and spent countless hours on the Cape during his childhood (his grandfather owned a home in West Dennis), writes that Lowell Park, Eldredge Park (Orleans), and Veterans Field (Chatham) are his three personal favorite parks on the Cape. But they’re all winners, he says. “When it comes to combining quality of play with intimacy of setting,” Pahigian writes, “no league in the country – amateur or professional – comes close to matching the experience fans enjoy in the Cape League.” The five attractions Pahigian ranks ahead of the Cape League include The National Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY), The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (Kansas City, Mo.), the Field of Dreams movie site (Dyersville, Iowa), Rickwood Field (Birmingham, Ala.) and the Little League World Series (South Williamsport, Pa). The first edition of "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out" was named a finalist for the 2008 Casey Award, presented annually to the best new baseball book. This revised and updated 2015 edition includes 25 new sites and a complete reranking of America’s best baseball attractions. The book provides colorful photos and stories detailing unique baseball destinations like the amusement park owned by former Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell in Cape Coral, Fla., the Homer and Marge Simpson statues at a minor league park in Albuquerque, N.M., and Babe Ruth’s grave in Hawthorne, N.Y. The second edition of "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out" compiles 101 colorful essays describing the very best baseball sites in America. It incorporates pop culture landmarks, current and former ballpark sites, player shrines, statues and graves, museum exhibits and other sites of interest to the traveling fan. Josh Pahigian is the author of several baseball books, including "The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip," "Spring Training Handbook" and "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out." Pahigian has also written sports travel articles for ESPN.com and a host of other print and online periodicals. Pahigian lives in Buxton, Maine. For more information, contact Pahigian at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @joshpahigian. |