Event, Sort Of: Cape Cod League Begins Today

Because it takes place within mostly idyllic surroundings, produces literally dozens of top draft picks per annum, and is also entirely free of charge, the Cape Cod League is really one of the great treasures of base-and-ball. That its 2013 season starts today (Wednesday), is the point of this post.

The point of this post is not to intimate at all that the author is an expert on the Cape League. That same author, for example, has only been to two games ever — not from a lack of wanting to, it should be noted, but rather from a confluence of factors involving mostly geographical and fiscal constraints.

So far as assorted notes on the Cape League are concerned, however, the author has managed to collect five of them:

• About one-third of the players taken in the first 10 rounds of this year’s draft were former Cape Leaguers.

• The top regressed performances last year in the Cape League were produced by first baseman Conrad Gregor (drafted by Houston) and left-hander Sean Manaea (drafted by Kansas City).

• An infallible study conducted by the author demonstrates that Cape Cod League MVPs have made the major leagues approximately 70% of the time.

• Jim Collins’ book The Last Best League is an excellent chronicle of a seaosn in the Cape League.

• FanGraphs/RotoGraphs prospect writer Al Skorupa is more likely than not to provide some kind of coverage of the Cape League and its prospects.