Summertime means a lot here on the Cape. We’ve got the Cape League. We’ve got the Road Race. We’ve got the beaches. We’ve got the traffic.

Well, three out of four ain’t too bad I guess.

Personally, I’m a baseball guy. Always have been, always will be. 

The Commodores season is not breaking down quite as well as last year’s. You never know, the team could get red hot and run off a big winning streak and make the postseason, but right now, things aren’t looking so good. 

Cape League seasons are funny things. They take forever to start and then they’re over before you know it. In between you have a bunch of kids out of school looking to impress Major League scouts while having a good time.

Chemistry-wise, I think this year’s team is about on a par with last year’s. The players seem to genuinely enjoy one another’s company. They do the things that ballplayers do – play jokes on one another and play baseball.

The thing that makes this year’s team so maddening to watch is not the effort, but the inconsistency. On some nights the Commodores are a hitting machine, pounding the ball all over the yard. Other nights they can’t get the ball out of the infield. It doesn’t help that Mike Ambort, of Lamar University, will be out of action for the rest of the year due to an injury. He’s been a great asset to the team, but now he’s on the shelf for the remainder of the slate.

Pitching-wise, things are on a par with the hitting. Some nights the arms look great, other nights, they’re pounded. Dallas Buck is a good example. The Oregon State ace, who was downright awesome all of last year, was rocked his first two times out. Then, on Wednesday evening, he looked like his old self as he only let one ball get out of the infield through seven innings while suffering the toughest of tough luck losses.

If Jeff Trundy and his staff could figure it all out, they would. That’s the thing, though. There are basically 10 all-star teams competing in the Cape Cod League every summer. Which ones are going to rise to the top is anyone’s guess.

Every spring you look at the rosters and say the same thing: "they look great on paper."

Every summer you come to the same result–games aren’t played on paper. 

About three weeks remain in the season. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the field, and then what goes in the paper.

Road Race Appears In SI

Thumbing through the most recent Sports Illustrated (July 11) I came across an interesting story: SI’s 25 Summer Essentials. Basically it was a story that lauded the best stuff to do and see during the summer. Packers Training Camp, baseball on the radio and going to batting cages all made the list.

So did the Falmouth Road Race. Under the heading ‘Sweat It’ was a brief story lauding the FRR. "It was a crazy idea, given life during the 1970s running boom. Cape Cod bartender Tommy Leonard watched Frank Shorter’s 1972 Olympic marathon triumph and imagined a race from a bar called The Captain Kidd in Woods Hole to his place, The Brothers Four in Falmouth Heights …"

We all know the rest as the FRR has gone on to become one of the premier running events in the country each summer. As Sports Illustrated’s Tim Layden succinctly stated when comparing the other big-time events. "None combine the effort of running a challenging course with the joy of spending a summer’s day on the New England coast."

As for the other essentials, if I had my choice, I’d definitely like to check out Bull’s BBQ at Citizens Bank Park in Philly and see some pick-up hoops in NYC’s Rucker Park. I think I’ll also try to hit some batting cages and a round of mini golf. Summer’s the time to do this stuff. Putting on artificial turf isn’t nearly as fun in February.