A behind-the-scenes look at the Brewster Whitecaps’ 2024 campaign will be on bookshelves by next spring, featuring nearly 200 interviews with players, coaches, scouts and others around the organization.
The book, “Cape Dreams: A Season with the Brewster Whitecaps,” is being written by Mark “Pathfinder” Epstein, who has authored two other nonfiction titles: a biography of central Massachusetts basketball legend Jack Foley and a memoir called “They Call me Pathfinder.”
Epstein pitched the idea for his book to several teams in the Cape League, but he found a match in Brewster after connecting with manager Jamie Shevchik, whose “genuine and magnetic personality” made the Whitecaps his choice of subject.
“I have a vision, he had a vision, and it was unreal after talking to him three or four times, our visions matched up perfectly,” Epstein said.
That vision, Epstein said, is to give the CCBL and Whitecaps organization the national exposure they deserve. Although the Cape Cod Baseball League is widely renowned in baseball circles for its player development and scenic backdrop, a book has not been written about the league since Jim Collins' “The Last Best League,” which came out in 2002.
The book will follow the Whitecaps throughout their season, but also chronicle “the underlying stories that make Cape Cod baseball so magical,” as Epstein put it.
Shevchik made a point of giving Epstein full access to the dugout and team meetings, ensuring the author’s ability to tell the story as best as it can be told.
"He’s doing his due diligence and putting his work in,” Shevchik said. “Any time the Brewster Whitecaps get recognition, it’s a great thing.”
Epstein, a retired guidance counselor who grew up in Worcester, has been attending Cape Cod Baseball League games for over 50 years. And even after he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, he would plan his summer vacations around the Falmouth Commodores' schedule.
He called the opportunity to write the book “one of the great honors of my life.”
“I know this league means an awful lot to a lot of people,” Epstein added. “This team means a lot to people in Brewster, and I’m going to do everything in my power to represent them the way they deserve to be.”
