Summer Stories
A glimpse into Summer Baseball Nation
Celebrating Rich Tradition
On the shores of the Pacific Ocean, in a California paradise, the Santa Barbara Foresters win big every summer. Manager Bill Pintard is believed to be the winningest active coach in summer collegiate baseball.
Capturing the Imagination
They play baseball at midnight in Alaska every summer. It never gets dark. The Goldpanners, summer baseball royalty, are the keepers of the annual game. Put it on your baseball bucket list.
Taking Their Swings
The players make summer baseball nation special. They’re on their way up, working on their games, showing their skills for scouts. The Cape League is the cream of the crop. Future Big League stars dot the diamonds there.
Praise for Summer Baseball Nation
Will Geoghegan’s beautifully-written and richly-detailed Summer Baseball Nation reminds one of why baseball—in its purest and most innocent form–is still the greatest of all sports.”
– Erik Sherman, New York Times Bestselling co-author of After The Miracle: The Everlasting Brotherhood Of The ’69 Mets
If you’ve ever felt like pulling off the road to witness the last stop before WAR and OPS and WHIP overpowers grassroots baseball, this is the book for you. Feel the breeze of a Cape Cod summer and the sound of wood bats hitting baseballs. Love this book.”
– Marty Appel, New York Yankees historian and author of Pinstripe Empire, Casey Stengel and Munson
Press
“The best part of the book is how well Geoghegan captures the mood of the games — part picnic, part big-league preview — but he also tells the story of some of these college stars in the making.”
–Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“With the delay of MLB, curling up with a good book about the good is probably the next best thing.”
-Ian Donnis, Rhode Island Public Radio
“You don’t have to be a baseball fan to like the romance of this book.”
“This is a charming book about a charming element of American life, harking back to the past, and not only because of the composition of the bats.”
-David M. Shribman, Wall Street Journal
“Reading this makes one realize that there is so much more to the game than just the big money and big statistics. This book is baseball at the grass roots and it is so much fun to read that it comes highly recommended for any baseball fan.”
-Lance Smith, The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books
“A perfect pitch, matched by a perfect pace.”
“With great affection, Will Geoghegan’s Summer Baseball Nation chronicles a season in America’s summer collegiate leagues, conjuring a world where young hopefuls play before eager fans in humble settings far removed from major-league deals and endorsements.”
-Newport Life Magazine
“This book truly soars in its depiction of game day atmosphere, which I believe is really what we all probably want the most right now. With this book, it’s almost like you’re at the games”
-Gregory Sullivan, Change Seven Magazine
“The Home Run Derby at the Harbor will always stand as one of the most memorable sporting events in Kenosha history. Now, that sparkling July 2016 evening has been chronicled in a new book.”
Summer Baseball Nation on Let’s Get Two
About the Book
Every night in the summer, roughly 70,000 people watch summer collegiate baseball games. In a world of Big League millionaires, the crack of the bat and the glow of a warm night can feel misplaced, but in summer collegiate leagues – where soon-to-be stars crash in spare bedrooms and play for free on humble diamonds – the poetry of America’s Pastime persists. Baseball careers are nearing a climax. Small towns embrace their leg of the journey, no matter the destination.
In Summer Baseball Nation, with nine days as the stage, Will Geoghegan tells the stories of the summer of 2016. Eighteen of the best college players in the country playing wiffle ball on Cape Cod. The Midnight Sun Game in Alaska. A California legend picking up another win. Home runs flying into Lake Michigan. The namesake of an old minor league club packing the same charming ballpark. At every stop, dreams are chased and moments are savored.