Cape League: A Top Hat For Top Offense In Harwich; Whitecaps Book To Be Presented In Cooperstown

HARWICH – On his 22nd birthday two weeks ago, Harwich Mariners outfielder Ryan Gerety (Northeastern) bought himself and his teammates a gift.

Gerety — a Franklin native back in Harwich for a second summer — was with a group scavenging for snacks at a CVS on June 17 when he saw it, a foam top hat emblazoned with a 2026 World Cup logo. The hat’s blue and red colors resembled the hues of the Mariners. 

A few Harwich stickers slapped onto the front masked the soccer symbol and they had themselves a home run celebration prop.

“I knew we had some guys that kind of put the ball out of the yard, so might as well just have some fun with it,” Gerety said.

The Mariners quickly became familiar with the foamy stovepipe. The very next day, catcher Trent Grindlinger (Tennessee) hit a grand slam. As he did a post-game interview with team reporter Lily Reisenweber, Harwich relief arm Adam Arther (Kansas State) came over and  stuffed the hat over Grindlinger’s cap.

The lid is a Cape League localization of a recent trend seen in the pros, which has especially taken off in the last few years, of teams embracing home run celebration props (the Boston Red Sox wear a Wally the Green Monster headpiece, for example).

“We were thinking about maybe getting like a hockey helmet or a football helmet and we found that, and that's been what we're rolling with,” outfielder Colin Larson (Boston College) said.

During games at Whitehouse Field, the hat rests near the Mariners’ dugout, waiting to be bestowed upon the deserving dome of a home run hitter returning from his round trip. But the item finds its way into other situations too, like when Gerety donned his creation, storming the field in celebration, after Harwich walked off Orleans on June 19.

In fact, since the week Gerety introduced the hat to the Harwich universe, the Mariners lead all Cape League teams in slugging (.379) and on-base plus slugging (.752), as well as doubles (20), steals (40) and total bases (135). No matter how skeptical Gerety’s teammates may have been at the outset, the results would make anyone a believer.

“They were kind of like ‘What is this?’ at first, but then I think as some dudes started hitting some home runs, they started to find some joy in it, and I mean they like it, so it's awesome,” Gerety said.

The story of the Brewster Whitecaps will be headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame later this summer.

“Cape Dreams: A Season with the Brewster Whitecaps” by Mark “Pathfinder” Epstein was selected for the Hall of Fame’s 2026 Author Series, wherein baseball bookwriters present and discuss their works at the Cooperstown, N.Y. institution.

“There is no greater honor for a baseball story,” Epstein said. “There is none.”

Published in 2025, “Cape Dreams” chronicles the Whitecaps’ 2024 season. Epstein said the book, his third, “represents a lot of people over a lot of years.”

“It’s not my book,” he said. “It represents Cape Cod. It represents the Cape Cod Baseball League. It represents the Brewster Whitecaps. It represents the town of Brewster.”

Epstein said he’s “forever grateful” to Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik, general manager Jon Mecca, assistant general manager and housing director Jane Sullivan, and league president Andrew Lang.

But most significantly, the group of people integral to the creation of “Cape Dreams” included Whitecaps president Luke Dillon, who died in January at the age of 73. Epstein and Dillon had known each other since they were kids playing basketball in Worcester. The book wouldn’t have happened without Dillon, according to Epstein, who said he owed Dillon and his wife Karen “a debt of gratitude.”

An updated edition of the book with a tribute to Dillon has since been released.

“Luke A. Dillon III will always remain ‘Cape Dreams,’” Epstein said.

In the lead-up to the event at the Hall of Fame, Epstein will be signing copies of both “Cape Dreams” and “Cape Cod Baseball League: From College Stars to Big League Futures,” edited by Mike Richard and Bill Nowlin (which includes an essay on Shevchik penned by Epstein) at various locations on Cape.

That circuit begins at Stony Brook Field at 4:30 p.m. during the Whitecaps game on July 3, of which all proceeds will be donated in memory of Dillon, according to Epstein. 

The signings continue July 5 at Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham at 10:30 a.m., July 7 during the Chatham Anglers game at 7 p.m., July 8 at Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster at 11 a.m., July 9 at The Brewster Store at 11 a.m., July 10 at Barnes & Noble in Hyannis, and July 11 back at Yellow Umbrella Books at 10:30 a.m.

The program at the Hall of Fame is Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. Epstein also thanked his wife Barbara for her support.

“Did I think this was ever going to happen in my life, and now?” Epstein said. “Hey, maybe this was my dream.”