Veterans Field is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

venue in

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeastern tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by th ...

, home to the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL). The

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

is located in downtown Chatham along

Massachusetts Route 28 Route 28 is a nominally south–north state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, running from the town of Eastham, Massachusetts, Eastham via Boston, Massachusetts, Boston to the New Hampshire state line in Methuen, Massachusetts, M ...

. Nestled within a natural bowl of embankments that provides ample spectator vantage points, Veterans Field has been called a "panorama of beauty," and "a portrait right out of '' Yankee Magazine''." The ballpark features a large adjacent playground, and draws from the bustling foot traffic of nearby Main Street shops. The grassy right field hillside seats fans on blankets and beach chairs, and is topped by the quaint backdrop of the town's fire house and the former rail station that is now the Chatham Railroad Museum. The infield is the location of the Town's first high school, constructed in 1858. With the construction of the consolidated school (now the Community Center) in 1924, the high school was moved the several hundred feet and grafted onto the new building thus clearing the way for Veteran's Field to be built. Surrounded on three sides by the sea, the town's geographic location frequently produces "fog delays" during evening ball games, an oddity that has come to be seen as symbolic of the unique flavor of baseball in Chatham. A charter member of the original four-team Cape Cod Baseball League that began play in 1923, Chatham quickly got to work constructing a field that would host its town baseball team and other town events. In 1925, the plot of land for Veterans Field was acquired, and its name was settled upon "as a memorial to those from Chatham who served in the

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

and all other wars." By the early spring of 1927, final grading of the field was being completed, and that season both the Chatham High School baseball team as well as the Chatham CCBL franchise began play at the park. Various improvements to Veterans Field have taken place since its original construction. A 2008 grant from the Yawkey Foundation provided the impetus for significant upgrades to the lighting and outfield playing surface, as well as the installation of a brick backstop and protective netting. In 1984, Veterans Field hosted a contest between the CCBL all-stars and the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...

, which was touring in preparation for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Veterans Field again hosted a CCBL-Team USA matchup in 2000, as the national team prepared for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

. The 2000 event drew a reported 10,000 fans, the largest crowd to date ever to witness a sporting event on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. The 2001 Hollywood

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

Summer Catch ''Summer Catch'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Tollin and starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel and Matthew Lillard. The film marked Tollin's feature film directorial debut. The setting is the Cape Cod Baseb ...

'' was set in Chatham, and used Veterans Field in its portrayal of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Veterans Field hosted the CCBL's annual

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

festivities in 1964, 1968, 1971, 1998, 2008, and 2016, and has seen Chatham claim CCBL championships in 1967, 1982, 1992, 1996, and 1998. The ballpark has been the summertime home of dozens of future major leaguers such as

Thurman Munson Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Mun ...

Jeff Bagwell Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...

, and

Kris Bryant Kristopher Lee Bryant (born January 4, 1992), nicknamed "KB", is an American professional baseball designated hitter, outfielder, and third baseman for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Chatham Anglers official websiteCape Cod Baseball League official website
Cape Cod Baseball League ballparks Chatham, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Barnstable County, Massachusetts

See also

References

External links