Orleans Firebirds (Cape Cod Baseball League) @ Eldredge Park (Orleans, MA)
The Cape League's oldest field - emphasis on the "field"
SUMMER OF BASEBALL 2023: STOP 18
*For more on the Cape Cod Baseball League, I wrote about it here, and I personally recommend you check it out.
Formerly the Cardinals until the 2010 trademark situation, the Firebirds have been an Orleans staple since 1947. In terms of "winning", they've won eleven league titles, but their last title came when they were still the Cardinals in 2005 (notably, I realized when writing this sentence that none of the teams who changed names in 2010 have won under the new names).
Eldredge Park opened in 1913, which makes it the oldest park on Cape Cod (at least according to Wikipedia). As the team furthest up (or down) Route 6 by exit numbers, this is probably the second furthest team from Boston (as Chatham involves a long drive down local roads; I'm not actually sure which team is a further drive). While I honestly can't say that Eldredge is super "special" as far as Cape League fields go (save for maybe the bandstand which functions as the Firebirds bullpen), there is one thing worth mentioning: if you are able to crush a home run to straightaway center, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE CAPE LEAGUE? At 434 feet from home and at an angle pointed outward, it’s by far one of the furthest distances (if not the singular furthest distance) from home plate in the entire sport! The last time I was here, concessions were similar to Brewster: a small local company (the same one in fact) running out of a tent (of course, given that this is the Cape League, you can DIY “concessions”).
A fair warning if you intend on coming here: if you don’t have a lawn chair but don’t want to sit on the grassy hill down the first base line, your options are a small set of bleachers (which, surprisingly, aren’t reserved for scouts) or the outfield. There are no other options but to stand.
It is due to this that I've heard about the practice of fans placing their chairs LONG before game time (for instance, the Firebirds made the championship series in 2023, but lost to Bourne), but I never brought a lawn chair to any of the Cape League games (as a reminder: I went to SEVERAL of these games on weekdays after work).
MERCH
Merchandise is sold under tents here, making Orleans the only team without a “physical” merchandise building (the press box here is kinda smallish and a bit too close to the field but has indications that it did used to house merchandise). However, I feel like it’s one of the more extensive merch selections on Cape Cod, so that may explain the tents.
While Orleans, like most teams, does not really sell merchandise online (except at special times, and even then it's a bit limited), they USED to have a pretty robust online merchandise presence. In fact, the first jersey I got from the Cape League was a Firebirds jersey I ordered back in 2021; it was made by a manufacturer run by former Firebird and Major Leaguer Marcus Stroman, but was rather small despite being labeled as my size, so I ended up having to get a new one in the bigger size the following year at the park.
ON DECK
The Cape League canceled its 2020 season because of you-know-what. Since it came back, one team has DOMINATED the landscape - and it's one I actually mentioned last year.