About this time one year ago, my friend Matt (well, in this case, “frienenemy” Matt, more on that later), was building his own custom cornhole boards. Three years earlier, I had done the same thing with my neighbor, now friend Tom, when we both first moved into the neighborhood. Side bar: There is no better way to bond with your new neighbor by building your very own cornhole boards together. The combination of playing with power tools, making supply runs, and celebrating small successes with a cold one was plain old fun. I highly recommend building your own boards if you have the time.
Rustic looking cornhole boards fresh off construction.
Now frenenemy Matt’s architectural plans called for a customized paint job of the logos of his, and his wife Kate’s, college alma maters. Since the boards neighbor Tom and I built took a little longer than we told our better halves to expect, construction was our only goal. A paint job would have to wait – 3 years. While I’ve always wanted to paint the boards, I never gave much thought to settling on a theme, logo and colors. At first, I liked the rustically toned, barren wood look; it kind of fit into our woodsy backyard. It later dawned on me while ‘tossing bags’ in our Chatham front yard, to make the theme of the boards the one and only Chatham A’s of the Cape Cod Baseball League. That was one year ago.
Not only was paintings the boards after the Chatham A’s fitting for where they are used most, but due to the uniqueness of appreciation for the Cape League, these boards may literally be one of a kind. Although, Cape League Cornhole Boards were announced for sale earlier this spring on Twitter, so mass production of individual team themed cornhole boards could be coming. But that’s not the point. I made these boards with my own hands, and hands of my wife (ellen) neighbor friend (tom), and frienenemy (matt) – he’s an Orleans Firebirds fan, ugh — and have many humorous stories to tell of each step in the project.
My summer hero, A’s Mike Daniels, 1989 season.
My appreciation for the Cape Cod Baseball League stems from the 1980s while attending one of their week-long youth baseball clinics. The clinics are half-day camp for the 8-14 year old avid baseball players, whose parents needed a deserved break. I loved every moment of that week. I didn’t mind getting up early or running in the heat because the coaches are all current Chatham A’s players. Big Brothers. Heroes. And remember, 1 in every 6 Cape league players gets called up to the show so getting coached by future major leaguers is pretty cool. My dad even bought a dozen donuts for the coaches the last day of the clinic to show his appreciation for returning a happy (i.e., tired) child.
To this day, one of my favorite memories was the conditioning drill at the end of the day where the group is divided evenly; one group on home plate as the “batter,” the other group on second base, as the “baserunner.” On the whistle, the first batter ran down the line, rounded first and ran into second base mimicking hitting a double; while the baserunner did the opposite; ran to third, then to home plate mimicking scoring from second base. Once the runner touches the base/plate, the next person in their line repeats the play until everyone in line is on the opposite side of the infield. It’s race – and I was the anchor in the second base group. When my turn came, our team was a good 2-3 seconds off the pace, and somehow, I dug deep (likely to impress the future stars of Major League Baseball-MLB) and made up the time just to cross the plate before my opponent reached second! My teammates and coaches screamed and cheered, the latter excited likely due to $20 and a case of beer on the line for the winning team. We won. As an eight-year old kid, getting high fives from my teammates, many older than me, and Cape League player-coaches was the best reward. My loyalty and pride for the Chatham A’s is still strong after all these years.
The Cape Cod teams are run by volunteers – amazing when you think about how polished the product. Since games are free to attend, teams rely heavily on donations from fans, merchandise sales as well as a $100,000 grant from MLB. Hold that thought as we bounce back to my cornhole boards…
The big decision that faced me was which logos to paint on the boards. For a quick trip down memory lane, over half of the ten team league used to be or is named after a major league franchise (though in some cases, the Cape team name predated the MLB team name). Why does this matter? Because MLB trademarked the names first. In 2008, MLB decided to enforce their trademark law, preventing Cape teams from using certain vendors for their merchandise sales (merchandise sales count for about 1/3 of their revenue), essentially forcing Cape Cod teams to choose between maintaining a link with the major leagues and remaining true to their hometown heritage.
Current Chatham A’s logo.
Three of the six teams caved to the pressure from MLB, including Chatham (formerly A’s, now Anglers), Hyannis (formerly Mets, now Harbor Hawks), and Orleans (formerly Cardinals, now Firebirds). In Chatham’s case, team officials smartly chose “Anglers”, a name with a strong cultural reference to the town’s maritime history and current industry, plus the name starting with the letter “A” provided clever branding similar to how their old “A’s” logo was used. Three other teams, Bourne Braves, Harwich Mariners, and Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox kept their hometown heritage but could not use the full team name in any merchandise sales. Their uniforms/t-shirts could only read “Harwich” or “Mariners,” but cannot be used together. All Cape teams have come to terms with MLB with their logos and names, but must pay a royalty fee on all merchandise sold. That’s right folks, MLB squeezing dollars from an all volunteer organizations! I doubt this is a surprise to anyone, but certainly a good example of what is wrong with professional sports and how the Cape league provides a solid alternative.
Limited edition “lost” Chatham A’s logo, circa mid-90s.
At this point, you may be asking what’s with all the history and background? Because I used a lost Chatham A’s logo for one of the boards. So perhaps the boards will subtly point out or lead to a conversation of the ridiculous MLB trademark issue while providing a fun outdoor activity. Now that I think about it, because of the trademark issue, individual Cape Cod team cornhole boards are probably not likely.
The lost Chatham logo chosen was actually a special edition logo that featured a circus-elephant holding a baseball bat, with the original “A’s” logo on a banner resting on its back. I have no idea who came up with the concept, or what it has to do with Chatham, but solving the mystery is on my summer to do list. Someone at Veteran’s Field knows the answer. The practical challenge of painting this logo on one of the two boards was that there was no clear copy of the image on the internet. I only had my cherished cap (signed by unknown players under the brim). I finally stumbled upon a blurry green version of the logo online. But that was it.
Blurry A’s logo used for tracing.
Frenemy Matt enlarged the blurry green logo by using a projector to then trace the image onto the primed board. The same process was used for the painting of the second board, the current logo. The time-lapse series of photos shows below how long and who helped make these boards. I thank Ellen, Matt and Tom for their proficiency with power tools, projectors and paintbrushes. I remain beyond happy with the finished product. The cornhole boards are now ready for prime time at Veteran’s Field for the 2018 season – and will make their game day debut on Saturday, June 16.
Following a final coat of sealer, I posted a picture of the final product on Twitter and tagged many associated with the team – Chatham Anglers media, broadcasters Cooper Boardman and Josh Schaefer and beat writer Peter Warren inviting them for a pre-game toss. While I watch most games from our spot along the bank behind center field in camping chairs, I am open to re-locating to the dugout level with the boards to make it part of the fan activities. Maybe start a fun competition in between innings for a chance to win that MLB licensed team apparrel!
The vintage and current A’s logo cornhole boards. See you in Center field.
