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Mark "Pathfinder" Epstein Talks Cape Dreams to Launch 2025 Great Polar Park Writers Series

June 24, 2025 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


After attracting multiple standing-room crowds last year, the 2025 season of the Great Polar Park Writers Series began on Saturday, May 24. Mark "Pathfinder" Epstein, a Worcester native and award-winning author, spoke about his love for baseball and his newest book, Cape Dreams: A Season with the Brewster Whitecaps.

"I spent a lot of time thinking about what my third book was going to be, and I decided I wanted to go with a Cape Cod Baseball story," Epstein said. "I had spent so many summers on the Cape that I basically grew up there and took my daughters there as they got older."

Founded in 1923, the Cape Cod Baseball League, or the "Cape League" for short, is considered the best collegiate summer baseball league in the country. Athletes from across the country are recruited to play for the 10 teams located across the Cape: the Brewster Whitecaps, Bourne Braves, Chatham Anglers, Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Orleans Firebirds, Wareham Gatemen, or Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. The teams go head-to-head in a 40-game summer schedule and a winner-take-all postseason.

In Cape Dreams, Epstein chronicled the 2024 season of the Whitecaps by spending nine weeks with the team and conducting more than 300 interviews with players, coaches, host families, and alumni.

"I went back to my roots, and it was the summers on Cape Cod," Epstein said. "I got involved with the Brewster Whitecaps, and it was a match made in Heaven."

The countless interviews in Cape Dreams include that of the Rome family, who hosted Yankees right-fielder Aaron Judge when he played for Brewster.

"I've always been proud of him, not just because of what he became, but more importantly, who he has become and how he represents himself and his family," Laurie Rome, Judge's host mother, said in the book.

Countless Red Sox legends have also donned the rosters of Cape League teams, such as Jackie Bradley, Jr. (Hyannis), Jacoby Ellsbury (Falmouth), Nomar Garciaparra (Orleans), Chris Sale (Yarmouth-Dennis), Jared Saltalamacchia (Bourne), Jason Varitek (Hyannis), and Kevin Youkilis (Bourne). After retiring, Saltalamacchia returned to the Cape League as a coach, first with Bourne and now with Falmouth.

Among those in attendance at Saturday's event was legendary pitcher Paul Mitchell, who played for the Commodores from 1969 to 1971.

Mitchell recounted an experience from his childhood when his father took him to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park.

"I was so awestruck by the whole environment," Mitchell said. "I turned to my father and said, 'Dad, I know what I want to do when I grow up. I'm going to be out here someday.'"

Mitchell was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the 1971 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. After playing much of the 1972-74 seasons with minor league affiliates of the O's, Mitchell made his MLB debut on July 1, 1975, at Fenway Park, as the Orioles took on the Boston Red Sox. The O's beat the Sox 10-6 that day, and Mitchell pitched for 3.1 innings.

Toward the beginning of Saturday's event, former Holy Cross Women's Basketball Coach Bill Gibbons read a heartfelt note from Jim McCaffrey, a Holy Cross Basketball All-American, who was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 1992.

"What a fantastically authentic book about hopes, dreams, camaraderie, and community, all told through the metaphor of a summer of baseball on Cape Cod," McCaffrey's note read. "Pathfinder has captured the essence of what is important in life and sports."

Among those important things, according to McCaffrey, include being a great teammate, and "building a culture that doesn't necessarily revolve around results, but rather, the journey of young men with the highest aspirations, coming of age in a place that has stood the test of time."

Epstein recounted a story from 1974, when his father, Charlie Epstein, took him to the Worcester Public Library. There, his father and his friends were having an informal conversation about the steps it would take for the Pawtucket Red Sox to relocate to Worcester. While it was a far-fetched dream at the time, it is now a reality more than 50 years later, with Charlie's son headlining an event at the very ballpark he dreamed of bringing to the city where he owned a business for decades.

"Being here today, thinking about that meeting, he would be ecstatic," Epstein said.

Epstein is the author of two other books. His memoir, They Call Me Pathfinder: Education-Basketball-Equity*,* was published in 2020. His second book, Jack "The Shot" Foley: A Legend for All Time, was honored in 2023 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, MA. Cape Dreams was adopted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Cooperstown earlier this year on February 5, 2025.

While Epstein's latest book focuses on the Cape League, he credited the Worcester community for getting him to where he is today.

"This is family. This is home. This is everything to me," Epstein said. "I never let go of my [Worcester] roots. They're real strong [and] they're deep."

In the words of McCaffrey, "Pathfinder has walked in the shoes of our less fortunate brothers and sisters, and the world is a better place because of him."

The Great Polar Park Writers Series will return on Saturday, June 21, as Boston Red Sox Senior Director of Player Development Brian Abraham and legendary sports reporter Bill Ballou give their insights into the 2025 season. Luncheons are free for WooSox Season Ticket Members and for fans who purchase tickets to that day's ballgame. Tickets start at just $5 when purchased in advance at the box office and just $7.50 ($2.50 convenience fee) when purchased in advance at woosox.com.

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