Pranav Chugh: Finding my place in the game: A season in the Cape Cod League

I have been a SABR member since 2023, and I was an official scorer and datacaster in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the 2025 season through Major League Baseball’s data operations department. In this position, I was tasked with making real-time scoring decisions and manually uploading pitch and play information while serving as one of MLB’s representatives at the ballpark.

As an aspiring baseball operations employee, I was well aware of the Cape Cod Baseball League and always wanted to be involved in an association with such a storied history and pedigree of producing elite future major-league talent. Earlier that year, I had graduated from Northeastern University’s Master of Sports Leadership program and began working at Fenway Park in two different roles. In March 2024 I started my first job in baseball as a tour guide at the ballpark, spending two seasons in that role, and also began as a tracking operator for major-league baseball during Red Sox home games in 2025. Although my career in this industry was progressing, I knew I would benefit greatly from an opportunity in the Cape League.

Upon being hired to join MLB’s scoring cohort, I began training in the months preceding the season to be fully prepared to work independently on the Cape, as I would be entrusted to cover all aspects of the game with only remote support channels. I would log every event that happened during the game from the press box, which facilitated the accurate collection of data for future reference and allowed fans to follow along virtually.

I went on to work in this role from June to August, balancing shifts around my responsibilities at Fenway Park while commuting regularly from Boston. By season’s end, I completed 17 games at nine different ballparks while witnessing some of the best amateur talent the country had to offer, ranging from game-saving diving catches in Bourne to monstrous home runs that disappeared into the trees beyond the fence in Harwich.

My experience in the Cape Cod Baseball League was exactly as advertised – a family-friendly and charming affair that allowed me to grow as a baseball professional. Through this position, I was able to demonstrate my professionalism, attention to detail, and commitment to a career in this industry while attending games and interacting with myriad fun and interesting people. I learned extensively about the history of the league and how it currently operates, as I never thought that the community would be so tied to their teams. Each organization had volunteers staffing games, hosting players, and creating a warm environment for fans and team staff alike.

A great example of this level of camaraderie was during my only game in Orleans, where the Firebirds faced the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox on a gorgeous Friday evening in July. I distinctly remember my introduction to Eldredge Park: a warm greeting from a man in an inflated bird suit, who it turns out is completely unaffiliated with the organization and is simply a massive fan of the team. In the press box during the game, I spoke with a middle-aged man who had spent most of his life in Orleans and donated his summers to supporting the Firebirds. He went out of his way to inquire about my background and future career and even offered some great suggestions for things to do in the area. In between innings, he would train college interns on how to deliver PA addresses and motivated them when they felt discouraged. He, like so many volunteers, had such a strong connection to their town and its team that they happily worked nights and weekends to make the organization better.

Beyond his personal contributions, the organization cultivated the community through a vibrant rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch, where they invited all children in attendance to come to the press box and sing. I would estimate that 50 to 60 kids swarmed the overmatched teenage volunteer at the microphone and sang their hearts out, to the delight of all of their families. This energy was not confined to Orleans, as many other teams in the league had great initiatives to boost crowd support, but I will always remember the wire-to-wire excitement I witnessed that night. The Cape Cod Baseball League also transported me back to a simpler time for baseball. I saw a game end in a tie due to darkness in Yarmouth, a game called early because of fog in Chatham, and a 10-minute delay in Wareham when a foul ball shattered a field light. These situations are uncommon in professional baseball but underscored the uniqueness and idiosyncratic joy that can only be found at Cape Cod.

On top of fulfilling my in-game responsibilities for MLB, I also used this position as an opportunity to travel around the Cape and turned many of those trips into minivacations. Prior to the evening games, I visited scenic beaches, tasted local delicacies, and experienced nature through day hikes and outdoor museums. Additionally, rather than conducting a three-hour-plus round trip each day from Boston, I camped in a tent at Nickerson State Park in Brewster when I was working multiple days in a row. Even when I had to embark on that drive, I would use that time to enhance my baseball acumen by listening to audiobooks like The MVP Machine and Thinking, Fast and Slow in anticipation of hopefully working for a major-league front office in the near future. This experience taught me about adaptability and enjoying the moment, which is what I believe baseball is all about.

Once I felt more confident about my baseball operations skills at the conclusion of the Cape Cod season, I began applying to a wide range of positions with major-league teams in the hopes of joining one of their front offices. With this new addition to my résumé, I quickly realized I was now a more competitive candidate in this hiring cycle compared with years prior. I strongly believe that, in addition to my SABR involvement and completion of the SABR Analytics Certification Courses, working in the Cape League was essential to advancing my career.

Near the end of 2025, I was hired as a player development assistant for one of the major-league teams, which is an incredible opportunity to utilize the skills I learned in Cape Cod and pursue my goals in the sport.

The Cape Cod Baseball League was a transformative experience for my personal and professional growth, and I would not be in the position I am now without it. I truly believe every baseball fan should experience a Cape League game at least once, and anyone aspiring to work in baseball can gain real perspective, valuable skills, and a deeper love for the game by spending even one summer there.

PRANAV CHUGH is a former elementary-school educator and blackjack dealer turned baseball professional from southern New Jersey. A graduate of the University of Miami and Northeastern University, Pranav is now a player development assistant for a major-league team after two years working as a tour guide and MLB tracking operator at Fenway Park. He attended the SABR Analytics Conference through MLB’s in-person sponsorship last March and was selected for other MLB events like Take the Field, Advancing Bases, and the Scout Development Program. Outside of baseball, Pranav is a marathon runner, Sopranos fanatic, and passionate supporter of the Philadelphia Eagles.