The days are getting longer, the sun is shining brighter and soon, the stands of Spillane Field will be full of baseball fans chomping hot dogs and watching the Wareham Gatemen’s summer season. 

The Gatemen’s opening game will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at home and the team will face the Chatham Anglers. 

This game kicks off nearly nine straight weeks of America’s favorite pastime with games scheduled through the beginning of August. 

The Gatemen is the only off-Cape team in the Cape Cod Baseball League, which each summer attracts many of the top college players from across the country. 

Players from Pennsylvania, Iowa, California, Texas, West Virginia and more have settled with host families in Wareham and surrounding towns. 

“On the field, our players will work with our highly qualified coaching staff which will focus 100 percent of their efforts to develop the skills needed to become a successful professional in the game of wood-bat baseball,” wrote Gatemen President Glen Hannington. 

Off the field, Gatemen players take part in community events where they “gain valuable life experiences that will help shape them into responsible young men,” he added.

These community events take the form of youth baseball clinics, movie nights at Spillane Field, reading programs where Gatemen players visit local libraries to read to children, and more. For a full list of Gatemen events, visit www.capecodleague.com/wareham. 

The Gatemen also have event nights scheduled throughout the summer. 

After all Friday home games, fans will be invited to run the bases. During those games fans can line up behind the third base dugout in the bottom of the ninth inning and follow the directions of Gatemen personnel.

Also, after every Saturday and Sunday home game in July fans can line up behind the first base bleachers after the game to get their baseballs, bats, gloves and more signed by Gatemen players. 

Fans could even end up with autographs from future MLB players like 2021 Wareham Gateman Paul Skenes, a first overall draft pick who has electrified the majors since debuting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in May.