HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

*

What: “Touching the Game: The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League” DVD.

Producers: Fields of Vision and Eye Candy Cinema.

Price: $19.95 at www.touchingthegame.com.

Thurman Munson earned his chops there. So did Nomar Garciaparra, Todd Helton, Barry Zito, Lance Berkman, Darin Erstad and Adam Kennedy, among nearly 200 current major leaguers. One summer, Mo Vaughn, Frank Thomas, Tim Salmon, Jeff Bagwell, J.T. Snow and Denny Neagle played there.

It’s the Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts, a proving ground for top collegiate players, most of whom are using wood bats for the first time. For the hitters, it’s a huge adjustment -- only seven players batted .300 or better in 2003.

The league also is a community event for seven weeks each summer. It’s a $2-million nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers, from the league president to the groundskeepers to the public-address announcers to the cashiers at the snack tent. Families house the players, and the players work during the day as store clerks, dishwashers and painters.

“Touching the Game” -- written, directed and produced by Jim Carroll -- is a loving look at the Cape Cod League that follows the fortunes of two teammates from George Mason University, Jeff Palumbo and Matt Cooksey, who played for opposing teams during the 2003 season. The film, narrated by Boston Herald sports columnist Steve Buckley, tells the history of the league and the story of the season through interviews with players, coaches, big league alumni, families and volunteers.

There’s a lot of ground to cover, perhaps too much. A poignant segment about Arnie Allen -- longtime equipment manager for Falmouth -- his battle with cancer and his relationships with Angel players Erstad and Kennedy, seems very rushed, starting and ending abruptly. And, at 1 hour 45 minutes, the film feels too long.

Still, “Touching the Game” succeeds in conveying the strong emotional connection between the players and the community and the genuine affection everyone involved has for the Cape Cod League -- and baseball.

-- Alex Kimball