Hometown Hardball: A Minor League Baseball Road Trip from the Rocky Shores of Maine to the Bright Lights of New York City

by Tim Healey

Grab a Zweigle's White Hot at Dwyer Stadium (built in 1939) and cheer on the Batavia Muckdogs. Join C.T. the Tiger as he warms up the crowd at Norwich's Dodd Stadium. Take in the view of Coney Island from the upper deck of MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. Watch from a box seat in Pawtucket as top Red Sox prospects try to make it to the bigs. . . . It's all part of minor league baseball in the Northeast.

This book conveys the essence of the sport--from the sublime (summer nights under the lights cheering for a hometown team) to the ridiculous (racing bagels, cowboy monkeys, garish "alternate" uniforms––by visiting 27 minor league ballparks through the Northeast. It offers both a visitor's guide and an appealing narrative, covering the particulars of each venue--who plays there and when, how to get there, where to sit and what to eat––and describing what makes each park, and each team and town, special.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2017

Reviews

[Jason Hallmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic overview of the minor league stadiums in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New England states. I have visited a few and was pleased with how the author pointed out many of the things I enjoyed when I was there. I also plan to visit a few this year, and it was very nice to get some tips on things like parking, and concessions. I would like to see a book like this produced for other regions of the country.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this road trip through all of the Minor League ballparks of the Northeast - pictures, city fun facts, ballpark foods etc. (Unfortunately, it's quickly becoming outdated from the PawSox-->WooSox move to some AA teams getting demoted - but that's not the author's fault)