Great article about small town baseball

I grew up just south of here. Baseball the way it should be.


http://espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/020812.html


DD

Great article. How can anyone not love baseball, especially smalltown baseball and all ages. My nephew (age 5) is the batboy for my sons' 18 & Under team and after his first night in that "job" he said, "This is the best day of my whole life."

Desertdog, you said it right: "Baseball the way it should be."
When my kids were small (late 80's to early 90's) we spent many summer weekends in the Berkshires. In Pittsfield, MA there is WAHCONAH PARK, a 3000 seat ballpark which was home to the triple-A PITTSFIELD METS for many years. The park is almost 100 years old, and has a fascinating history, full of politics and greed, which Jim Bouton tells quite well in his book BALL FOUR.
The park was a great place to see a real ball game. The crowd and the players were mostly local. The top ticket was $4.25, if I remember right. Fourth of July fireworks were always a good show and much appreciated (Happy 4th, everyone!).
My favorite memory is going to get some hot dogs, and coming back to hear my 5-year old son telling the somewhat inebriated teens sitting next to us that the count was actually 2 and 2, not 3 and 2. Any night there was a warm and happy expression of many of the things we love about this country. Maybe that sounds sentimental, but it was a rare and special place, without all the show biz & money BS that goes with the major leagues today.

Thanks for the link,DD. Great article.

That really was a nice article. Thanks for posting desertdog. I always enjoy Jim Caple's writing and I missed that the first time around.