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Slate: What Seth Stevenson learned at the Wendelstedt School for Umpires.

Slate: What Seth Stevenson learned at the Wendelstedt School for Umpires. Long ago, between college and fatherhood, I was obsessed with minor-league baseball and historic ballparks, seeing games in Bradenton and Durham, Dunedin and Melbourne, Little Rock and St. Catherines,...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 18, 2016 7:56 AM

Why Children Are Abandoning Baseball - WSJ

Why Children Are Abandoning Baseball - WSJ As American grownups continue to find ways to wreck childhood fun.... "Other popular sports, including soccer and basketball, have suffered as youth sports participation in general has declined and become more specialized. A...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 28, 2015 5:24 PM

Field of Schemes: Winston-Salem: Okay, that stadium didn't work out so well

Field of Schemes: Winston-Salem: Okay, that stadium didn't work out so well Public-private ballpark partnership turns into a totally public $48.7 million burden on the taxpayers, on the heels the failure of a 2004 $250 million Dell Computer subsidy --...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 12, 2009 6:00 PM

Field of Schemes: An anniversary few noticed: 100 years & Forbes Field

Field of Schemes: An anniversary few noticed: 100 years & Forbes Field "Now remembered as a small intimate ballpark that has long since been demolished, at the time Forbes Field was the most massive monument to professional sports ever built....

Posted by Michael Bates on July 3, 2009 10:46 PM

'You could call it in Braille' | Dodger Thoughts | Los Angeles Times

'You could call it in Braille' | Dodger Thoughts | Los Angeles Times Confirms ump suspicions. (Via Dustbury.)...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 19, 2009 8:20 PM

The Judge Report - A Summer Night

The Judge Report - A Summer Night A College League baseball game in a restored 1920s ballpark in New York's Mohawk Valley: "Games, food, silliness, mascot, prizes, color, lights, cheers, jeers. It's everything that home town baseball should be, and...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 3, 2008 11:52 AM