{"product_id":"homestand-small-town-baseball-and-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-america-9780385549653","title":"Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America","description":"\u003cb\u003eA poignant memoir exploring small town baseball as a lens into what's right and wrong with modern America--written by an acclaimed journalist and Army Ranger who, after returning from Iraq to a painfully divided country, rediscovered its core values in the bleachers of a minor league ballpark in Batavia, New York. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Bardenwerper finds hope in the people and community around a former minor league baseball team.\"\u003ci\u003e--Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Will reveal more about the prospects for America than 100 news stories about politics, and will be a lot more fun.\"--James Fallows, bestselling co-author of \u003ci\u003eOur Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat happens when a minor league team--the heart and soul of a Rust Belt town in western New York--is shut down by the billionaires who run Major League Baseball? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBatavia, New York--between Rochester and Buffalo--hosted its first professional baseball game in 1897. Despite decades of deindustrialization and evaporating middle-class jobs, the Batavia Muckdogs endured. When Major League Baseball cravenly shut them down in 2020--along with forty-one other minor league teams--the town fought back, reviving the Muckdogs as a summer league team comprised of college players. As MLB considers further cuts and private equity buys up what remains, the mom-and-pop operations once prevalent in baseball are endangered. But for now, the sights and sounds of local baseball live on in Batavia--cheap draft beer and hot dogs, starry-eyed kids seeking autographs, and breathtaking summer sunsets. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith a vibrant, unforgettable cast of characters--from a librarian and her best friend whose relationship deepens with every \"crepuscular hour\" they spend together in the bleachers, to the former hockey brawler-turned team owner who greets regulars while working the concession stand, to the iconoclastic writer with a contagious love for his struggling hometown--Bardenwerper's \u003ci\u003eHomestand\u003c\/i\u003e exposes the beating heart of small town America, friends and neighbors coming together as the crack of the bat echoes in the summer twilight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Will Bardenwerper\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Doubleday Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.20w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385549653","brand":"Ripon Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44151111843885,"sku":"9780385549653","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0681\/0501\/1245\/files\/img_9969d2ce-732c-4e82-8e8d-272ac793c55f.jpg?v=1757342818","url":"https:\/\/riponbookstore.com\/products\/homestand-small-town-baseball-and-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-america-9780385549653","provider":"Ripon Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}