In 1993 successful psychologist and journalist Hank Davis undertook an epic journey exploring the atmosphere and culture of both minor league baseball and the small towns that embrace it. Davis shows us the warmth, quirkiness, and desperate energy of minor league ball, from encounters with future stars to those who would never make it to the “show”; from the kids selling Cracker Jacks outside the park to the aging coaches who persevere out of sheer love for the game. As Davis says, “the minor leagues are full of stories,” and he tells some of the best of them here. A new afterword by the author dis-cusses where the minor league players are now.
Author Bio
Hank Davis is a professor of psychology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
Praise
“Davis has written a remarkable chronicle of life in the minor leagues, a lighthearted, bittersweet paean to the purest form of the national pastime.”—New York Times Book Review
“Small-Town Heroes is a winding, pleasant journey through the minor league ballparks of North America. Davis’ vehicle is baseball, but his destination is an America that many might believe was lost forever.”—Miles Wolff, president of Baseball America
“A must-read for any baseball-lover. Small-Town Heroes is the Ball Four of minor league baseball books.”—Curt Schilling, pitcher
“Small-Town Heroes is the best baseball book I’ve read since The Boys of Summer.”—Al Kern, National Public Radio
“The essence of the book . . . is the people, and Davis portrays them with understanding and compassion but without sentimentalizing them.”—Publishers Weekly
