Backroads and Ballplayers: A Collection of Stories about Famous (and Not So Famous) Professional Baseball Players from Rural Arkansas

by Jim Yeager

Arkansas’ Fields of Dreams...

Travel down almost any backroad in Arkansas and you will pass a relic of Arkansas’ baseball history. The dilapidated back stops and the remains of long-neglected dugouts are a disappearing visual image of a rural sports history long forgotten.

In the first half of the 20th century, baseball was the chosen sport of farmers, coal miners, timber cutters, and even sharecroppers. No educational affiliation was required, and elementary school drop-outs were welcome. If someone could buy a ball, or even make one, and procure a bat or two, the game was on. The three acres or so needed to play were readily available, as was the creek for the after-game bath.

These are rural Arkansas’ Fields of Dreams. Stop the car, get out, and walk out to the forgotten ball field. Sit in the rickety dugout and look out at the field. See the game? The players of your imagination are an important part of our heritage. This book is an attempt to keep the stories of these rural baseball players alive.

316 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2018

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As one who enjoys baseball and has Arkansas roots, I found this interesting, if a bit disorganized. It's a book I started, left, and came back to several times before I finished it. I learned a lot that I never knew about a few players I knew of, and many more I didn't.

Jim Yeager compiled this volume from a collection of newspaper stories written by himself and others over a period of years, with the addition of a small amount of new material, and it appears to be exactly that. The flow is not always smooth, the organization is sometimes a bit jarring, as the stories don't always follow an obvious progression by time or topic.

For the ardent baseball fan, or for one who has Arkansas connections as well as a moderate interest in baseball, this book is worth the time.

[Mark Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book sitting on a shelf for over a year. I had been slacking on my reading and finally pulled this one off the shelf and was disappointed with myself. I was disappointed that I didn't read this book sooner. The book is full of stories about mostly unknown professional baseball players from Arkansas along with stories of other notable players like Dizzy Dean and Johnny Sain. Their stories range from improbable chances to unfortunate twists of fate. Great job of research by Jim Yeager and fellow Arkansas SABR members. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Melsene G · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a serious baseball fan, you will enjoy this book. It is filled tons of stats and players you never heard of from Arkansas. To name a few players, Dizzy and Daffy Dean start off the book. I enjoyed the chapter of "A Cup of Coffee" where players had a quick appearance in the major leagues. Teams back in the day went to Hot Springs, AK for spring training so the area still holds its importance to baseball.

[Bliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Arkansas Baseball Book

I enjoyed reading about Arkansas baseball players. I wish my father was still alive to tell baseball stories. I remember Paul Dean visiting relatives in Clarksville when I was in high school.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for baseball fans, particularly those who like baseball history.