Since I first started following Minor League Baseball, there's been this ongoing tension that I've felt at all the games. On the one hand, you're pretty much surrounded by people who are living their dreams. On the other hand, kind of by definition, none of those people is really happy, is really satisfied where they are.

Since I first started following Minor League Baseball, there's been this ongoing tension that I've felt at all the games. On the one hand, you're pretty much surrounded by people who are living their dreams. On the other hand, kind of by definition, none of those people is really happy, is really satisfied where they are.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Double-A baseball team on a year-long do-over. Jonathan McNicol tells the story of the Hartford Yard Goats' second season -- their first season in a new city, their first season in a new ballpark, and their first season playing home games.

The Second First Season

Since I first started following Minor League Baseball, there's been this ongoing tension that I've felt at all the games. On the one hand, you're pretty much surrounded by people who are living their dreams. On the other hand, kind of by definition, none

Episode 6: The Umpires

Note: This episode contains strong language. There are 203 ballparks currently being used by affiliated, professional baseball teams in the United States: 30 in the Major Leagues, 23 spring training facilities used by the big league clubs and their Rookie League affiliates, and 150 Minor League stadiums spread over six levels of baseball. The last three of those 203 parks opened this season: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, the new spring training facility for the Houston Astros and the

Note: This episode contains strong language. There are 203 ballparks currently being used by affiliated, professional baseball teams in the United States: 30 in the Major Leagues, 23 spring training facilities used by the big league clubs and their Rookie League affiliates, and 150 Minor League stadiums spread over six levels of baseball. The last three of those 203 parks opened this season: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, the new spring training facility for the Houston Astros and the

Note: This episode contains strong language. There are 203 ballparks currently being used by affiliated, professional baseball teams in the United States: 30 in the Major Leagues, 23 spring training facilities used by the big league clubs and their Rookie

Episode 8: The Parks

Yard Goats manager Jerry Weinstein is a man of many little self-contradictory terms. Words like "simplexity." Or this one he has for a pitch that could be a strike or a ball: a... "striball." And it's not just these seemingly nonsensical little chestnuts, either. There are deeper contradictions in the manager that is Jerry Weinstein.

Yard Goats manager Jerry Weinstein is a man of many little self-contradictory terms. Words like "simplexity." Or this one he has for a pitch that could be a strike or a ball: a... "striball." And it's not just these seemingly nonsensical little chestnuts, either. There are deeper contradictions in the manager that is Jerry Weinstein.

Yard Goats manager Jerry Weinstein is a man of many little self-contradictory terms. Words like "simplexity." Or this one he has for a pitch that could be a strike or a ball: a... "striball." And it's not just these seemingly nonsensical little chestnuts,

Episode 7: The Manager

The Yard Goats' mascots were first unveiled to the world in October, 2015 , as the last part of a string of branding reveals that included merchandise, logos, logotypes, and uniforms, and that had begun with a Name the Team contest .

The Yard Goats' mascots were first unveiled to the world in October, 2015 , as the last part of a string of branding reveals that included merchandise, logos, logotypes, and uniforms, and that had begun with a Name the Team contest .

Episode 6: The Umpires

The Second First Season

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The Second First Season

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