In my business and personal travels over the past several decades, I have sought out baseball experiences both past and present in the city or town I am traveling to. Many of the cities I have visited have a major professional sports team, for example the Boston Red Sox. Many have an active and thriving major professional sports team affiliate, for example the Somerset (NJ) Patriots (NYY AA Affiliate). There are some rare occasions where a city or town I am visiting has never been home to a professional sports team, so their local university or college team would serve as their main sports team. And unfortunately, there are a handful of cities and towns that had a major professional team or thriving affiliate at one point but no longer do, for example the Lowell Spinners (Red Sox Single A). As an outsider researching baseball in these cities and towns, I am merely scratching the surface of the emotions of the communities directly involved in their sports teams. And this is why I picked up and read and want to share a special book with you about baseball, community, the business of sports, small town life, loss, and revival.

“Homestand, Small Town Baseball and The Fight For The Soul of America,” is written by gifted author Will Bardenwerper. Bardenwerper is a baseball fan, a United States Veteran, a family man, a beer and hot dog kind of guy, and skilled communicator of experiences both positive and negative. When I picked up the book, I was immediately drawn to its subject matter on several fronts. First, I have been to the stadium in the book, Dwyer Stadium and am familiar with the Batavia Muckdogs and their history having attended a summer collegiate game there in 2024. Second, I am a huge fan of minor league, amateur league, summer collegiate league baseball and often seek out these leagues over the top dog, Major League Baseball. And last, I write about the experiences of baseball and tend to focus less on scores and statistics and more on the interesting happenings at a game that don’t show up in any box score. So, I was over the top excited to get into “Homestand” and read about the Batavia Muckdogs, Dwyer Stadium, the city of Batavia and its community members, and Bardenwerper’s writings on the fight for the soul of America.

I mentioned the Lowell Spinners in my opening paragraph. The Lowell Spinners, like the Batavia Muckdogs, were a Minor League Baseball Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for several decades before being contracted by Major League Baseball after the 2020 season. Contracted in this context means that the Spinners, Muckdogs and 38 other affiliated teams were reassigned to summer collegiate leagues, MLB draft leagues, or simply and bluntly put – shut down. The Spinners, like the Muckdogs in Western New York, are now a summer collegiate league destination for baseball fans in Northern Massachusetts and are set to debut in 2026 in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. The Batavia Muckdogs play in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. So, therein lies a potential dilemma for fans. “We used to have minor league ball players play in our home stadium and now we are going to have ‘college’ players? How does that translate?” Allow Bardenwerper to take over here…

The Batavia Muckdogs – their players, their coaches, their organizational members, their season ticket holders, their casual fans, their community members – is the foundation for this book’s journey. And to really get a strong sense of that journey, Bardenwerper traveled to Batavia, attended games, went to bars, visited coffee shops, visited Batavia Muckdogs rallies, and inserted himself into the Batavia Muckdogs experience. Sure, you can read all about a certain subject matter in the paper or some online blog (like mine) or maybe an editorial in a university news source, but to actually immerse yourself into a community and be there for the harsh words and the kind gestures and the love and the hate and the emotions – that is truly how you get the real pulse of the situation. And all this while being a father, a husband with a family several hours away. All the more commendable for his commitment to getting the real scoop here.

“Homestand” documents a summer season of baseball games, restaurant chats, family issues, family surprises, personal stories, and tons of baseball watercooler discussions that take place in the City of Batavia, New York and feature the Batavia Muckdogs organization and community. Author Will Bardenwerper invites the reader to join him on this journey as he navigates through small town bars and toy shops, Dwyer Stadium top to bottom and inside and out, and the emotions of missing his family while on assignment in Batavia. In the process of writing this book, Bardenwerper befriends many members of the Muckdogs organization and community – a fact that had to somewhat settle his anxiety being away from his wife and kids. “Homestand” doesn’t judge decisions made outside the community, it merely brings them to light.

So what did Will Bardenwerper find out about the Batavia Muckdogs baseball community? How is the organization dealing with that aforementioned dilemma of the product on the field vs in previous decades? How do you actually manage a summer collegiate baseball league team and are the hours worth the effort? Why do some travel over an hour to attend games when there is a minor league team in Buffalo (Bisons, Toronto Blue Jays AAA)? How much fun can you have at a summer collegiate baseball league game? Are there lingering resentments for Major League Baseball because they chose to contract your small town community team? Will asks the questions of folks from all walks of life, military backgrounds, social circles, education levels, and the answers will just floor you. I loved the exchanges between the fans and Will, they were just so genuine I felt like I was sitting there in the bleachers at Dwyer eavesdropping on their conversations.

“Homestand” is a real life account of small town America and how they are dealing with not only the contraction of their minor league baseball team, but the contraction of major businesses that have departed their community over the past few decades. The primary subject and focus is the Batavia Muckdogs organization and its community members. But the real story is the characters that make up that community – the Muckdogs ownership, the play by play announcer, the season ticket holders, the coffee shop critic – and that is why I loved reading this book and know you will too. It is a fantastic story of community, loss, revival, and the power of conversation and being present. I highly recommend you pick up your copy of “Homestand” by gifted author, Mets fan, family man, US Veteran, and baseball enthusiast Will Bardenwerper.

For more information on the Batavia Muckdogs, visit their official website – Batavia Muckdogs. Go Muckdogs!!!