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 total 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 these stories of these rural baseball players alive.