Minor Miracles

Big-league baseball faces a strike and dwindling crowds, but the minors are reinvigorating the game

Maybe Bud Selig should visit Brooklyn. In the very borough that baseball abandoned during the Eisenhower Administration, Major League Baseball's commissioner would be treated to a nostalgic version of the national pastime. He would see 200 kids lining up early outside a ball park for a $5 bleacher seat despite the hot, sticky Coney Island weather. If he traveled to Memphis, Tenn., he would see families hurrying past downtown landmarks like the Peabody Hotel to get a good seat at AutoZone Park. Outside Chicago, he would see Kane County Cougars players being swarmed by young fans. And in cities and towns...

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