“You don’t have a photo well?” I repeated. “Sometimes a photographer can shoot from the dugout if the team is used to you,” a sports information assistant repeated. “Wait, like that section by the dugout?” I said and waved my…
Author: olabner
Welcome! I've followed baseball since I was 8 years old and started this site to illustrate the beauty of the game in prose, poetry, and photography.
I have a Master's in Creative Writing at Missouri State University. For my thesis I wrote a collection of nonfiction micro essays about working in remote Alaska fishing lodges for five summers in my 20s.
After graduation I worked as a northern lights guide in Bettles, Alaska, for 8 months.
I am a freelance writer and photographer based in the Ozarks. You can find my portfolio at maryellenchiles.com
Two days ago Missouri State coaches hit baseballs to their players, fielders taking grounders and catching fly balls on the warning track. The players wore maroon undershirts for the most part, though a handful had already added their ghastly Desert…
First I got compared to Jesus. Then it got weird. Arkansas defeated Missouri State in a 6-hour game punctuated by a rain delay and Hogs coach Dave Van Horn showing his tusks. I stood in the well alongside the Bears…
I confess I left my notebook in my backpack when I walked down the steps to slide into the photo well next to the Missouri State dugout. My main reason? I didn’t want to get cracked in the forehead with…
No cheering from the press box, you know. Or the photo well. Those are next to the dugout and behind home plate. I tried to stay near Missouri State’s dugout, asking other reporters if they needed my spot every so…
I roamed the concourse of Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I asked a security guard about sunscreen stations. A ticket taker told me the stations were near the tents above the seats along the first base side. “Be careful,”…
All photos taken during Missouri Valley Conference Tournament May 24-28, 2017 Hammons Field, Springfield, MO Camera: Sony A6000; lens: 55-210mm by
I know that home run talk is like fishing tales, and I’ve got a thesis full of those. Still, last Friday afternoon I sat in the front row by the visitors dugout at Hammons Field. A fan behind me asked if…
I wandered into the stadium at 10 a.m. on Sunday. After spending years volunteering with Lutherans I have plenty of prayer credit. Oh, the Lord’s name came up today. Missouri State played Illinois State once more, and though it appeared…
The best closer in the conference, Bryan Young, enters the bottom of the 9th with a six-run lead for Missouri State. He already threw 48 pitches in the first game against Indiana State, retiring 8 hitters. This opponent, Illinois State,…