A year ago catcher Drew Millas was playing in his junior year at Missouri State. The team had a rare poor season, finishing 20-36, winning just half as many games as they had in 2018. Still, he was drafted in…
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
Jupiter St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching prospect Austin Warner, who split last season between AA-Springfield and AAA-Memphis, was playing at minor league camp in Jupiter, Florida, when spring training was shut down. He wasn’t totally surprised. March Madness was supposed to…
Davis Schwab, a left-handed pitcher, finished his career at Missouri State University in 2019 and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves that in the 37th round in June. Last summer he played rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League in North…
Welcome back. I was supposed to be on a plane today but postponed my flight because I had a cold and didn’t want to fly to the PNW considering certain factors. Besides, American Airlines will call you back in a…
I have been remiss in posting for a few reasons, so pardon me and enjoy some of my favorite pix of the year … share on social if you like and please credit @OlAbnerBaseball or @MaryEllenChiles on Instagram. xoxoxoxo …
Behold. First published in similar form on a previous blog of mine in late October 2011. I bought a standing room only ticket for the World Series in St. Louis, arriving at noon for the 7 pm start. It was…
These uniforms. I just can’t. It’s the belts. The stocking caps on the birds. The candy cane bats. The lights! Here are some non-Carpenter pix from Xmas in July. by
Matt Carpenter visited Springfield to play third base for the Baby Birds and gather his wings to fly back to St. Louis. He went 0-21 in five games. Next – to Memphis (AAA)! A slideshow from July 26 – night…
Just a few kids trying to make it big … by
