SI.com · Aug 20, 2021
Leading Off: Minor League Baseball Is Back
For more than a year, minor league stadiums hosted drive-in movies, wine and beer tastings, pop-up golf courses (regular and disc) and vaccination drives—everything, it seemed, but actual minor league games. That finally changed in May. With just 120 clubs affiliated with big league franchises (42 fewer than in 2019), business in the minors is far from stable. But once the players took the field, the games proved to be as invigorating as ever.
Chris Keane/Sports Illustrated
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp visited Durham, N.C., for the Durham Bulls' home opener May 11.
David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated