November 18, 2010

Most people recognize Bill Valentine as the former longtime general manager of the Arkansas Travelers baseball team who brought considerable attention to the team with his many and varied promotions. Few know that Valentine was also a groundbreaking American League umpire for eighteen years before he was fired from the league for attempting to organize an American League umpires’ union. Valentine was part of the effort to build a new home for the Travelers, Dickey-Stephens Field in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), which opened in 2007.