Baseball fans are dreamers. Some are entrepreneurs. And some are entrepreneurs with dreams. For those who aren’t independently wealthy, they turn to Kickstarter to ask strangers to fund their vision for a better world.

Despite the well-publicized success stories, many Kickstarter campaigns fall short of their goals – even in baseball. These are some of their stories:

The Cubs Quotient: How The Chicago Cubs Changed The World. This project was described thusly: “Secret societies. White House scandals. Mysterious murders. Unsolved deaths. Marital affairs that changed the world. Partnerships with mobsters. Worldwide epidemics. Aviation history. Medical and psychological pioneers. Through more than a year of exhaustive research combing through hundreds of documents, we have uncovered nearly 200 ways the Chicago Cubs have changed the world. Over the course of 77 chapters, we investigate the organization’s vast global influences that altered nearly every facet of contemporary life: politics, race, society, vices, innovation, entertainment and, of course, baseball.” More details here.

The organizer was seeking $6,000 but only attracted $1,186 from 27 backers.

St. Louis Cardinals World Series Puzzle T-Shirt. “This project is based in St. Louis, MO, where the St. Louis Cardinals just clinched a spot in the 2013 World Series.  The whole city is excited!  Everyone needs a t-shirt when the World Series comes to town! Puzzle T-Shirts, LLC, has focused on small personal events with great success.  Now let’s try to scale this to a very large, exciting public event.  The names of the St. Louis Cardinals are in a giant seek-n-find puzzle that is printed on a t-shirt.  They come in Youth Medium, Adult Small, Adult Medium, Adult Large and Adult XL.  So if you’re going to the game, party or your favorite bar and grill… or maybe for Cardinals’ day at work or school… or maybe if you want to stay home and watch the game with the kids… Whichever way, I hope you support this Kickstarter today!” More details here.

They didn’t. Two backers provided $125 of the $500 goal.

Thanks Dave – Baseball, the Mariners and Memories. “The goal of this project is to create a book titled “Thanks Dave – Baseball, the Mariners, and Memories”. This book will pay tribute to Dave Niehaus, Hall of Fame baseball announcer and Seattle icon. The book will be self-published with a target completion date of Opening Day of the 2013 baseball season. To pay tribute to Dave, I feel it is most appropriate to relive his greatest moments behind the microphone. Obviously, many of those coincide with the greatest moments in Mariners history. The book will be organized into a countdown of my top 20 or 25 Dave Niehaus calls. Each one will be analyzed not only for the call itself, but the context of the game and the season around it. I will look at the players that were on the field at the time, the history behind their careers and what led them to that moment. To me, Dave embodies Mariners history, and this book would aim to tell that history framed by Dave’s words.” More details here.

The would-be book attracted $80 of the $5,000 goal. Interestingly, this is just one of two failed Niehaus-related books that failed on Kickstarter; the other is here.

SF Giants Perfect Game Matt Cain/Buster Posey Bobblehead!!! “I am raising funds to have a bobblehead made depicting Matt Cain pitching the final out to Buster Posey, from the SF Giants first perfect game in franchise history! I would have just made one for myself, but unfortunately manufacturers do not make individual bobbles, so they require a minimum order to get anything produced. As pictured, it will have Matt Cain pitching and Buster Posey in the squat, with a brown base and scoreboard in the background. Their names will be displayed underneath them as well, and a Perfect Game logo will be displayed in between them. It will be limited and hand numbered to only 144. Any and all amounts of pledges are welcome and much appreciated, and pledges over $55 (plus shipping & handling) will be able to receive one of the Matt Cain/Buster Posey bobbleheads too!” More details here.

The dream was dead a mere $165 from three backers later (just short of the $4,500 goal).

Green Collar Baseball. “I’m looking to shoot a music video in honor of MLB’s hottest team, the Oakland A’s. I plan to shoot the video in numerous locations in Oakland California. The shoot should take roughly 2-3 days to complete. Post production can take as long as 3-4 weeks! So it is important to get this done as soon as possible.I believe this is our year! This song will be remembered as a call back to this Championship season! (Fingers Crossed) Be apart of history! With a wife and 3 kids its hard to have extra money for things such as “Music Videos”. In fact, its hard to be creative at all sometimes! But I am passionate about my music, my hometown and its teams. I intended to make a clean positive rap song that grandparents, parents and their children could enjoy together, and I feel I’ve done just that.” More details here.

Green Collar Baseball fell $2,499 short of the $2,500 goal.

I<3 Yu. “I have been a Texas Rangers fan for a long time, and always want to show my Texas pride. The Rangers have been one of the most dominant teams the last few years and are looking to win their first World Series. With Major League Baseball season coming into postseason October, be prepared with an I ❤ Yu shirt. Yu Darvish is the hype in the Texas Rangers clubhouse and everyone has caught Yu fever. Get your gear to cheer on your team!” More details here.

The shirt attracted $5 from one backer. They had sought $350.

Stealing Home. “This documentary tells the inspiring story of the Navin Field Grounds Crew, a group of devoted baseball fans who feel such a strong connection to the site of the old Tiger Stadium that they donate their time, energy and money to maintaining the field at the corner of Michigan Ave. & Trumbull. Every Sunday they rake the infield, mow the grass and pick up trash so people can play ball where Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and generations of baseball legends used to play. Their efforts have garnered national attention in outlets such as ESPN The Magazine and National Public Radio. But the city of Detroit, which owns the field, says they’re trespassing.  Police have threatened them with arrest. The city wants to repurpose the land for industrial use.  What will become of the field? Will the Navin Field Grounds Crew keep baseball alive? Or will they be thrown out “stealing home”?” More details here.

This project attracted $1,926 from 26 backers, short of the $8,500 goal.