The Ballpark Book: A Journey Through the Fields of Baseball Magic

by Ron Smith and Ron Smith

Book Overview

The Sporting News relives the great moments of 46 past and present baseball institutions-from Fenway Park and the Polo Grounds to Camden Yards and Safeco Field. Unique illustrations highlight the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892047038
• ISBN13: 9780892047031
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Sporting News Publishing Co.
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 3.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 11.4" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Wow!

The ballpark book for ballpark lovers. Includes all current and many older ballparks, including many from the past 30-40 years that have recently been replaced. Great pictures and stories taking you down memory lane time after time.

Return to your field of dreams

I spent four summers toiling under the unforgiving sun that dominated Arlington Stadium, watching the Texas Rangers and selling peanuts along the first base line. I have since returned to visit The Ballpark, the new, oldstyle park that now is home to the Rangers.....but I have a real soft spot for that old orange monstrosity. The Ballpark Book is a brief look into ballparks of the past (Classics such as Fenway and Wrigley), the domes, the "Middle Ages" (Jack Murphy and Anaheim) and the new "oldstyle" parks noew in vogue. This book describes each park, its personality, the highlights of archecticture, the quirks that allowed each home team an advantage (none who have seen the fog roll into the Stick in San Francisco will ever forget it)and the memorable personalities that inhabit those parks. Having visited over half of the parks and loved each and every one as an intergal park of the game (OK, some I have loved less) I found this book a real joy to read and a real trip down memory lane to pour over photographs and illustrations. This goes right next to my autographs, my orange buttons for surviving extra inning Giants games, and foul ball collection.....a real treat.

Wonderful reference book

This book takes a loving look at major league stadiums across North America. It starts off with a short history of ballpark construction, detailing the styles of each generation of parks. It's interesting how in the the 90s, the trend was to go back to the "old-style" stadiums like Camden Yards, Jacobs Field, and Pac Bell Park, here in San Francisco.The authors resisted the urge to badmouth any of the stadiums that have been widely criticized, such as the "cookie-cutter" stadiums of the 70s like RiverFront Stadium (now Cinergy Field) in Cincinatti or Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, choosing instead to concentrate on the positives and the experience of being at a particular park. I loved the description they gave of Candlestick (aka 3Com) Park, a stadium that for better or worse became my "home park" when I moved to Northern California.The illustrations of each park, coupled with famous moments brought back a ton of memories for me. There are also numerous pictures of each ballpark, giving the reader a sense of history for each one. The book is divided into several sections, starting with the classic parks, like Wrigley & Fenway, through the current class of stadiums, to the ones not around anymore. Reading through the last section, I regretted not having had the chance to see games in some of these old parks.One minor disapointment was that temporary parks (SF's Seals' Stadium, LA's Wrigley Field & Coliseum, Philly's Baker Bowl, Seattle's Sicks' Stadium, for example) were not mentioned. Perhaps a future edition could include them?But other than that, this book is an excellent and entertaining reference that will keep you intrigued for hours at a time. A related book to buy if you haven't is the Lawrence Ritter book, Lost Ballparks.

Great visuals!

The visuals in this book are extremely rich and really reflect the nostalgia of America's favorite past time! A must for every baseball purist..

Absolutely wondeful book

this book captures it all for baseball purists. Lots of photos and text accounts of virtually every major league ballpark that has ever existed. I highly recommend this book for all of those of cherish the likes of Wrigley Field, Old Comiskey Park, and Ebbets Field.