Philadelphia's Old Ballparks

Philadelphia's Old Ballparks
Author: Rich Westcott
Publisher: Temple University Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781566394543

Philadelphia's rich baseball heritage as seen through its baseball parks is vividly brought to life in this colorful and anecdotal book. Experienced sportswriter Rich Westcott once again dives into a labor of love, taking us back in time to an era when Philadelphia's ballparks were as famous and as much a part of the game as the teams that took the field. Philadelphia's baseball history goes beyond Shibe Park. Philadelphia's Old Ballparksis both a documentary and an oral history, providing detailed descriptions of all of the old professional parks and the many teams that played in them, including Baker Bowl, with its right field wall so close to home plate, it prompted sportswriter Red Smith to quip, "It might be exaggerating to say the outfield wall casts a shadow across the infield. But if the right fielder had eaten onions at lunch, the second baseman knew it." Shibe Park is also well-documented with its idiosyncracies, as are the others. The recollections of dozens of people--players, owners, vendors, ushers, grounds keepers, and fans combine to recreate the world that was held within those walls. Author note: Rich Westcotthas served as a writer and editor on the staffs of a variety of newspapers and magazines in the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas during his 35 years in publishing. He is the publisher and editor of Phillies Report.He is the author of six books, including The New Phillies Encyclopedia(Temple), with Frank Bilovsky; Phillies '93, An Incredible Season(Temple); Diamond Greats;and Masters of the Diamond.

To Every Thing a Season

To Every Thing a Season
Author: Bruce Kuklick
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2020-12-08
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0691222169

Shibe Park was demolished in 1976, and today its site is surrounded by the devastation of North Philadelphia. Kuklick, however, vividly evokes the feelings people had about the home of the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Phillies.

Ballpark

Ballpark
Author: Paul Goldberger
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0525656243

An exhilarating, splendidly illustrated, entirely new look at the history of baseball: told through the stories of the vibrant and ever-changing ballparks where the game was and is staged, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic. From the earliest corrals of the mid-1800s (Union Grounds in Brooklyn was a "saloon in the open air"), to the much mourned parks of the early 1900s (Detroit's Tiger Stadium, Cincinnati's Palace of the Fans), to the stadiums we fill today, Paul Goldberger makes clear the inextricable bond between the American city and America's favorite pastime. In the changing locations and architecture of our ballparks, Goldberger reveals the manifestations of a changing society: the earliest ballparks evoked the Victorian age in their accommodations--bleachers for the riffraff, grandstands for the middle-class; the "concrete donuts" of the 1950s and '60s made plain television's grip on the public's attention; and more recent ballparks, like Baltimore's Camden Yards, signal a new way forward for stadium design and for baseball's role in urban development. Throughout, Goldberger shows us the way in which baseball's history is concurrent with our cultural history: the rise of urban parks and public transportation; the development of new building materials and engineering and design skills. And how the site details and the requirements of the game--the diamond, the outfields, the walls, the grandstands--shaped our most beloved ballparks. A fascinating, exuberant ode to the Edens at the heart of our cities--where dreams are as limitless as the outfields.

Ballparks

Ballparks
Author: Jim Sutton
Publisher: Chartwell Books
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2017-09-19
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 078583575X

A panoramic view of MLB's current and most storied ballparks, from the oldest--1912's Fenway Park in Boston--to the newest, SunTrust Park, which opened a century later in 2017.

Ballparks

Ballparks
Author: Eric Enders
Publisher: Chartwell Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 076036530X

If you love baseball and the venerable stadiums its played in, you need this definitive history and guide to Major League ballparks of the past, present, and future. With a tear-out checklist to mark ballparks you’ve visited and those on your bucket list, Ballparks takes you inside the histories of every park in the Major Leagues, with hundreds of photos, stories, and stats about: Storied parks like Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Dodger Stadium Fan favorites AT&T Park, Camden Yards, PNC Park, Safeco Field, and so much more Forgotten treasures like Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, and all five parks of the Detroit Tigers New stadiums like the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park, the Minneapolis Twins’ Target Field, and New York’s Yankee Stadium and Citifield More than 40 other major league parks that tell the story of the national pastime through the lens of the fields the players call home No baseball fan's collection is complete without this up-to-date tome.

Ballpark

Ballpark
Author: Lynn Curlee
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2008-03-04
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1416953604

The author provides a tour through baseball history with this tribute to America's favorite ballparks.

Diamonds

Diamonds
Author: Michael Gershman
Publisher: Mariner Books
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1995-03
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780395735244

Ballparks are repositories of family memory, unique places that link generations. Until now, no single volume has focused on the historical development of these special spaces, from the crossroads of neighboring cornfields to the intersections of state highways. In Diamonds, Michael Gershman carefully traces the often curious genesis of these cultural landmarks that mirror, in many respects, the evolution of our urban landscape. All the great parks - Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Sportsman's Park, Ebbets Field, Shibe Park, Crosley Field, the Polo Grounds, Comiskey Park, Forbes Field, Tiger Stadium - and lesser-known gems - Baker Bowl, South End Grounds, Palace of the Fans, and Hilltop Park - are celebrated with a rich blend of meticulously researched history, illuminating anecdotes, rare photographs, and evocative illustrations. Diamonds also tells the story of more modern baseball palaces - Candlestick Park, the Astrodome, and Camden Yards - and describes parks that were proposed but ne

Philadelphia Phillies Past & Present

Philadelphia Phillies Past & Present
Author: Rich Westcott
Publisher: MVP Books
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2010-03-19
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1610600983

The Philadelphia Phillies franchise has been providing thrills and chills for its faithful fanatics for more than 125 years---with the 2008 World Series victory providing the ultimate high for the team and its city. The Phillies have boasted great legends of the game, including sluggers like Chuck Klein, Richie Ashburn, Mike Schmidt, and Ryan Howard; beloved characters like Tug McGraw, Lenny Dykstra, and John Kruk; and stellar hurlers from Pete Alexander to Robin Roberts to Steve Carlton to Cole Hamels. The team has left its fans alternately inspired and frustrated, while forever retaining their loyalty and passion through more than a century of baseball. Philadelphia Phillies Past & Present offers a richly illustrated tour of the players, managers, ballparks, and moments that have defined the Phillies of the past and of the present.

Ballparks of the Deadball Era

Ballparks of the Deadball Era
Author: Ronald M. Selter
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2011-11-22
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0786466251

While most serious fans know that the Deadball Era was characterized by low scoring, aggressive baserunning, and strong pitching, few understand the extent to which ballparks determined the style of play. As it turns out, the general absence of standardization and the ever-changing dimensions, configurations, and ground rules had a profound effect on the game, as offensive production would rise and fall, sometimes dramatically, from year to year. Especially in the early years of the American League, home teams enjoyed an unprecedented advantage over visiting clubs. The 1901 Orioles are a case in point, as the club batted an astounding .325 at Oriole Park IV--some 60 points above their road average and 54 points better than visitors to the park. Organized by major league city, this comprehensive study of Deadball parks and park effects provides fact-filled, data-heavy commentary on all 34 ballparks used by the American and National Leagues from 1901 through 1919. Illustrations and historical photos are included, along with a foreword by Philip J. Lowry and a final chapter that offers an assessment of the overall impact of parks on the era.

Connie Mack's '29 Triumph

Connie Mack's '29 Triumph
Author: William C. Kashatus
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2005-02-04
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780786421657

It has been said that Connie Mack managed only two kinds of teams during his half-century in the City of Brother Love--unbeatable and lousy. His teams collected nine pennants and five World Series titles, balanced by 17 last place finishes. While Mack, an enterprising businessman, had a gift for discovering talented players and molding them into a team, by the time he was well into his sixties, Philadelphians suspected that the A's skipper had lost his ability. Mack went on to disprove all doubts, however, with a second championship dynasty in 1929 that vindicated the "Tall Tactician." This work chronicles the rise and fall of the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics and their six-year rivalry with the New York Yankees, 1927 to 1932. Based primarily on newspaper accounts, the book tells the story of the "Grand Old Man of Baseball"--and the 1929 A's team that is unfairly overlooked in favor of the 1927 Yankees as baseball's greatest all-around team. This history is packed with photographs, notes and statistical appendices, and includes a foreword by The Sporting News writer Dave Kindred.