Ballparks A Panoramic History

by Jim Sutton, Marc Sandalow

The Green Monster in Boston, the ivy in Chicago, the center field hill in Houston, the Bermuda Triangle in Miami, the convertible roof in Seattle, the baggy in Minneapolis, and the cove in San baseball is unique among American sports. Football, basketball, and hockey are played on identical fields, courts, and rinks. Only in baseball does the park define the game. This book tries to highlight those differences. It is not a wordy, text-based account of baseball stadiums; nor an encyclopedic telling of their history. Instead, it is a picture-packed look at what makes the current Major League parks, and some of the famous old ones, so special. It highlights what it is like to sit in the stands, stretch in the seventh inning, and watch the sun go down over a cityscape.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2014

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend this coffee table book. Although the pictures of the ballparks aren't bad; neither are they spectacular and they tend to be the same standard angle and look. It's the little things that make ballparks special and by and large the photos in this book miss those things. More importantly, despite this book going through several editions, it is littered with typos and other easily caught errors. It's difficult to go more than five pages without finding a typo/error. The text accompanying many of the pictures is simply copied and lifted from the main text - surely they could have put a little more effort into this book. Bottom line - don't waste your money - there are much better books (coffee and otherwise) on America's ballparks out there.