Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of All Major League Ballparks

by Philip Lowry

Green Cathedrals is a celebration of the sport of baseball, through the lens of its ballparks―the "fields of dreams" of players and fans alike. In all, some 405 ballparks have, over time, hosted a Major League or Negro League game, and each one of them is given its due, from hard statistics about dimensions to nostalgic and current photographs, to anecdotes that will inspire the memories of fans all over the country. From Fenway Park and Gus Greenlee Field (home of the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords), to Ebbets Field, Camden Yards, and the brand-new parks that have opened in the past two years, Green Cathedrals presents a cavalcade of the most beautiful sporting venues in history. Fully revised and updated since its previous edition a decade ago, with more than 130 new ballparks and hundreds of new photographs, Green Cathedrals is an essential reference for baseball aficionados and a perfect gift for baseball fans everywhere.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2006

Reviews

[Adam]

A lot of cool information about old ballparks. I'm not a fan of how everything was organized. I would have liked some more pictures and some diagrams of the ballparks versus listing information in text. Nice coffee table book to flip thru over the past couple months.

[Tristan Miller]

The 2026 baseball season is right around the corner and what’s a better way than diving into some of the stadium history!

Lowry does an excellent job touching on many stadiums that get overlooked and sharing the quirks and forgone stories about each one, which is exactly why someone like me picked up this book in the first place.

Fun facts that I learned that seem noteworthy as a Cubs fan who grew up going to games at Wrigley Field.

Did You Know: Babe Ruth’s historic “Called Shot” took place at Wrigley during the 1932 World Series. Didn’t know that took place against the Cubs and let alone Wrigley.

[Marshaferz]

A lot of fun to look through, and very comprehensive as of the date of publication, of course, it is wildly out of date now, but it’s an impressive chronicle of everywhere Major League Baseball has been played, and clearly a lot of research went into it. My big issue is that it is oddly organized, and that the author has some very definite opinions about what makes a good ball park and treats them as objective fact. But an important historical record and a fun read.

[Jeff]

The “phenomena” about each park is endlessly fascinating and why this merits 5 stars.

[Rodger Payne]

I'll try to remember to review this later when my notes are handy.

[Brent Soderstrum]

I am a big fan of baseball parks. I have been to 45 and only have two more current parks to go to have seen all the current ones (SD and Miami). This is an informative book covering all ballparks in which a major league or negro league baseball game has ever been played. Lots of interesting facts. I would have liked to have seen more pictures and more records mentioned but a good reference book for any fan of ballparks.

[Alan Cordova]

Amazing historical photos, including an aerial shot of both Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium.