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Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields
The Polo Ground, Ebbets Field, Comiskey Park--the great temples of baseball are being razed to the ground. Now the author of The Glory of Their Times has brought 22 of these grand old open-air, wood-and-concrete stadiums back to life in a beautiful, big-hearted book filled with over 250 vintage photos of parks, players, games, and fans.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 22, 2015
This was another wonderful book written by one of the greatest baseball researchers for early baseball Lawrence Ritter. To be honest it is nowhere near comparable to "Glory of Their Times" due to the fact that the emotion that ballparks carry is not as easily portrayed in writing as opposed to stories from early ballplayers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it is more of a coffee table book than a sit down and read book, so mixing a couple sections of this it in with other books that I was reading is how I got the most enjoyment of it. He does a fair job of describing the parks and has a nice collection together that are pretty well put together, but there were some things that I wish were added.
Going into this book I made the mistake of holding up to the standards of "Glory of Their Times". In this review I am trying not to do that, thus why it is getting four stars - in separating it from its big brother, this book by Ritter is pretty good, but again, it is one of his lesser known works for a reason.
With that said there are some things that I wish were added and I could've easily given this 5 stars.
1.I feel that because of the research he did for every one of his books, there could've been better pictures of the ballparks from every angle as opposed to the standard areal shot and wide shot of the infield. This is a book about the lost ballparks and pictures talk more than words.
2. I wanted more stories about the ballparks - I wanted to know their history. While the stories about players were good and the top moments a great addition to the book, I wanted to know more about the ballpark and the history rather than stories of games played there.
That would've put the book at 5 stars in my opinion. Although it was a good book, it still had some things I wish were added, but overall, Ritter does a great job in putting together early baseball history. 4 Stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it is more of a coffee table book than a sit down and read book, so mixing a couple sections of this it in with other books that I was reading is how I got the most enjoyment of it. He does a fair job of describing the parks and has a nice collection together that are pretty well put together, but there were some things that I wish were added.
Going into this book I made the mistake of holding up to the standards of "Glory of Their Times". In this review I am trying not to do that, thus why it is getting four stars - in separating it from its big brother, this book by Ritter is pretty good, but again, it is one of his lesser known works for a reason.
With that said there are some things that I wish were added and I could've easily given this 5 stars.
1.I feel that because of the research he did for every one of his books, there could've been better pictures of the ballparks from every angle as opposed to the standard areal shot and wide shot of the infield. This is a book about the lost ballparks and pictures talk more than words.
2. I wanted more stories about the ballparks - I wanted to know their history. While the stories about players were good and the top moments a great addition to the book, I wanted to know more about the ballpark and the history rather than stories of games played there.
That would've put the book at 5 stars in my opinion. Although it was a good book, it still had some things I wish were added, but overall, Ritter does a great job in putting together early baseball history. 4 Stars.
July 27, 2019
The facts, history, and especially photos are lovely. To leaf through? Great. As a cover-to-cover read, though, this one has some flaws.
First of all, and this isn't the book's fault, but the last couple of decades have disproved the book's premise as stated in the introduction. It was true that in 1990 multipurpose domed stadiums were winning the baseball stadium game, but in the 2000s they are not. Grass is back, city centers are the thing, and most modern ballparks are made to feel a *little* like the ballparks discussed in this book, even if they don't quite make it.
But even in its time it feels like the book doesn't stick to its own premise. One of the fields discussed, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, was a multipurpose suburban stadium, and even though this author didn't think the Orioles needed to leave it, their new stadium was one of the early city center throwback ballparks that we are returning to.
There's also some big structural issues to this book. It's organized alphabetically by stadium, which makes for a repetitive and not wholly satisfying read. If you want to read about *your* favorite stadium, that works, but organizing it chronologically or even geographically would have made for a much better read. I also could have done without the top 10 moments in each stadium (or most of them, some stadiums are inexplicably left out,) which again is not in top 10 format and just comes off as redundant.
What I do like: some minor league stadiums are included, which helps broaden the scope of the early game, there are mentions (although I don't think enough) to the Negro Leagues stars and teams that shared the ballparks, and certainly as fact tidbits go this is a treasure trove.
First of all, and this isn't the book's fault, but the last couple of decades have disproved the book's premise as stated in the introduction. It was true that in 1990 multipurpose domed stadiums were winning the baseball stadium game, but in the 2000s they are not. Grass is back, city centers are the thing, and most modern ballparks are made to feel a *little* like the ballparks discussed in this book, even if they don't quite make it.
But even in its time it feels like the book doesn't stick to its own premise. One of the fields discussed, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, was a multipurpose suburban stadium, and even though this author didn't think the Orioles needed to leave it, their new stadium was one of the early city center throwback ballparks that we are returning to.
There's also some big structural issues to this book. It's organized alphabetically by stadium, which makes for a repetitive and not wholly satisfying read. If you want to read about *your* favorite stadium, that works, but organizing it chronologically or even geographically would have made for a much better read. I also could have done without the top 10 moments in each stadium (or most of them, some stadiums are inexplicably left out,) which again is not in top 10 format and just comes off as redundant.
What I do like: some minor league stadiums are included, which helps broaden the scope of the early game, there are mentions (although I don't think enough) to the Negro Leagues stars and teams that shared the ballparks, and certainly as fact tidbits go this is a treasure trove.
October 27, 2021
This was an easy and enjoyable read about 22 ball parks that have met the fate of the wrecking ball. It's a bit of a greatest hits tour, not going into exceptional detail about any particular stadium or games and events that occurred there. But it effectively whets the appetite of those who would like to take a deeper dive to know more about a particular stadium. And it is nice to see some other stadiums (i.e. Griffith, League, Memorial, Metropolitan, and Offerman) in addition to the ones that are more commonly documented (e.g. Crosley, Ebbets, Hilltop, Polo, Shibe and Sportsman's).
July 13, 2024
Really enjoyed reading about these ballparks that no longer exist. I liked that it focused on architecture and neighborhood as well and not just the baseball feats on them. It's crazy that many of these don't even have a picture many times to show the whole ballpark.
March 13, 2026
Took me a long time to finish this book, mostly because it’s not exactly travel sized. But this book is filled with lots of great information, pictures, and quirky anecdotes that make me remember why baseball is so great.
December 24, 2022
Ritter is one of baseball's best historians and he presents wonderful reminders of days gone by. A terrific addition to any baseball library.
May 7, 2023
Really enjoyable look at baseball parks. The images used really capture the times and the context of the park, and the narrative is really well researched.
June 12, 2012
Enjoyed all the stories that surround ball parks like the Baker Bowl in Philly or Wrigley Field in LosAngles. It is amazing how much a part of the community the ballfield and ballplayers were; that will never happen again. I guess Wrigley (Chicago) and Fenway (Boston) come close to being neighborhood ballparks, but you will never see todays players picking up there suit at the local dry cleaners or stopping in at the corner bar for a beer. Those days are gone.
August 15, 2009
If you love baseball - you will like this book. Many ball parks now long gone are in this book. Lots of memories.
March 27, 2012
This is book that I go back to when I can think of nothing else to read. Great book on the nostalgia of baseball.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews