Ballpark

Baseball in the American City

By: Paul Goldberger

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain

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.

©2019 Paul Goldberger (P)2019 Tantor

Fantastic book!

I was really looking forward to to seeing this book added to audible. This book delivered. Great stories, wonderfully read. If you truly love baseball and the nostalgia of the game. This book is for you.

Guy makes ballpark tier list

A summarized history of ballpark architecture as it relates to urbanism and design throughout this history of baseball. Unfortunately the author seemed to favor a more “old is good new is bad” approach to most modern parks. Some minor details were incorrect, and I feel like there were many important points in baseball history that were completely skipped over. Goldberger hates domes as much as he loves the word benal. Would have been more interesting if the author spoke more in his own words instead of excessively quoting other people’s opinions on most of the ballparks.