Main entry:

Goldberger, Paul, author. aut

Title & Author:

Ballpark : baseball in the American city / Paul Goldberger.

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.
©2019

Description:

xiii, 364 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Notes:
"A Borzoi book."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-343) and index.
Brooklyn beginnings -- Amusement versus virtue -- From wood to steel and stone -- The golden age -- Aspiring to monumentality -- Leaving the city -- Era of concrete doughnuts -- Camden Yards: baseball returns -- After Baltimore: looking back or looking forward? -- Lessons forgotten, lessons learned -- New York retro, Miami modern -- The ballpark as theme park.

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher

ISBN:

9780307701541 (hardcover)
0307701549 (hardcover)
(electronic book)
9780525656241

Subject:

Baseball fields United States History.
Baseball fields United States Design and construction History.
Baseball fields Social aspects United States.
Baseball United States History.
SPORTS & RECREATION Baseball History.
ARCHITECTURE Buildings Landmarks & Monuments.
ARCHITECTURE Buildings Public, Commercial & Industrial.
Baseball
Baseball fields
Baseball fields Design and construction
United States

Form/genre:

History.
Sports writing

Holdings:

Location: Library main 305513
Call No.: BIB 251406
Status: Available