Philadelphia's baseball history goes beyond Shibe Park. Philadelphia's Old Ballparks is both a documentary and an oral history, providing colorful descriptions of all the old professional parks and the many teams that played in them. Baker Bowl, with its right field wall so close to home plate, for instance, prompted sports writer Red Smith to quip, "It might be exaggerating to say the outfield wall casts a shadow across the infield. But if the right fielder had eaten onions at lunch, the second baseman knew it". Shibe Park's idiosyncrasies are also well-documented, as are the others. The recollections of dozens of people: players, owners, vendors, ushers, groundskeepers, and fans have been called upon in recreating the world that was held within those walls.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword Allen Lewis Introduction 1. Early Parks: Philadelphia's Oldest Pro Baseball Fields 2. Recreation Park: Birthplace of the Phillies 3. Columbia Park: First Home of the Athletics 4. Philadelphia Park/Baker Bowl: Unusual in Almost Every Way A Grand Opening The Wall of Horrors A Hitter's Paradise Special Effects Not Much Was Ever Constant Outside the Park The Paying Customers Gentlemen of the Press The Best of Times Some Other Memorable Days The Great Catastrophes A Touch of Comedy Beautifully Decrepit Not Just a Baseball Park The End Finally Arrives 5. Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium: An Enduring Favorite A Park for the Masses The Big Day Arrives Some Things Changed Idiosyncrasies A Wall of Its Own A Player's Park The Phillies Arrive The World Series All-Star Games Great Games by the Visitors Other Memorable Games Around the Edges Inside Jobs As Tough As There Is The Fourth Estate A Park for Many Occasions Farewell to a Ballpark Bibliography About the Author Index
