A new book by critic Paul Goldberger traces how baseball and stadium design reflect our changing opinions of cities ?America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It?s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.?
James Earl Jones?s monologue on the power of America?s pastime in Field of Dreams may have given us the most famous quote about the connection between the game and the cultural landscape. And by using the language of construction and destruction, it underscores that the story of baseball is also one of real estate and urbanism.
In Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, author, critic, and Vanity Fair contributing editor Paul Goldberger explores how the growth of baseball?from the sport?s urban roots in the late 19th century to today?s era of mega-developments and technologically advanced stadiums?mirrors the country?s views on urbanism, for better or worse. From the utilitarian beauty of early 20th-century ballparks like Chicago?s Wrigley Field and Boston?s Fenway Park?each nestled into its respective neighborhood?to the doughnut-shaped, concrete structures that sprouted in suburbia after World War II, baseball?s growth has neatly paralleled the rise, fall, and rise again of U.S. cities. Ballpark uses the evolution of baseball fields and stadiums to hold a mirror to our country?s attitudes not only about cities, but shared civic space.
?The baseball park historically has been an important part of the p...