While most serious fans know that the Deadball Era was characterized by low scoring, aggressive baserunning, and strong pitching, few understand the extent to which ballparks determined the style of play. As it turns out, the general absence of standardization and the ever-changing dimensions, configurations, and ground rules had a profound effect on the game, as offensive production would rise and fall, sometimes dramatically, from year to year. Especially in the early years of the American League, home teams enjoyed an unprecedented advantage over visiting clubs. The 1901 Orioles are a case in point, as the club batted an astounding .325 at Oriole Park IV--some 60 points above their road average and 54 points better than visitors to the park. Organized by major league city, this comprehensive study of Deadball parks and park effects provides fact-filled, data-heavy commentary on all 34 ballparks used by the American and National Leagues from 1901 through 1919. Illustrations and historical photos are included, along with a foreword by Philip J. Lowry and a final chapter that offers an assessment of the overall impact of parks on the era.
Honus Wagner, the star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Deadball Era, said hitting a baseball in those days was like hitting “a chunk of mud.” The game back then was played a different way than it is today. Bunts were more common than home runs, and pitching dominated hitting. It was the age of the legal spitball, shine ball, emery ball, and grease ball. It was also a time of change, when much of what we see as the modern game came to be. Many of the practices and traditions we see in the game today--from team nicknames on uniforms to the seventh-inning stretch--have their origin in the Deadball Era.
"Former minor-league baseball player Byron Bennett has a deep and spiritual connection to the game of baseball and its history. He sees things in a way others cannot and believes in things others would not. He thinks the old men working the menial jobs in the dienrs, dives, and graveyards he frequents are not what they seem. They try to fit in, go unnoticed, but Byron suspects thay are not your typical second-career workign stiffs"--Page 4 of cover.
Winner of the 2024 SABR Larry Ritter Book Award for best Deadball Era baseball book. Second place finisher for 2023 CASEY Award for best baseball book of the year. While ostensibly a tool for collectors to identify and authenticate Deadball Era photographs, a purpose at which it excels, this book is so much more. At its heart, Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era is the definitive story of the rise of baseball press photographers in the early 20th century and a celebration of the visual splendors of the game they captured. Collectors have long admired the artistry of their beautiful sepia toned baseball prints from the early 1900’s. These images are visual time machines that transport us back to those halcyon days when we romanticize that baseball was pure. What collectors haven’t appreciated, as they have long been shrouded in mystery, are the stories of the men behind the lens and the photo syndicates who distributed their work. These Photographers’ indelible images brought the game from the field to the fans and helped create the baseball legends we still revere. This book lifts the veil on their previously untold stories. Through extensive research and newfound discoveries, the lives of many of the photographic artists and innovators who brought the game to life have been revealed. Their stories are as fascinating as those of the more famous men in front of the lens. Some names are iconic, such as Charles Conlon. Some should be, such as Frances Burke. Dozens more are profiled, all in far more detail than has ever been presented before. The clues to uncovering their stories are embedded in their photos and stamped on the back of their vintage prints. Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era contains extensive and groundbreaking research on identifying and authenticating Deadball photographs through the examination of back stampings. The hundreds of stamps presented, dated and interpreted in this book represent a quantum leap forward in the knowledge base regarding the era’s photographers. Of course, the book contains hundreds of gorgeous are rare images of the Deadball Era, many never seen before by the public. Longtime collectors have generously granted use of their private collections to embellish this story, and what a visual feast it is. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and other ballyard legends are all here, as seen in their glory days. Many readers will buy the book for the images alone. My hope is they stick around for the stories.
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.
The most entertaining and comprehensive guide to every baseball fan’s dream road trip—including every new ballpark since the 2004 edition—revised and completely updated!
