Ballparks: A Panoramic History »

The Green Monster in Boston, the ivy in Chicago, the center field in Houston, the Bermuda Triangle in Miami, the convertible roof in Seattle, the baggy in Minneapolis, and the cove in San Francisco: baseball is unique among American sports. Football, basketball, and hockey are played on identical fields, courts, and rinks. Only in baseball does the park define the game.

This massive book tries to highlight those differences. It is not a wordy, text-based account of baseball stadiums; nor an encyclopedia telling of their history. Instead, it is a picture-packed look at what makes the current Major League parks, and some of the famous old ones, so special. It highlights what it is like to sit in the stands, stretch in the seventh inning, and watch the sun go down over a cityscape.