500 Ballparks

All ballparks are not created equal. Did you know that the Baker Bowl in North Philadelphia had a short right field, and playing to that quirk allowed Phillies batters to capture 13 home-run titles in 21 years? Each stadium?from Boston's legendary Fenway Park to New York's Yankee Stadium to lesser-known fields all across the country?has its own dimensions and layout that have a major effect on players and the game itself. Teams play 81 games a year, and no two are exactly alike.

500 Ballparks celebrates the uniqueness of our national pastime's parks, stadiums, and fields. There's Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, where Hall of Fame games are played, and Howard J. Lamade stadium in Pennsylvania that hosts the Little League World Series. There are places long gone like Ebbets Field, former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and newly-built marvels like Nationals Park in Washington, DC. From the major to the minor leagues, each park is identified, discussed, and accompanied by stunning photographs or specially commissioned artwork.

It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, but what does matter is where you play the game.