Leo T. reviewed Ballpark : Camden Yards and the Building of an American Dream on + 1775 more book reviews
While the author writes of baseball (Cal Ripken, Jr.!) and the business of baseball (Eli Jacobs), the well-written book is about the long negotiations to obtain political support to build Oriole Park. Mr. Richmond succinctly describes how Baltimore was an important city in the 19th C. when the B&O was the first railroad built. Camden Station opened in 1858 and was the scene of demonstrations by locals when the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry was stoned. President-elect Lincoln had tiptoed through the city earlier. The author fails to mention the problems President Buchanan had in passing through Baltimore (1857). He goes on to speak of the rigors of train travel in the major leagues when the Orioles came in 1954.
Much of the text has to do with the struggle over what architectural plan would be used. One of the plans is offered in a good drawing in the front endpapers and the other in the rear endpapers. The B&O warehouse, built in 1905, was a continual bone of contention--demolish it or use it to strengthen an old time feel to the new ballpark. But it was a minor argument compared to the issues raised by seat assignments when the Orioles relocated from Memorial Park.
No footnotes, no bibliography. A few well chosen photographs.
Index.
Much of the text has to do with the struggle over what architectural plan would be used. One of the plans is offered in a good drawing in the front endpapers and the other in the rear endpapers. The B&O warehouse, built in 1905, was a continual bone of contention--demolish it or use it to strengthen an old time feel to the new ballpark. But it was a minor argument compared to the issues raised by seat assignments when the Orioles relocated from Memorial Park.
No footnotes, no bibliography. A few well chosen photographs.
Index.
