Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of All Major League and Negro League Ballparks

Green Cathedrals is one book I always go to when I have some times on my hands. Learning about those old Negro League ballparks, those 19th century major league grounds always gets my imagination going. Learn about the National Association Keokuk's Western grounds, namely "Walte's Pasture" where 2 lakes standed in center field. See the pictures of those odd-shape fields. Read the stories. Great fun for any true baseball fan!

Everything you need to know but were afraid to ask about the history of baseball stadiums

As ballpark reference books go, none is better than this one. Most if not all of the other ballpark books take their details from this. It's the best there is. The updated version increases the number of parks covered, which is good in a way and bad in a way. On the one hand, it increases the thoroughness substantially. On the other, many of the ballparks included are pretty obscure and will be of only minimal interest to many ballpark fans. The greatest disappointment is that the formatting is more or less the same as the last edition, and very hard to use as a reference or even to just browse. The book is organized by city first, then by ballpark chronologically. But there are not page breaks by ballpark or even city. This means that one entry runs right into the next, with the ballpark entry titles only slightly larger than the subheadings, and the city titles only slightly larger than that (though there is a line to separate cities). This makes it hard for the eye to understand the organization. At a minimum, entries for the current major league parks should be given different visual treatment from parks of other categories (i.e. current minor league parks, former major league parks, Negro League parks, etc.). Additionally, the tops of the pages only contain the title of the book, rather than showing which city or ballpark is covered on the page (like you might find in a dictionary, encyclopedia, bible or even a phone book). There is a fine index, but this shouldn't really be necessary because of the book's rock-solid organization. This would be a greater and more useful publication if a graphic artist were employed for page layout and visual organization, and if the paper were of a higher quality that would allow for color photos (the book contains only black and white). Beyond this, maps (perhaps with rough diagrams superimposed for those which are gone) would be immensely helpful for determining actual locations and configurations. It can be maddening to match old street names to current maps. But I want to make it clear that I love this book, and it makes a great (if sometimes frustrating) reference.

When I first received the book 'Green Cathedrals' in the mail I was initially disappointed in that all the photographs are in black and white. However once I really examined the book I realized this book is truly unique in that it is the only book I am aware of that lists every ballfield ever used by a major league team or negro league team. This book required a ton of research. For example, if you ever wondered where the 1876 New York Mutuals of the National League played (I Have), this book has the answer. It includes the street names surrounding the park. This book is for a true baseball historians. If this book is ever revised I'd love to see it made into several volumes. One for the Negro league, one for the early (wooden ballbarks), one for the classic era (Steel and concrete), such as Forbes Field, Ebbet's Field, etc., one for the multi-purpose era, and one for existing and future parks. I'd love to see it include the best available photographs of each. I'd buy the whole set.

Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks offers up a history of each of the ballparks that have hosted Major League and Negro League baseball, and appears in a revised, updated edition which has seen many changes since its initial appearance a decade ago. Over a hundred new ballparks and hundreds of new photos make for essentially a different presentation, covering each park's location, dimensions, capacity, and history. Baseball fans will love it. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch