The Lost Ball Parks

During Baseball's Golden Age, there were several unique places where America's Past Time was played. Today only Chicago's Wrigley Field and Boston's Fenway Park remain as vestiges of a bygone era.

[@michaelglattli2520]

If I had a time machine, I would go back to the 50s a visit every classic ballpark.

[@kevinmiller1985]

RIP Comiskey Park.

[@justjack9849]

MUSF AFTER NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, LACROSSE, TRACK, TENNIS AND CANNOT FORGET EVERY OTHER SPORT

[@justjack9849]

Liar, nfl is the best

[@num1huskerfan1]

I really wish I could go back in time and see a game at the Polo Grounds.

[@will-w2244]

Same

[@robertthomas2001]

+num1huskerfan1 been there many times. saw a Brooklyn double header back in 56. Sitting in the Polo grounds was like taking in a museum, no modern amenities, just a primitive place to view great baseball. It's charm was it's lack of conformity, it wasn't designed, it evolved over the vastness of time, that was it's history and you were sitting in it. Uniquely special

[@desenberg8874]

Me too

[@AlwaysHalloween000]

i just wish i could go back in time to get rid of this whole mess

[@ThePoreproductions]

+num1huskerfan1 Last summer, I got to go see a game at Kauffman Stadium, in Kansas City MO. Home of the Kansas City Royals. it was them vs. the Los Angeles Angels.

[@A1Adaydreaming]

I grew up going to games at Tiger Stadium. I was 8 years old in 1968 and my Dad got us tickets to a couple of games of the World Series. Of course, all the World Series games in those days were day games so me and my brother got to get pulled out of school to go to the games which we thought was so awesome. I saw many games there through the years. Comerica Park is a really nice ballpark and I understand that the old Tiger Stadium just got to the point that to keep it in good repair would be very difficult, but man I miss that old place. I still remember the feeling after all these years of how you would enter that ballpark at street level and it was just cement and tile and metal girders and ramps to the upper deck and you would walk these hallways and climb these ramps and then cross some little catwalk toward some opening in the wall on the other side, and when you to to that opening, all of a sudden there before your eyes, all of that gray concrete and metal disappeared to the sight of the open air and the blue sky above and the greenest grass that you have ever seen in your life, the perfectly manicured infield and those white Tiger uniforms of the players contrasted against that green grass as they played catch on the sidelines or shagged fly balls in the outfield. I think in the late 60's, it was every kid's dream in that city to be a Detroit Tiger. In my 8 year old's mind, those guys down on that field...Al Kaline and Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley and Stormin Norman Cash and Denny McLain and Bill Freehan and Willie Horton...they were the coolest guys in town and they had the coolest job that anyone could ever have. Where does the time go? Seems like yesterday...

[@A1Adaydreaming]

@AjaxEddiefan Great to hear that a Toronto guy was pulling for us back in 68 here in Detroit. Thanks for that. But I am also pretty sure that if we were talking about the Red Wings it would be a different story. I never met a Maple Leaf fan who would root for the Wings under ANY circumstances! haha... Thanks for your reply. Made my day. Cheers to you my Canadian brother.

[@A1Adaydreaming]

@AjaxEddiefan haha....Love it. Miggy is like a little kid trapped in a grown man's body. His interactions with the fans is legendary. If you yell at him he will just come over and shoot the breeze with you. I sure hope there is baseball this year. Stay safe my friend!

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

I was 8 in 68 as well. As you described, I will never forget the first time I emerged from the darkness and all that green just exploded. 1967, Earl Wilson beat the Red Sox. My old man wasn't much of a sports fan but the company he worked for had box-seats right over first base. We would sit in the front row, upper deck, right over Norm Cash. Dad knew Denny McClain and Al Kaline were my favorite players so whenever he could he would get tickets when Denny was pitching. Every kid I knew had #6 ironed onto their Tiger tee-shirt. I brought my glove every game and never sniffed a foul ball. The next day, I would be watching the game from home and see like six or seven land right where I was sitting the day before. Oh well. Best memory, Tigers against the Angels, I think it was 71, maybe 72. We were down by 8 runs in the 7th and people were heading for the exits. The guy that was with us that day asked the old man if he was ready to leave and he said no, let's let the traffic thin out a bit. We scored 10 runs that inning. Aurelio Rodriguez led off the inning with a triple and hit a three run shot his next time up that same inning. Kaline hit one that inning almost cleared the roof in left-field, furthest I'd ever seen anyone hit one. We ended up winning 13-10. I was so horse from yelling I couldn't talk for the rest of the day. How I loved that old ball park. I've been to several games at Comerica but it's just not the same. The funny thing is, they called the old ballpark a stadium and the new stadium a ballpark. They got it backwards if you ask me. $2.00 seats in the bleachers, doing the wave in 84, banging those old green seats when a rally was going on, Sunday double-headers for the price of one ticket, even those pole seats out in the left-field grandstands. There'll never be another park quite like Tiger Stadium. And that's a shame.

[@A1Adaydreaming]

@@itinerantpatriot1196 Thanks for posting these memories. We were lucky to have those days as 8 year olds. Those memories will never leave me. I think that those times probably were some of the best times of our lives. I know that I appreciate it more now than I did then. You and I were lucky kids, my friend.

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

@@A1Adaydreaming We sure were. We went crazy watching Curt Flood misplay Jim Northrups line shot in game 7 and when Mickey kept the Cards at bay to beat the unbeatable Bob Gibson the feeling was like no other. When you're 8 you think they're going to win the Series every year. Denny ended up breaking my heart (even though he did manage to tie for the Cy Young again the next season, something that's rarely mentioned) but Al remained my hero until the day he died. Good old #6, the only player on any team I cried for when I heard he passed. Such a classy player. And what a cannon. Could he throw? No one took third on Al. And opposing players were unanimous that he never tried any cheap stuff on the field. A true gentleman. Mr. Tiger. Willie the Wonder, trying to hold our bats like McCauliffe, Jim Northrup and his propensity for hitting grand slams, and sitting on the porch with a transistor radio at night, listening to Ernie to call it all ("a young man from Kalamazoo caught that one"). Okay, I'll stop. I could go on and on about that club and the 84 team. I was fortunate enough to attend Sparky's number retirement and Jack Morris's as well. I feel so bad for kids today. Baseball was life to us growing up. You had to get to the schoolyard early in the summer to claim a diamond. If only I could have hit the curve ball. Thanks for posting and getting me thinking about the good old days. Faygo, Vernors, Better-Made, Sanders, Greenfield Village, The Chevelle and The Mustang, and of course the Tigers. The riots were bad but Detroit was a special place at that time. I just finished writing a story that takes place in that era (67-73). Seen through the eyes of a kid of course. Write what you know I'm told. Wouldn't want to re-live most of it but the parts that were good were great. Thanks again.

[@ProVibes]

RIP yankee stadium

[@miguelrivera6793]

We shoulda kept it 😭😭

[@dorothysewing9997]

I like that they made the new stadium look like the old stadium (before the renovation).

[@dylanhanson6830]

Forgot Comiskey Park in Chicago 1910-1990.

[@kevosuss4537]

And did they seriously forget to show Ebbets Field.

[@tollboothjason]

Is 0:07 - 0:14 Comiskey?

[@HankFinkle11]

Dylan Hanson I went there for the last night game. You were on top of the action. I felt the ghosts from players past. Was a great evening.

[@dylanhanson6830]

toll_booth: Yes I know but didn't talk about the Baseball Palace of the world.

[@prausch65]

Yes sir, major mistake here, Comiskey when it opened I believe in 1908 or 9 was touted as :the "Baseball Palace of the World"

[@scottscottsdale7868]

Tiger stadium was magical. The hot dogs were sublime. The peanut shells on the floor. I even saw a Lions game there one freezing winters day when I was a kid.

[@Il_Exile_lI]

The great thing about baseball parks compared to other sports is that every one is unique. Every basketball court, hockey rink, and football field has the exact same dimensions and features, but every baseball field is different. Things like the Green Monster at Fenway, the Warehouse at Camden Yards, the Ivy at Wrigley and McCovey Cove in San Fran give many baseball parks a unique and one of a kind character that just isn't possible for stadiums and arenas in other sports. Even the fact that no two parks have the same dimensions and many have unorthodox, asymmetrical designs provides them with a distinct character.

[@bushwxcker540]

And some of them have special effects for home runs; for example at a Tigers game when they hit a homer water shoots out of the fountain with the Chevy cars above it.

[@mlilien]

Il Exile lI There's even stadiums with minor things like the aquarium at Tropicana Field, the 21 foot wall at PNC Park, and the apple in center field at Citi Field.

[@prausch65]

Agreed, this very fact makes classic ballparks not only intimate and unusual, but makes them hallowed ground.

[@Kreege]

Many old NHL rinks used to have differing dimensions. Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 196' x 85' (Neutral Zone smaller then regulation), Boston Garden - 191' x 83' (One offensive zone was smaller than the other), Chicago Stadium - 188' x 85' (Smallest rink in the league), Detroit Olympia - 200' x 83' (2 feet shorter in width), Maple Leaf Gardens (regulation size 200' x '85, but had sharper, more rectangular corners). Sadly the Olympia was replaced in the 70s and the rest of them were replaced in the 90s.

[@disoriented1]

Amazing now as the "K" in Kansas City..built in '72..is now a veteran ballpark..and increasingly unique with no corporate sponsor

[@katherineberger6329]

The K, Angel Stadium, Nationals Park, Dodger Stadium, and Yankee Stadium. Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are a bit of a corner case as yes they are corporate named, but they're corporate named by the the same company that's owned the naming rights for nearly 70 years (Busch), and over a century (Wrigley and Fenway). The naming rights part is a little bit of why I find myself as time goes on missing the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

[@AndrewDorsey27]

@@katherineberger6329 Camden Yards also doesnt have a corporate sponsor and I hope it stays that way

[@grahamgraczyk4989]

Come on they never mentioned Forbes Field. Pittsburgh. 1909-1970.

[@StewartUSAF]

I'm guessing it's because of 1960.

[@prausch65]

Yes agreed 100 percent, but the outfield walls remain today, but ,yes, home plate is in the men's room, fact.

[@prausch65]

You got it!

[@notsure6187]

or Fenways brother, Braves Field

[@jonathanhanser5914]

Great park and neighborhood!

[@APMUMBP]

Would love a longer segment of each ball park. Not a big baseball fan. But a huge fan of the history of baseball.

[@prausch65]

I feel the same, it was a network documentary, using amateur footage compilations. I feel MLB should have a documentary produced, but just a dream.

[@pigjubby1]

Dodger fans here. Love my Dodgers I must say that anyone who removes Fenway Park should be jailed. That is still the park with the most character. Lucky to have been there twice.

[@strom6592]

Same

[@kevaninthe4135]

Red Sox fan here. I love Fenway Park. A true treasure. But then I went to Gillette Stadium to see the Patriots play and immediately wanted the spacious seating and leg room I enjoyed there at Fenway.

[@prausch65]

Agreed , Fenway must live eternally along with Wrigley Field.

[@grumpyoldgraymetalhead2441]

I cannot imagine life without Fenway Park.

[@df5295]

Wrigley Field too.

[@terrafirma91]

This was in an era when the fans appreciated their players, as with the woman in Cincinnati who said they would bake cakes for players on their birthdays. Fans weren't ill mannered as we see in many venues today. Of course, you always had a few jerks from time to time, but nothing like now.

[@716fishing7]

The players weren't greedy ignorant srubs back in the day either

[@de-fault_de-fault]

716fishing Are you sure about that? I mean, I'm willing to say the players were not quite as bad overall, but they weren't saints either. Remember that back then (a) there was no internet and (b) the sportswriters had to watch what they wrote or they wouldn't get into the clubhouse next time, which would ultimately cost them their jobs. A lot of stuff got swept under the rug as a result - that's why the entire baseball establishment couldn't attack Jim Bouton fast enough when Ball Four came out.

[@latinolawdog5067]

+terrafirma91 The big difference is, players weren't paid what they were worth back then due to the system that was in place (i.e. no free agency). This means players got paid about as much as carpenters and accountants back then, even though they had a much more marketable skill. With players and fans being paid about the same amount (or close enough to avoid mass jealousy and resentment), the rapport was much greater between the two. Of course, it's human nature to generally dislike anyone who is rich if they aren't themselves, and when the market was corrected and players were paid what they were truly worth, their salaries escalated and the rapport died with it. Rich people and "not rich" people understandably don't mesh well by nature, and there's not really much you can do about that except make the rich people "not rich" again. The only way to do that is quit consuming the product.

[@latinolawdog5067]

+716fishing Yes, they absolutely were. Players held out all the time, refused to play with blacks, smoked, drank, slept with multiple women (even married players). All humans are greedy, it's what makes the world go 'round. Players were indentured servants back then and didn't have the basic freedoms they enjoy today (i.e. free agency), that's the only difference . They had to "play nice" back then...no other choice.

[@prausch65]

This is of course before the game became a business. so interesting to hear from the old time fans.

[@user-tq1tf6hh9w]

The double decker wonder that was Tiger Stadium.

[@dennisahr545]

If you have a chance, listen to Frank Sinatra sing, "There Used To Be a Ball Park Right Here". It's thought the writer was referring to Ebbets Field, but a listener can dream about any of these old ball parks.

[@prausch65]

Agreed, anyone who mourns the loss of their home town park can relate to this song.

[@phillipgarrow2297]

I'm from Michigan I hated to see tiger stadium go there was a lot of history there

[@prausch65]

My choice would be Ebbets Field as well, it seemed to have all the charactor of a classic baseball park you could ever want.

[@jpsned]

My Dad grew up in Brooklyn and saw many games at Ebbets Field. I think he also saw some games at the Polo Grounds as well, even though he was strictly a Dodgers fan. I remember seeing some of these old ballparks on TV when my Mets played at them in the early 1970s, before the "Stadiums R Us" cookie-cutter design craze took over. (When Citi Field was built to replace Shea Stadium, it was supposed to be reminiscent of Ebbets Field. When my Dad and I went there for the first time, my Dad said to the ticket taker--whom he could tell was about his age--"This doesn't look like Ebbets Field at all!" To which the guy replied, "Ya got that right!" 🙂

[@yankees137733]

Polo grounds would have been great 2 see. Its sad they tare down all these great baseball stadiums. Being a baseball fan in NY must have been awesome when they had 3 teams in NYC. A time long gone. Very sad

[@otaviofrn_adv]

Especially when the World Series was the (ny) World Series. They had ten of the Yankees against the Dodgers or the Giants in the classic era, and another one in 2000 between the Yankees and the Mets

[@zerubbablestranger6970]

So I work in TV and I meet Vin Scully, what wonderful gentleman he is, but I had to tell him I’m a Giants fan, he says “I hope to change that”. Anyway, I tell him that if I had a Ballpark to pick as my favorite it’d be Ebbets Field ..... he looked at me a bit askew and asked “now why would a Giants fan say that?” So I explained that I loved hearing the stories about how close the fans were to the players and action on the field to which he agreed and said it was his experience that ol’ Ebbets was not unique in that a number of the old stadiums were like that. Too bad those old ballparks aren’t still around, completely different atmosphere and society now. By the way...... I’m still a Giants fan 😉

[@otaviofrn_adv]

Man... I could listen to Vin Scully call on my boring life hahaha. Just too much knowlege about the game and many of it's greatest figures. I mean, he met Connie Mack in person. And he ended his career three years ago. He met people born over 100 years apart. It would take a lifetime to hear it all

[@pep590]

Interesting for the most part how we all get sentimental about these old ballparks, but except for a very few, football stadiums on the other hand mean very little, yet we all love our football teams.

[@RhinoXpress]

but yankee staduim was soo heavily renovated over the course of its lifespan that it had very little in common with the originally built version. at least with wrigley and fenway those two parks have stayed pretty much the same over the years.

[@Philtration]

I was at the last game at Comiskey Park. I really miss that place.

[@TheBatugan77]

I went to a game in 1984. Sat along 3B/LF. Kept thinking... "Shoeless Joe played...right there..."

[@ZombieBacon13]

"Theres something beautiful about being lost". There isn't a better description of nostalgia

[@dennismoore8297]

I saw the Phils vs Dodgers in September 1963 and the Phils vs Cards in September 1964 at old Connie Mack Stadium. (I also saw Phils vs Braves at Veteran Stadium, and saw the Phils vs Astros at Citizens Bank Park.) I watched hundreds of games of the Phillies play the NL on black and white TV. Most of my memories of Connie Mack Stadium are B&W.

[@robertthomas2001]

Sitting in Ebbet's field was like being invited to a drunken party with a raunchy band bellowing none stop, A thousand billboards to read, uniquely Brooklyn with players as colorful as their fans. Ebbets field had the intimacy of a phone booth and a baseball culture as strong as it's smell of sharp mustard and cigars . To see the Duke of Flatbush paste one deep into Bedford Avenue against the black night sky, as a memory, it will last eternal.

[@prausch65]

I like this reply only because there's not many who I know that had the Ebbets Field experience. A truly legendary ball park.

[@antonchigurh7820]

I envy you. If I could go back in time and go to just ONE ballpark it would be Ebbets Field...

[@donnathomas7897]

As a young boy I was blessed to be able to see a game at Connie mack, Forbes field and the old polo grounds. Memories I will never forget. What a wonderful life it was!!! srl

[@easfgman4687]

oh man, what i would give to go back and see these beauties. it would be awesome if the next stadium built would be a replica of one of these parks. brought back to life and kind of a tribute to a better time in the history of the game.

[@charleszymurgy1764]

I'm disappointed that this video showed and spoke NOTHING of Braves Field in Boston. Of course, these filmmakers were probably born AFTER the Braves left Beantown for Milwaukee, in the early Spring of 1953.

[@kendallsmith1458]

Fond memories of sitting in the Tiger Stadium bleachers drinking and smoking on a summer afternoon. You could have a great time for $10!

[@williamsnyder5616]

I grew up a Tigers fan and I certainly loved Briggs/Tiger Stadium. Without a doubt, a great place to watch a game. But I do have a confession to make. Growing up in west Michigan, I wished my dad had taken me down to Chicago just once because every time I saw Comiskey Park, I saw something special about the architecture. Take another look at this video and you'll notice the almost church-like windows in the background.

[@prausch65]

Ive been to Detroit and saw the exterior of Tiger Stadium, similar to Yankee in size, but yes I saw the windows as I passed.Comiskey had some great external features as well.

[@Jiltedin2007]

R.I.P.: To all the Ball Parks below: The Polo Grounds Ebbets Field Yankee Stadium(The House that Ruth Built) Cleveland Municipal Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium Metropolitan Stadium Veterans Stadium Three Rivers Stadium Riverfront Stadium Atlanta Fulton County Stadium Shea Stadium Candlestick Park Jack Murphy Stadium The Kingdome in Seattle Tiger Stadium Busch Stadium Arlington Stadium Memorial Stadium in Baltimore Exhibition Stadium in Toronto

[@RobertPiche-ii9dt]

As in many cases newer ain't better!! The 1970's MLB, NBA & especially the NFL, were ALL far, far superior to any of the garbage today!!!

[@charliekindlesparger5502]

My Dad told me stories of Sportsmans Park in St Louis....In the 40's they had a thing called the "knothole club" the Cardinals gave free passes to kids to see the game....not trying to look thru the "knotholes" in some of the old boards, ...he had that card up until our house burned down March 14 1968 in a snowstorm....I would've loved to have that now...he was a Navy diesel/electric sub sailor YN 1 (SS) ...20 years...passed in 2003....I miss his stories

[@TheBatugan77]

Some of you... You know who you are... Should be ashamed of yourselves.

[@DoubleStar92]

I’m so thankful I spent some time at Tiger Stadium watching ballgames there. Rip

[@mb13972]

One of the most humiliating things in baseball was when a pitcher was taken out of a game at the Polo Grounds. He didn't just walk the short distance to his dugout. He had to walk more than the length of a football field out to the center field clubhouse. All alone. No golf cart.

[@jbrhel]

I'm sorry sir, but Shea can't be considered a classic park for two reasons: first, it opened in 1964 and second it was little more than an upholstered men's room.

[@gonedeep43]

Old Comiskey was old and smelled of urine. The neighborhood was dangerous at the time and you saw night games at your own risk. Old and new Comiskey will never have the charm of Wrigley.

[@timlamb6196]

Tiger stadium was my second home. I lived about 2 miles west of there. 4 generations of my family has been at that park including my son.

[@kyokogodai-ir6hy]

Thinking about Tiger Stadium made me cry. So many wonderful memories. Taking Pop to games, to see the Yankees play. I miss that stadium. Comerica Park isn't a ball park. It is a monstrosity. The Illitch Family can shove it!

[@Paul_J._Poduslo]

All of these long lost ballparks are replicated in Heaven; if we have faith in God we will visit them some glorious day.

[@csgaming-more66]

Damn. I'm a giants fan and I will never forget polo grounds

[@Rockhound6165]

I think the fact that many, if not all, of these ballparks were right there in residential neighborhoods had a lot to do with them being special. Shibe Park was right there at 21st and Lehigh in Philly. My dad used to tell me that a kid would come out and tell you he'll watch your car for a quarter and you better pay it. You don't get that now. Oh, what was said in the beginning, you can now throw the original Yankee Stadium into the lost ballpark heap now.

[@lonniestephens6254]

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if those classic ballparks were actually recreated?

[@slyguythreeonetwonine3172]

"They see it as some kind of hallowed ground." It is.

[@myturtlesrock48]

Where is county stadium you have no respect for the braves and the brewers

[@TheBatugan77]

At the old Yankees Stadium... You could leave after the game via the outfield. So we walked on the same field as the Babe, Lou, Joe and the Mick...who had played that day!

[@otaviofrn_adv]

A question: could you visit Monument Park on the way? I think you're talking about the stadium pre-1973, when the original plaques were in playing territory

[@TheBatugan77]

​@@otaviofrn_adv You are correct. Only three monuments. In dead centerfield. Pre-1973.

[@TheBatugan77]

Tiger Stadium was fantastic. I flew there from SD in its final year. Terrific.

[@lorrainedejesus1897]

who is watching 2019

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

Shut up

[@davidvanzant2019]

They should have just left them alone something needs fix it and still play there ❤

[@wilrobles5392]

Unfortunately, time moves on. Oh to be able to go back in time to go to catch a ball game here and there.

[@alanl1577]

Should have included Comiskey Park which I visited in 1990. Before the Detroit Tigers had Tiger stadium, they played at a very quaint small venue called Navin Field.

[@VallesView]

As of 2018, the site of Navin Field is now a youth baseball park. I'd like to visit it one day. www.freep.com/story/sports/2018/03/24/first-pitch-thrown-former-tiger-stadium-site-now-home-youth-league/455952002/

[@jackstueve4419]

Grew up going to Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and have made it my mission to see all the older parks before they disappeared. Have no interest in seeing the new ones; you've seen one you've seen them all, but Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Comiskey, Wrigley, Tiger Stadium, Crosley are some I've seen. Wish I'd seen Ebbets, Shibe, Polo Grounds. My favorite stadium is the any one built without public funding, the last of which I believe is Dodger Stadium. That's the last one on my bucket list.

[@Mark-sj3xb]

The new parks have the casual consumer in mind, not the purist baseball fan. Now it’s all the extracurricular that get attention including the area around the park. Free Agency killed the game as we know it. They have to pay these huge salaries so they can’t bring in the revenue by just appeasing true baseball fans.

[@prausch65]

@SamusAbe Your welcome Samus Abe, I spent my youth in new York's Shea Stadium with many great memories of seeing a ball game with my father. I also was at the original Yankeee Stadium in 1973.

[@peterp2153]

Great video. I loved the color footage; really brings the past to life! I also enjoyed learning more about some old parks I’d only known of by name. Specifically Crosley with its interesting path to the clubhouse and it’s hill in left. Being a NYer Yankee fan, I liked seeing the subway stop over the stadium. I knew where the Grounds were but seeing the subway it was like I still could tell exactly where it was, passing that area in the Deegan Expwy every day.

[@dr.migilitoloveless2385]

Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

[@peterterry398]

PNC Park in Pittsburgh is a great intimate park , its probably the nicest ballpark around now......just needs a few more fans!!

[@kimkiss6312]

In my heart Pirates play at 3 Rivers and Reds at Riverfront. Loved those days

[@johnsavignano2339]

You look at old stadiums,it makes me dislike what baseball has become.

[@chrisrhoads8256]

Its all about the dollar 💵 🤑 these days/ i love ❤ ole school ball parks 😊

[@MrSoxfan56]

Comiskey in Chicago was one of the best,I went to hundreds of games there,I still miss it to this day.

[@Cheryltwin2012]

I saw my first professional game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cardinals were playing the Dodgers that afternoon--Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax. But since I was only 3 years old, I have no conscious memory of it; only a Polaroid my father took of me and my twin sister by one of the concession stands. I cherish that photo because I'm sure that was the moment when my father handed down his love of baseball and the Cardinals to me and my sister.

[@prausch65]

Thank you for sharing this memory. I loved the in sturdy looking stands this classic park had. And don't forget the Browns played there!

[@grumpyoldgraymetalhead2441]

Gibson vs Koufax? I would have loved to have seen that!

[@otaviofrn_adv]

@@grumpyoldgraymetalhead2441 even if each of them give 10 runs, is a good one to see

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

The original Yankee stadium is a ghost now.

[@ronmyers2317]

I have been to dozens of games at Tiger Stadium. The best memories of my life have been there. I was in tears watching the closing ceremonies in 1999 on television. And even with the obstructed-view seats it didn't seem to matter much the beams coming down obstructing your view.. I only had to deal with that one time at a game I went to. The only thing I couldn't see was the third baseman. A very memorable game when Aurelio Lopez struck out the last batter in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. The place just erupted. So many memories and I miss that old place so bad. My nephew threw out the first pitch for a game in 96. The only time I got to go on the field. I could go on all day. I'll just say the best years of the major league ballparks have passed never to be seen again.

[@TheBatugan77]

I travelled from San Diego to Detroit to see Tiger Stadium before it closed. The 17th and 16th to last games. They had a number posted in Centerfield. Very sad. But a wonderful venue to watch a game!

[@ronmyers2317]

@@TheBatugan77 were you a Padres fan or were you just surrounded by them being in San Diego? You would have wanted to be here in 84.

[@TheBatugan77]

@@ronmyers2317 I am a lifelong diehard Yankee fan from the Bronx. But I adopted the Padres during my 10 years stationed in San Diego. From 1994-2003. Believe it or not, I rooted for SD against the NYY in 1998.

[@Trainy2]

The Polo Grounds. What a crazy place to play baseball with the horseshoe dimensions and I love how the clubhouses were in center field and they had to use stairs to get to them.

[@TheBatugan77]

I always liked to tell myself... "I could have hit a home run there!" (258 ft. to right ..)

[@Trainy2]

@@TheBatugan77 Hell yeah! It would be a dream to take BP there!

[@jonathanhanser5914]

PG ...great mystique all 4 of them

[@Rockhound6165]

I was old enough to have been able to go to Shibe Park, later named Connie Mack Stadium but I never got to go. The final year was 1970 when I was 5 years old. My first ever live game was at the brand new Veterans Stadium which, at the time, was the future of sports stadiums, the multipurpose stadiums. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis all had these stadiums. To me, it was the greatest thing in the world with the 2 giant scoreboards, the dancing green fountains in center field, the big Liberty Bell on the façade of the upper deck flanked by Phil & Phillis(the Campbell Soup Kids who still live at Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township, NJ). To a kid like me it was a palace. Eventually that stadium resembled a large urinal in both looks and smell but now that it, too, is gone, I kind of miss it. 1971-2003. My childhood officially ended when they imploded it in 2004. I did have the pleasure of visiting Yankee Stadium in 1979 and will never forget it. Oh, and that is gone now too.

[@siano3400]

lived in the Bronx all my life. went to see the giants at the polo grounds.we useto walk out on the field after a yankee game. I use to put my feet in joe d's cleat marks and also mickey's. I hated to see the old ballparks go

[@prausch65]

Ive had my share of these at Shea Stadium!

[@bigbadbruins1]

They should of preserved all these old parks.,

[@karlcooper8460]

Some of these ballparks should have been perserved as museums instead of being torn down.

[@dr.migilitoloveless2385]

The old Astrodome still stands but it's pretty much unused.

[@usarmy500]

RIP Yankee Stadium

[@dannywallace4905]

Love baseball history

[@chperezjr]

The USA little by little had lost creativity

[@mscubsfan]

I wasn't born until 1971,but it is fun to look back at all the lost ballpark especially the polo grounds or ebbits field

[@Resultsnottalk]

Miss those old parks.

[@danacoleman4007]

Good lord, I love baseball!

[@MrGregOtis]

No need to thank me for the post, and please call me Greg. It has been difficult to pin down any changes to Fenway's field dimensions over the years. I remember the TV commentators back in the 60s making comments about the left field line and they themselves not knowing its true length. One commentator claimed to have asked a Fenway official about it and not given an answer. Over the years I have always wanted to sneak in at night with a tape measure to find out for myself.

[@springinfialta106]

Is the narrator Alec Baldwin? Isn't he a communist? Why is he talking about baseball? Shouldn't he be narrating a documentary on soccer or some other socialist sport?

[@crixxxxxxxxx]

looks like we found the Trump humper.

[@deletedaccount6900]

Dude, please stop. It's people like you that make the right look bad. Also soccer, a "socialist sport"? Ya kidding me right?

[@TheOldTapeArchive]

I'll take intimacy with posts than the clear views of most of today's run of the mill parks. And do you need 4-star restaurants in a ballpark? How can a batter focus on the pitch when he knows that behind the black batter's screen, a 300 lb man is scarfing down veal parmigiana and linguini.

[@pigjubby1]

Did a solo, cross-country trip in the summer of '94. Yeah, great timing. The strike was happening. I visited so many parks and nobody would let me in. They were all pricks about it. The only lace that let me in was Cleveland Stadium. I explained what I was doing and they all refused, even to just take one single photo. The Tigers' park were the worst of them all, followed by the Cubs and White Sox. The people working at those places were dick heads.

[@pigjubby1]

They WERE the worst. Luckily the city is a failure and has no desire to be seen. My bad.

[@home3363308]

+pigjubby1 you still cant get into tiger park.

[@pigjubby1]

I know. Gone forever. Sad.

[@rebeccadaswick8639]

So glad we still have Wrigley Field!!! Nothing like getting a sunburn while sitting in the bleacher seats with a breeze coming off the lake!

[@JTDutch]

... Why do they always call the 1950s the "Golden Age" of baseball? It was the decade where baseball was in the most trouble it's ever been. How many other decades saw over 30% of the franchises in baseball relocating to other cities?

[@JohnnyNiteTrain]

I can't find where to watch this entire series anywhere Baseball's Golden Age. Not streaming anywhere. Not even for purchase. Hell I can't even find the DVD set.

[@peterjeffery8495]

LOL funny to hear people get all misty eyed talking about Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Maybe in the 50's it was something to behold. However nearing the end of its life 40+ years later I recall a local Cleveland Baseball Writer refer to it as "an upholstered bomb crater". That may well be my favorite definition of anything, ever. Another facility with zero appeal, missed by nobody, was what passed for a Ballpark when the Blue Jays were brand new. Exhibition (Excruciation) Stadium was just a few hundred yards from the North Shore of Lake Ontario. You couldn't leave your warm jacket at home til mid June. After the sun went down a cold oppressive damp mist would engulf the stadium and its aluminum bench seats made you lust for the 7th inning stretch just so you could stand and let the blood flow back to your butt. The sight lines were awful, the concessions worse....you couldn't buy a beer in the park til just before the Jays packed up and left....12 years NO BEER! One last ignominious note, it established a record first back in the early 80's when a game was called on account of WIND! Yes the wind was blowing so hard off the Lake that Jim Clancy, a (BIG solid Jays RH couldn't keep himself from being blown off the mound. As Yogi said, you could look it up!

[@JJJerryrum]

i think the one guy on there hit the nail right on the head when he said he would have loved to have spent one year in the 1950's broadcasting baseball the world today is so fucked up alot of people would give anything to go back to a simpler time before luxury suites and restaurants and seen just 1 game in sportsmans park and the polo grounds and shibe and tiger and forbes and ebbets and crosley and comiskey and griffith and the old yankee stadium i kno i would

[@RyansColoradoRailProductions]

Is that Alec Baldwin narrating?

[@kool-aidcorncrap7880]

Lost in all this are the fans seems like the sports wrighters take all the credit but the simple fan like me just remaber being a kid and so excited to go catch a game at tiger stadium with my folks i can remaber seeing Mark ( the bird ) pitch twice it was unreal he was a phenom and also seeing Ron leflore lead the league in stolen bases can remember Rusty Staub how he would choke up on the bat also remember the 84 tigers Alan Trammell , Lou Whitaker , Lance Parrish , Kirk Gibson , Jack Morris all come up through their farm system at around the same time I can remember Gibby's dramatic home runs!!! The smell of the hot dogs ( those Ball Park Franks with mustard we're so good ) can remember Bat Day and hat day what the old English D on it and can't forget about Cecil Fielder and his rooftop jobs and when he hit 51 home runs that year and last but not least the last game that was played at Tiger Stadium Robert Fick's rooftop home run to win the game so dramatic that's the way it should have ended P.S. wish I would have had the chance to see the greats play there Ty Cobb , Hank Greenberg , Al Kaline ect...ect...bless you boyz 🐯⚾🚩

[@briandrum1]

Yea, so? That was a set-up and he had no idea what the girls age was. It wasn't "rape" in the sense of him overpowering a girl. It was rape because she was a minor, and like I said, he did not know that....

[@bigbadbruins1]

I would give 10 grand to watch 1 game at Polo Grounds and Ebbets field.

[@Hank13608]

The aroma of stale cigar smoke and beer embedded into concrete can never be replicated in modern stadiums--something unique that made a ballpark a ballpark. R.I.P. Yankee Stadium.

[@ronpeacock9939]

Part of the charm of the old parks is that they all existed PRIOR to the greed of the modern ERA... all of them were made useless because the owners and players got more greedy and needed the bigger cathedrals to the sport for more fans and more concession and anything else you can spend money on. That and they no longer tried to fit the park in the hole in the neighborhood.. the leveled the neighborhood and built them in their stead... I'm sad to say that the best parks all existed before my time... all that's left now, Wrigley and Fenway... and even they have been remodeled to the point that some of their charm is gone. (again.. GREED). Cities should make the teams own their own stadiums.. because lets face it.. if the Dodgers had still owned Ebbits , they would not have moved.. if the Giants owned the Polo Grounds.. they'd still be in NY. Same goes for other Pro-Teams in other pro-leagues..

[@Chillaxinmellow]

Why doesn't MLB rebuild these ballparks as replicas and put them near Cooperstown or in the middle of the country. Play minor league games in old jerseys or something. It'd be an amazing attraction.

[@L.I.Thunderbolt1003]

I would have loved to see a game in Shea stadium !

[@prausch65]

I did, a real no frills ball park.

[@hounddog946]

I grew up watching Orioles Spring Training at Miami Stadium. Shittystadium in a dangerous neighborhood but the concessionaires would sell me beer at 12 years old.

[@thomasfoley1699]

When was this originally produced? Thanks. Appreciate you.

[@jakedasnake7703]

Come on didn’t even mention Forbes field in Pittsburgh. My my grandparents took my parents to games in the 60s and my grandparents went to the games when they were younger too 40-50s so nostalgic. Golden era of the Bucs too we stink now although pnc park is the best modern ballpark rn tho

[@vaibanez17]

Comiskey Park was awful toward the end but toward the beginning it was the palace of all of baseball, the original "New Grand Ballpark Stadium"

[@michaelcramer5595]

HEY what about Comiskey Park!?! This post is incomplete!

[@BaseballNum5]

Should have mentioned League Park in Cleveland, which preceded even Municipal Stadium.

[@franciscocasillas6824]

I don't think they mentioned Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates...

[@prausch65]

If you read on you may know why.

[@TracksideViews]

Tiger stadium was fortunate it never collapsed during a game.

[@razormc954]

Some Modern ballparks are nice, Camden Yards, GABP, Coors Field, Miller Park, PNC, Petco, Safeco Field, Nationals Park, Busch Stadium III, Comerica (though there was nothing wrong with the old Tiger Stadium), Minute Maid, and Marlins Park. Though as long as the stadiums are structurally sound, the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs should never leave Fenway, Wrigley, and Dodger Stadium

[@prausch65]

This should make them National landmarks, but MLB is a business, but I agree, they have to be preserved

[@posysdogovych2065]

GABP sucks ass to be honest. So does Miller Park.