Baseball used to be played in cozy, intimate neighborhood ballparks whose dimensions reflected the quirks of their neighborhoods. Then baseball stadiums became soulless but practical concrete behemoths. Today, they are a fascinating combination of the two: big but quirky, high-tech but homey. Readers can trace this fascinating history through the lavishly illustrated, deeply detailed pages of Ballparks, Yesterday & Today.

Five extensive chapters take readers from the earliest makeshift ballfields o the corporate-sponsored architectural marvels of today, like Target Field in Minneapolis, the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, and Citi Field in Queens, New York. Multiple photos, illustrations, and all manner of memorabilia festoon nearly every one of the book's 160 pages. Here is a brief look at each of the chapters:

• Early Ballparks 1870-1900. Includes photos of the original Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Boston's South End Grounds, and Union Park in Baltimore.
• The Golden Age 1901-1932. The Polo Grounds, Tiger Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and dozens more, all fully detailed.
• Early Expansion 1933-1966. Candlestick Park, Dodger Stadium, the Houston Astrodome (dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World"), and many more.
• The Modern Age 1966-1988. The era of cookie-cutter stadiums and their final manifestations, like the Kingdome and the Metrodome.
• The Second Golden Age 1989-Today. Jacobs Field, Great American Ballpark, the new Busch Stadium, Petco Park, Citi Field, Target Field, Comerica Park, and more.

Read Ballparks, Yesterday & Today and realize that our experience of the great American pastime is deeply influenced by the ballparks we have watched it in.