{"product_id":"rickwood-field-a-century-in-americas-oldest-ballpark-9780393069334","title":"Rickwood Field: A Century in America's Oldest Ballpark","description":"\u003cp\u003eAllen Barra has journeyed to his native Alabama to capture the glories of a century of baseball lore. In chronicling Rickwood Field's history, he also tells of segregated baseball and the legendary Negro Leagues while summoning the ghosts of the players themselves --Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Ted Willians, and Willie Mays -- who still haunt baseball's oldest Cathedral. But Rickwood Field, a place where the Ku Klux Klan once held rallies, has now become a symbol of hope and triumph, a stadium that reflects the evolution of a city where baseball was, for decades, virtually the sole connecting point between blacks and whites.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e While other fabled stadiums have yielded to the wrecker's ball, baseball's Garden of Eden seems increasingly invulnerable to the ravages of time. Indeed, the manually operated scoreboard still uses numbers painted on metal sheets, and on the right field wall, the Burma Shave sign hangs just as it did when the legendary Black Barons called the stadium their own. Not surprisingly, there is no slick or artificial turf here, only grass - and it's been trodden by the cleats of greats from Shoeless Joe Jackson to Reggie Jackson. Drawing on extensive interviews, best-selling author Barra evokes a southern city once rife with racial tension where a tattered ballpark was, and resplendently still is, a rare beacon of hope. Both a relic of America's past and a guidepost for baseball's future, \u003cem\u003eRickwood Field\u003c\/em\u003e follows the evolution of a nation and its pastime through our country's oldest active ballpark.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBarra, Allen:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eAllen Barra\u003c\/strong\u003e is a sports columnist for the \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e and the best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Last Coach\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eYogi Berra: Eternal Yankee\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eRickwood Field.\u003c\/em\u003e His writing appears in the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSalon\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in New Jersey.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50625528267026,"sku":"9780393069334","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_40846c56-ebf5-4a43-97bb-1cfc509a9ce8.jpg?v=1732631251","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/rickwood-field-a-century-in-americas-oldest-ballpark-9780393069334","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}