Customer Reviews

Crosley Field (OH) (Images of Baseball)

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This book has some interesting and rare pictures of Crosley Field. That being said, the author should be ashamed of himself for portraying himself as a Crosley Field expert. I was born one year before Crosley Field was torn down and can say with complete honesty that based on Cohen's finished product, I know more about the history of Crosley Field than he does. One of the most distinguishing aspects to Crosley Field was the Terrace in the outfield. In left field, the ground sloped up due to the field being built on an old brick yard. Later the Terrace was extended all the way around to right field. Still later, when MLB required all ballparks to have a warning track, Crosley Field was exempt since having to run up hill was warning enough that you were approaching the wall. Babe Ruth played there at the end of his career with the Boston Braves and left the field in disgust after falling on the Terrace. The author, in all his expertise of Crosley Field never bothered mentioning this even once in his book! It seems to me that he was lucky enough to have known a few people who could get their hands on some rare photos and he just threw them into the book and put a few captions underneath. Truth be told, there is way more info on players that had a cup of coffee in the bigs than anyone would care to know. He should have dedicated more pages to the namesake of his book, "Crosley Field" than some of the no names that played for the Reds.

The book Crosley Field (OH) by Irwin J. Cohen is really a very interesting book for anyone who loves baseball photos. I was born in 1943 in Washington D.C. We moved to Cincinnati when I was 8 and I went to grade school, high school, and to the University of Cincinnati, alumni of '67. I know Cincinnati well. I know Crosley Field very well. The photos in this book are outstanding collection of both the ball park and the players from the '40's to the '60's. The Arcadia books I have read before such as The Cincinnati Reds 1900 - 1950 are of a similar style. They tend to be largely photos with captions and limited text / stories.

So, on a photo only criteria I give this book five stars. Because there is limited text I give the overall book three stars. But, if you wish to see how Crosley Field really looked in the '40's '50's and 60's as well as seeing players who you knew when you were a young teenager you will be very happy you bought this book by I.J. Cohen.

Robert B. Payne, author of new book, Let There Be Light: A History of Night Baseball 1880 - 2008