Home of the Game: The Story of Camden Yards [Hardcover]

Thom Loverro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Home of the Game celebrates the unique position Camden Yards holds as a symbol of the modern game and a prototype for new ballparks across the country. It reveals how this revolutionary ballpark has changed the face of baseball as a sport and a business.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"If you consider baseball to be sports theater, a drama played out in green cathedrals," suggests Loverro in this spirited exploration of how one ballpark changed the essential experience of the fans and a city's image of itself, "then Camden Yards has become the stage for the game." Indeed it has, and the model for things to come as well. In the first half of his Camden yarn, Loverro reconstructs the complex thinking and planning that went into creating the archetype of new-wave retro ballparks. As he examines the confluence of events (including the remarkable collaboration between baseball and Baltimore) required to raise a mecca for the game and a renaissance for a city in decline, he also offers a smartly concise history of stadium evolution and shows the influence Camden Yards has had on every park built since. The book's second half is devoted to memorable moments on the field itself--none, of course, more dramatic and inspirational than the thrilling 1995 series against the Angels in which Cal Ripkin tied and then broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game streak. It was an event that first stirred baseball from its poststrike doldrums, a high drama played out on a stage that seemed custom-built for its very occasion. --Jeff Silverman

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878332227
• ISBN-13: 978-0878332229
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,909,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Angelos Apologism Mars This!, November 2, 1999

By 

Eric Paddon (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home of the Game: The Story of Camden Yards (Hardcover)

The story of the construction of Camden Yards is well-told and there are also some good accounts of Baltimore Oriole history since the park opened, particularly the controversy surrounding Cito Gaston's refusal to let Mike Mussina pitch during the 1993 All Star Game.

I was very surprised though to discover as I read, that author Loverro is the biggest apologist for Oriole owner Peter Angleos on the face of the earth. Every one of Angelos's actions that have helped turn the Orioles into a lousy team today are defended at every turn for all intents and purposes. I really can not figure out Loverro's defense of Angelos overriding GM Pat Gillick who wanted to trade Bobby Bonilla and David Wells during the 96 season. Sure, Baltimore got to an ALCS where they got outclassed by a superior Yankee team, but what Loverro fails to grasp is that the Orioles mortgaged their future way too much in going for a postseason where they had little chance of going all the way.

I would love to see an Orioles beat reporter one day write a defninitve history of the Angelos years, one that recognizes how Angelos today acts more like George Steinbrenner than Steinbrenner himself. This book unfortunately, despite its virtues in other areas, isn't it.