The Fields of New York

All levels of baseball can be found around us - - from little league to college - - from the minors to the major leagues. Across New York, as is the case across our country and around the world, men and boys alike play, watch, debate and dream about the game of baseball. These acts of leisure and purpose - - performed in parks, stadiums and fields - - are found everywhere. They take place near rivers and canals, near railroad tracks and skylines, and near schools, parks and homes. Whether surrounded by trees or 50,000 seats, or measured by acres or city blocks, the medium for this past time (the playing field) exudes a unique symmetry, order and beauty. This island of ritual provides refuge for whomever seeks it. 
Unlike most other sports, the baseball field presents a path with the same beginning and ending for both parties to the event. Both sides in this competition desire to reach the same physical place; not to defend superficially identical territory, end zones, baskets or nets. And while we do not know how it will happen, on a baseball field, we at least know where we were and where hope to end up: at home. What a special place it must be. Along the way, like in life, we submit to a particular order of things. 
We feel safe in this world of laws, rules and statistics. Perhaps it is the knowledge that records will be kept; memorializing our presence like photographs. Perhaps the safety and comfort we feel from being at the field is more sensory. Maybe it is the green surroundings, the ballpark’s architecture, the nearby body of water or the sound of a train in the background above the roar of the crowd. Maybe it’s the cold beer we enjoy in the sun or the familiar voice of the radio play-by-play guy. Maybe it is the skyline beyond the right field wall. 
But while safe here, we are also inspired. On a baseball field, our youth returns in a new and perfect form, omitting any bad memories. That early spark that gave us hope when we were young, like the meticulous records kept of past games, is immortalized. In whatever field you find yourself, this is the perfect place: a profound emotion, rarely born outside music, art and religion. Baseball fields are a place to be reborn, even if just for a few moments. It is temporary “immortality” captured all around us; what former baseball commissioner A. Bart Giamatti described as “a reservoir of transformation to which we can return when we are free to do so.” 
As lifelong New Yorkers, we wanted to create a book with photographs perhaps different from other baseball books. While we would be grateful if this book was found on your coffee table; we would be even happier if it was kept on the front seat of your car when you make your next trip across New York. 
In our pictures and accompanying comments, we seek to capture a glimpse of what Commissioner Giamatti might call New York’s “reservoirs of transformation.” We present just fifty (or so) of this state’s vast number of fields and baseball landmarks; most of them west of the Hudson. The Chapters are divided up by geography across New York State. We have also included selected New York memorials, museums, halls of fame and places where baseball fields used to be.