Roadside Baseball: A Guide to Baseball Shrines Across America
By Chris Epting
Published: Sporting News Books
On Sale: Currently, $16.95.
Roadside Baseball is the ultimate guide for baseball fans to see some of the smaller attractions of baseball. It covers everything from the site of old Comiskey Park in Chicago to the site of baseball’s first perfect game in Worcester, MA. It covers the current parks (Fenway and Wrigley) and the parks that are long gone (the Polo Grounds and Sportsman’s Park).
The book itself is broken into 5 parts: the East, the South, the Midwest, the West, and Outside the Lines. Each section then has each state of the region, and all of the features within that state. Outside the Lines looks at Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada.
Within each state, they have the individual sites to visit. Each site give the city, the location, a phone number (if applicable), and a brief description of the attraction. For the sites that aren’t around any longer, like some of the older stadiums, he give the location of the plaques that represent the history, show where certain things were (home plate, locker rooms, etc), and gives general information of what happened. Each state also has a list of the Hall of Famers buried within each state.
One of the biggest drawing points of the book is it isn’t limited to Major League Baseball. There are numerous sites that deal with the Negro League and the minors, including the birth place of the Negro League in Kansas City. They also delve into some of the historic areas that developed baseball players, like Pierson, FL (the home town of Chipper Jones).
The book also gave a great look at what else you can do before and after a game. It goes from museums and shrines to restaurants and bars. Everything listed could help build the ultimate baseball road trip.
