Veterans Stadium: Field Of Memories

Rich Westcott, who has written various baseball and other sports books, most of them focused on Philadelphia sports and in particular the Philadelphia Phillies, has come up with another winner in his 2005 book, "Veterans Stadium: Field of Memories". Very similar in format to Westcott's 1996 book, "Philadelphia's Old Ballparks" (a book I love), the book details the history of the stadium most commonly called The Vet, starting with the efforts in the mid-1950's to find a site for a new facility to replace the aging and increasingly inaccessible Connie Mack Stadium (aka Shibe Park) and the many conflicts that occurred in the 1960's that delayed the Vet's construction for years and its opening until 1971, and ending with the removal of artifacts from the stadium in late 2003 and early 2004 and its implosion into a pile of rubble on March 21, 2004. Of course, the core of the book discusses the events that took place on and off the field between April 1971 and September 2003, the time Veterans Stadium served as a sports venue. Much like "Philadelphia's Old Ballparks", the book contains many interesting stories developed from first-hand accounts and remembrances from former players, former coaches, media members, and fans who participated in, covered, and attended games at the stadium. These stories and remembrances give the book an enjoyable, easy-to-read feel, and in the case of the player, coach, and media stories, insights about how the men (and women) who performed and worked at Veterans Stadium felt about the place (which was mostly positive, perhaps to some people's surprise).Though the Vet served as the home for a variety of teams and events during its 33 year lifespan as a sports venue, such as the Army-Navy game, Temple college football, pro soccer's Philadelphia Atoms and Philadelphia Fury, and (a personal favorite) the USFL Philadelphia Stars, most of the book discusses the stadium's two primary tenants, Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies (1971-2003) and the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles (1971-2002). Westcott gives considerably more coverage to the Phillies, possibly because the Phillies played about 10 times as many games at the Vet as the Eagles, possibly because the Eagles viewed the Vet much more negatively than the Phillies did, possibly because Westcott (apparently) has greater interest in baseball history than football history. Whatever the reason(s), the inequity in the amount of Phillies' coverage vs. Eagles' coverage shows up in the writing. Though the stories and player comments in both the Phillies' and Eagles' sections are interesting and insightful, the Phillies section is very close to flawless (in this reviewer's opinion) while by contrast the Eagles section contains a few egregious errors. A pair of those errors can be found on page 122; the book says the Eagles came back from a 23-0 deficit in the 4th quarter in a 1985 game against the Washington Redskins (that game was against the Minnesota Vikings and the Eagles were the ones who blew that 23-0 4th quarter lead) and the Eagles' 1992 game at the Vet against the Arizona Cardinals was a Monday night game (the game was played on a Sunday afternoon, and the Cardinals were then known as the Phoenix Cardinals). These errors dock the book a star in my review.Despite a few flaws, "Veterans Stadium: Field of Memories", remains an enjoyable and engaging read for people who are Philadelphia sports fans and/or people who like books about baseball parks or sports venues. Though the Vet was much maligned by many people (especially media members and football players) by the end of its lifetime, and its design was considered by most people to be uninspiring (not only was it the last of the so-called "cookie cutter" stadiums built in the 1960's and early 1970's that strongly resembled one another, but it also did not break new ground in stadium construction, unlike its predecessors Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, Baker Bowl, and Franklin Field), the book proves a non-distinctive stadium can have a distinctive history. For people who attended games and events at the stadium, the Vet truly was what Mr. Westcott called it - a field of memories.