BASEBALLPARKS.COM's Ten Must-See Parks

Doubleday Field

The birthplace of baseball?  Or a fabrication of a "rigged" commission named to determine how the game of baseball was created?

It doesn't matter that modern-day scholarship says that Abner Doubleday was probably nowhere near Cooperstown during the summer of 1839 when he allegedly laid out the first baseball diamond and limited the number of players per side to nine.  It doesn't matter that a field owned by a Cooperstown farmer named Phinney was probably not the site of the first baseball game.   What does matter is that this very spot in upstate New York is where the origin of the sport is celebrated.  And that makes it very special indeed.

WHERE THIS PARK IS LOCATED:  Right on Main Street of Cooperstown, NY, just down the block from the Baseball Hall Of Fame.  

WHO PLAYS HERE:  Mostly the ghosts of Baseball Past.  Currently, there are tournaments and other special events here, most notably the annual Hall Of Fame Exhibition Game pitting two Major League teams.

SPECIAL EVENTS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED HERE:  According to the Mills Commission, formed in 1907 to determine the origin of the sport, a fairly famous General in the Civil War by the name of Abner Doubleday invented baseball on this spot in 1839.

WHY YOU MUST SEE THIS PARK:  Aside from its place in history and its proximity to the sport's Hall Of Fame (a short walk down the street), this ballpark is downright rustic in its old-style beauty.  For instance, the main grandstand behind home plate is truly a throw-back, right down to its roof and "obstructed-view" supports.  In addition, the scene beyond the outfield fences is Americana at its best, where lovely old houses and church steeples abound. 

Please, if you go to the Hall Of Fame, do yourself a favor and walk down the street to Doubleday Field.  Spend some wonderful "quiet time" here, wondering if maybe this really is the birthplace of baseball!

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