American History in Pictures

The outfield walls to Tiger Stadium came down today. The same walls that saw balls blasted from the likes of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle go soaring over them to the cheers of thousands of fans. Yankee stadium will face the same fate next year. I have never been a real huge baseball fan, so that's not what bothers me to read this news. These stadiums are part of American history; they're part of our culture, who we, as American's, are. "As American as baseball and apple pie".

Are we destroying our own history? What if Stonehenge had been destroyed to make more room for crop lands? What about the Roman Coliseum, or the Oracle of Delphi? Europeans have a rich history and culture, many things from that history still exist today. Things that we can see and touch not just read about or look at pictures of. To step inside these places is to step into history, to feel the weight of the years and in some part, become part of that history. Babe Ruth, a name most American's know, seems not as real when the places where he made his name no longer exist. Will the tour of our history be pointing out the window and saying "there's where xxxxx used to be, and if you look over there, that's where xxxx used to be..."

Why are these icons of American history being destroyed? Condominiums, a jail, and a Wal-Mart shopping center are a few of the proposals that have been rejected so far. Looking at the history of demolished parks, a good number of them have been demolished only to become part of the grounds for their replacements. Braves Field, Comiskey Park, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and the Kingdome in Seattle have all met this fate. Some are used as sites for, oddly enough, sports and baseball museums. The inevitable condominiums, apartment complexes and parking lots have claimed a few as well. The once famous "Polo Grounds" in New York is now a public housing project.

Progress is as important as it is inevitable; things come and go in our modern world, most without a moment's notice. We must not forget our history and culture in the rush to make everything bigger and better. Every culture needs anchors, places that remind us of where we come from, places that exhibit the rich full history that is uniquely American. We need to be able to see and touch these things, experience them in their reality, not only in pictures.