U.S. Stamps Honoring Old Major League Parks Arouse Fond Memories.

DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE, THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE WILL ISSUE A NEW set of 34-cent stamps honoring legendary baseball parks that were home grounds for many of the greatest players in history.

These stamps depict six parks no longer in existence including the Polo Grounds in New York, Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and the original Comiskey Park in Chicago as well as Detroit's Tiger Stadium, which remains empty but has not been razed as yet.

Old versions of arenas still in use--such as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field--are also featured on three other stamps, while Sportsman's Park, which once had joint occupants in the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, is displayed on the stamps' cover folder.

In looking at copies of the stamps, I found myself thinking of the times I spent covering games at these parks, punching out typewritten stories in quaint press boxes, watching on-field dramas unfold, and talking with the players before and after their battles were won or lost.

The majors seemed so rich in talent in those days of the 1950s and 1960s, perhaps because that talent was compressed into fewer teams.

It was an age of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, Stan Musial and Ted Williams, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella and Duke Snider, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson, Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox, Al Kaline and Carl Yastrzemski.

The parks these future Hall of Famers played in featured quirky dimensions, crazy incidents, some off-the-wall fans, and incredible games that remain with me to this day. What follows are a few random recollections of those baseball fields that have formed such a big part of the game's history.