For baseball fans, if not for a wider audience, a little-known program worth the price of admission is the INHD show "Cathedrals of the Game." I stumbled upon it myself while browsing the cable/DVR program guide without even realizing that there was a network called INHD. If you are lucky enough to have the network on your system, and love baseball, I recommend stepping up to the plate and sampling an episode.
Host Michelle Beadle is the tour guide through almost all of the new "retro" generation of ballparks (such as Seattle's Safeco Field, Pittsburgh's PNC Park, and Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park), as well as venerable stadiums such as Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, and Fenway Park. Each half-hour episode features a single ballpark, with the general format including a guided tour of the stadium (with special emphasis on the home-team clubhouse and each park's special features), a chat with a local baseball historian who shows off the city's baseball-related historical sites, and a closing segment shot during a game.
The program (like all programs on INHD) is designed to be viewed in high-def (although it is still enjoyable in normal def, which is how I've watched it). The episodes feature expansive shots of the interiors and exteriors of the ballparks and lots of wide-angle images (some of them almost fisheyed, at least on my non-HD TV). Anyone who has an HD set will enjoy the show even more. I've been a big ballpark aficionado since I was a kid, and anyone with similar interests in ballparks or baseball history will like "Cathedrals of the Game" even more than garden-variety baseball fans.
While I'm on the subject of ballparks, let me also recommend a great website called "Ballparks by Munsey and Suppes" (web address is simply ballparks.com). Not restricted to just baseball parks, the site also has sections on basketball and hockey arenas and football stadiums; additionally, it includes past, present, and future stadiums and arenas. (There are even sections on international soccer stadiums and college football stadiums.) The pages for each of the stadiums or arenas typically have a few images, vital stats, a timeline for the venues for that sport in that city, and links to exterior articles or websites about the venue. If you're a ballpark fan and planning on checking out "Cathedrals of the Game," "Ballparks" is worth a look too.
(Photo source: www.inhd.com)
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