The Story
It all started when my father handed me a cardboard box and said, "These are yours, take them home.“ I looked inside the box and saw baseballs. Each had its own story. The first time I ever hit a ball far enough to clear the outfield fence. The first time I did it in a game. The furthest one, the one that landed in the creek past left field, on a hanging curve ball, fished out of the water and returned by a family friend. All these memories, sitting in a box, closed up, hidden and forgotten.
So I began to think through how I might display these memories in my home. No need to put these balls in a glass case, they aren't worth anything to anyone but me. I wanted a minimal way to display the balls so I could still pick them up, feel the seams and the leather, still experience the balls for what they are - baseballs.
I made these products for myself, but if you have a special ball or bat that you'd like to display, then Slag Pile Field Baseball Goods are for you.
Sincerely,
Foster Phillips
Slag Pile Field
Birmingham, Alabama has a rich history of baseball, including Rickwood Field, the oldest surviving professional baseball park in the United States. Rickwood Field was built in 1910 as the home park for the Birmingham Barons, but before Rickwood, the Barons played on the corner of 1st Ave North and 7th Street North. Over the outfield fence were piles of furnace slag, remnants of Birmingham's steel industry, which served as free seating for those who didn't want to pay to sit in the bleachers. This field was known as Slag Pile Field1. Home to the Barons, and to the 1902 and 1904 Iron Bowls.
Just as Slag Pile Field is a baseball memory worth holding on to, I hope your baseball memories can be remembered and displayed on your walls, desks, and shelves with the help of these products.