BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Rickwood Field is a place in which it's po sible to escape reality. The original concrete wall added to the field in 1928, for instance, compelled individuals visiting the ballpark to stop, stare and think. When was the last time we saw groups of people completely halting their fast-paced lives to gawk at an outfield wall? The listed outfield dimensions (470 feet to left field, 478 to center and 335 to right) invited people to wonder how any ballplayer, even sluggers like Willie Mays and Josh Gibson, could park home runs over it. The towering black-and-white scoreboard was an unequivocal connection to the Negro Leagues players that depended on it to count their stats and signify their wins and lo ses. The hunter-green grandstand, now the oldest baseball grandstand inside America's oldest ballpark, enveloped the field like an embrace. The early 20th-century style of Rickwood Field was reflected in the advertisements pasted on the outfield walls, in the smaller and lower dugouts, and the colo sal light towers David Hamilton Jersey that seemed to ki s the clouds. Once inside the compound, it was hard to think about anything but Rickwood. Like walking into a dark and air-conditioned movie theater on a hot summer day, or diving into a book that's impo sible to put down, the simplicity and elegance of Rickwood Field, still intact 114 years after its genesis, causes us to forget about life's worries and headaches, forcing us to live in the present. From the cracks on the cement floor, to the brown and gray rustic wooden roof, Rickwood Field was a relic that established the meaning of being home. The ballpark was a mechanism for time travel and an escape from the outside world. As long as Rickwood keeps standing, we will all keep coming back. is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the as a beat reporter for the Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at . [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? .] Boston Red Sox Jersey