ROGER KAHN, THE BOYS OF SUMMER — Ebbets Field was a narrow cockpit …. Two tiers of grandstand pressed the playing area from three sides … fans could hear a ball player’s chatter … and … see the … expression on the … face of an actual major leaguer as he played.
Ebbets Field was a narrow cockpit [, built of brick and iron and concrete, alongside a steep cobblestone slope of Bedford Avenue]. Two tiers of grandstand pressed the playing area from three sides [, and in thousands of seats] [F]ans could hear a ball player's chatter [, notice details of a ball player's gait] and [, at a time when television had not yet assaulted illusion with the Zoomar lens, you could] see [, you could actually see,] the [actual] expression on the [actual] face of an actual major leaguer as he played. [You could know what he was like!]
| A. | Compassion, pity | RUTH |
| B. | Cousin of cream and vanilla (hyph.) | OFFWHITE |
| C. | Industrial plant that produces energy for heating and illumination | GASHOUSE |
| D. | End of some lists (2 wds.) | ETCETERA |
| E. | What a sigh might indicate | RELIEF |
| F. | Author W. P. ____, whose book about Answer P. inspired a hit 1989 sports film | KINSELLA |
| G. | Look, aspect; materialization | APPEARANCE |
| H. | Mythological cross between a woman and a bird of prey | HARPY |
| I. | Short-lived music-sharing app | NAPSTER |
| J. | Vulgar, seedy, garish | TAWDRY |
| K. | Looking exhausted and unwell | HAGGARD |
| L. | Went by; bygone | ELAPSED |
| M. | Prime spots for viewing a diamond (2 wds.) | BOXSEATS |
| N. | When Answer R. begins | OCTOBER |
| O. | Gossip or meddler | YENTA |
| P. | "____ from Hannibal, Mo.," song from "Damn Yankees" (2 wds.) | SHOELESSJOE |
| Q. | Billionaire who was once a teenage beauty queen, familiarly | OPRAH |
| R. | Another name for the World Series (2 wds.) | FALLCLASSIC |
| S. | Wrapped tightly in cloth | SWADDLED |
| T. | Stemming from an error, perhaps | UNEARNED |
| U. | Tangly; prepared for framing | MATTED |
| V. | Kind of sauce whose name means "seafaring" | MARINARA |
| W. | Bring about; result | EFFECT |
| X. | Celebrated figure who was often seen in the locale described by this puzzle's quote | ROBINSON |