Baker Bowl
Encyclopedia
Baker Bowl is the best-known popular name of a baseball
park
that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, United States
. Its formal name, painted on its outer wall, was National League Park. It was also initially known as Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds.
It was on a small city block bounded by N. Broad St., W. Huntingdon St., N. 15th St. and W. Lehigh Avenue.
The ballpark was initially built in 1887. At that time the media praised it as state-of-the-art. In that dead-ball era
, the outfield was enclosed by a relatively low wall all around. Center field was fairly close, with the railroad tracks running behind it. Later, the tracks were lowered and the field was extended over top of them. Bleachers were built in left field, and over time various extensions were added to the originally low right field wall, resulting in the infamous 60 feet (18.3 m) fence.
The ballpark's second incarnation opened in 1895. Its upper deck was notable for having the first cantilevered design in a sports stadium and was the first ballpark to be constructed primarily from steel and brick. It also took the rule book literally, as the sweeping curve behind the plate was about 60 feet (18.3 m), and instead of angling back toward the foul lines, the 60 feet (18.3 m) wide foul ground extended all the way to the wall in right, and well down the left field line also. The spacious foul ground, while not fan-friendly, would have resulted in more foul-fly outs than in most parks, and thus was probably the park's one saving grace in the minds of otherwise-frustrated pitchers.
The most notable and talked-about feature of Baker Bowl was the right field wall, which was only some 280 feet (85 m) from home plate, with right-center only 300 feet (91.5 m) away, and with a wall-and-screen barrier that in its final form was 60 feet (18 m) high. By comparison, the Green Monster
at Fenway Park
is 37 feet (11 m) high and 310 feet (94 m) away. The Baker wall was a rather difficult task to surmount. The wall was an amalgam of different materials. It was originally a relatively normal-height masonry structure. When it became clear that it was too soft a home run touch, the barrier was extended upward using more masonry, wood, and a metal pipe-and-wire screen. The masonry in the lower part of the wall was extremely rough (Benson termed it "the sort of surface that efficiently removes an outfielder's skin upon contact") and eventually a layer of tin was laid over the entire structure except for the upper part of the screen. The wall dominated the stadium in much the same way as the Green Monster does, only some 30 feet (9.1 m) closer to the diamond; and because of its material, it made a distinctive sound when balls ricocheted off it, as happened frequently.
Huntingdon Street Grounds was a nickname for a while, as it was a side street running behind the first base line that intersected Broad Street, a major thoroughfare. Baker Bowl, also called Baker Field in the baseball guides, referred to one-time Phillies owner William F. Baker. The use of "Baker Field" was perhaps confusing, since Columbia University
's athletic facility in New York City
was also called "Baker Field". How it acquired the unique suffix "Bowl" is subject to conjecture. It may have referred to the banked bicycle track that was there for a time, or it may have been used derisively, suggesting non-existent luxuriousness. The Hump referred to a hill in center field covering a partially submerged railroad tunnel in the street beyond right field that extended through into center field. The Cigar Box and The Band Box referred to the tiny size of the playing field. After the demise of the Baker Bowl, the terms "cigar box" and "bandbox" were subsequently applied to any "intimate" ballpark (like Boston's Fenway Park
or Brooklyn's Ebbets Field
) whose configurations were conducive to players hitting home run
s.
). The 1915 World Series
was significant in that it was the first time a sitting president attended a World Series game when President Wilson
attended and threw out the first pitch prior to Game 2. The Series was also the first post-season appearance by Babe Ruth
.
While they were occasionally at least respectable in the dead-ball era, once the lively ball was introduced the Phils nearly always finished in last place, substantially helping them towards the 10,000-loss "milestone" they reached on July 15, 2007. During its last two decades, the ballpark became heaven for batters (both home and visiting), whereas having to play half their games there every year became hell for the Phillies' pitching staff. For a number of years, a huge advertising sign on the rightfield wall read "The Phillies Use Lifebuoy
", a popular brand of soap. This led to the oft-reported quip that appended "... and they still stink!" In 1936, a vandal sneaked into Baker Bowl one night and actually wrote that phrase on the Lifebuoy ad. Conventional wisdom ties their failures to Baker Bowl, but they remained cellar-dwellers in Shibe Park as well.
On June 9, 1914, Honus Wagner
hit his 3,000th career hit in the stadium. Babe Ruth played his last major league baseball game in Baker Bowl on May 30, 1935.
The ballpark was abandoned during the middle of the 1938 season
, as the Phillies chose to move 5 blocks west on Lehigh Avenue to rent the newer and more spacious Shibe Park from the A's rather than remain at the Baker Bowl. Phils president Gerald Nugent
cited the move as an opportunity for the Phillies to cut expenses as stadium upkeep would be split between two clubs.
At Baker Bowl, the Phillies finished with a 30-38-1 record against the A's
in City Series exhibition games.
After the Phillies' move, the upper deck was peeled off and the stadium was used for sports ranging from midget auto racing to ice skating. Its old centerfield clubhouse served as a piano bar for a while. By the late 1940s, all that stood of the original structure were the four outer walls and a field choked with weeds. What remained of the ballpark was finally demolished in 1950 - coincidentally, the year of the Phils' first pennant since 1915. The site now features a gas station/convenience store where the centerfield clubhouse once stood, garages, and a car wash.
who played there from 1933
through 1935
. In their three seasons there, they had a record of 9-21-1.
Eagles' owner Bert Bell
hoped to play home games at larger Shibe Park, but negotiations with the Athletics were not fruitful, and Bell agreed to a deal with Phillies' owner Gerry Nugent. For Eagles games, 5,000 temporary seats were erected along the right-field wall. The Eagles played their first game at the ballpark on October 3, 1933, a 40–0 pre-season victory over a U.S. Marines team; the game was played at night under rented floodlights. In the first regular-season game on October 18, 1933, 1,750 fans saw the Portsmouth Spartans beat the Eagles, 25–0. Later that season, 17,850 fans watched the Eagles tie the Chicago Bears
on Sunday, November 18, 1933. Under Pennsylvania Blue Laws, Sunday games had been prohibited.
With the ballpark in poor condition, the Eagles left Baker Bowl after the 1935 season for the city-owned Municipal Stadium
, which was then only ten years old and could seat up to 100,000 spectators.
games from 1924-1926. The first two games of the 1924 Colored World Series
between the Kansas City Monarchs
and the local Hilldale Club
were hosted at Baker Bowl on October 3 and October 4, owing to its larger capacity.
It was during a 1929 exhibition with a Negro League team that Babe Ruth
hit two home runs that landed about halfway into the rail yards across the street in right.
Rodeo
s were occasionally held at Baker Bowl in order to raise additional revenue. That activity and mindset fit with the reported use of sheep to graze on the field during Phillies road trips, in lieu of buying lawn mowers, until sometime in the 1920s.
Fire destroyed the grandstand and bleachers of the original stadium on August 6, 1894. The $80,000 in damage (equal to $ today) was covered fully by insurance. The fire also spread to the adjoining properties, causing an additional $20,000 in damage, equal to $ today.
Temporary stands were built in time for a game on August 18. It was then fully rebuilt of fireproof materials with a cantilevered upper deck. It also contained a banked bicycle track for a while, exploiting the cycling craze that caught the nation's fancy in the late 19th century. In terms of pure design, the ballpark was well ahead of its time, but subsequent problems and the parsimony of the team's owners undermined any apparent positives, as the ballpark soon became rundown and unsafe.
During a game on August 8, 1903, some carrying-on in 15th Street caught the attention of bleacher fans down the left field line. Many of them ran to the top of the wooden seating area, and the added stress on that section of the bleachers caused it to collapse into the street, killing 12 and injuring 232. This led to more renovation of the stadium and forced the ownership to sell the team. The Phillies temporarily moved to the Philadelphia Athletics
' home field, Columbia Park
, while Baker Bowl was repaired. The Phillies played sixteen games at Columbia Park in August and September 1903.
During a game on May 14, 1927, parts of two sections of the lower deck extension along the right-field line collapsed due to rotted shoring timbers, again triggered by an oversize gathering of people, who were seeking shelter from the rain. Miraculously, no one died during the collapse, but one individual did die from heart failure in the subsequent stampede that injured 50.
After both of those catastrophes, the Phils rented from the A's while repairs were being made to the old structure.
When Baker Bowl was first opened, it was praised as the finest baseball palace in America. By the time it was abandoned, it had been a joke for years. The Chicago Tribune ran a series of articles on baseball parks during the summer of 1937, and the article about Baker Bowl was merciless in its ridicule of this park.http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?78222-Baker-Bowl-photos The many futile attempts to keep it going, for a dozen years after its abandonment, only added to the ridicule due to the park's "lingering death". The later Phillies' ballparks, Shibe Park and Veterans Stadium
, would similarly undergo the cycle of praise upon opening and disdain upon closure.
A Pennsylvania Historical marker stands on Broad Street
just north of West Huntingdon Street, Philadelphia. The marker is titled, "Baker Bowl National League Park" and the text reads,
The marker was dedicated on August 16, 2000 at Veterans Stadium
during an on-the-field pre-game ceremony. The marker was unveiled by former-Phillies shortstop Bobby Stevens
, who played for the team in 1931
and then current-Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf
. The marker was displayed at the Vet through the end of the 2000 season and then moved to the location of the ballpark, just behind where the right field foul pole would be.
Some distinctive buildings visible in vintage photos of the ballpark remain standing and help to mark the ballpark's former location. One is the roughly 10-story-tall, triangular building across Lehigh to the north-northeast, behind what was centerfield. It was originally a Ford Motor Company
building, and was completed at some point prior to the 1915 World Series. Another is the neoclassical North Broad Street Station train depot building across Broad Street from what was the end of the first base grandstand. It was built in the 1920s and is visible in later aerial photos of the ballpark. The building itself now houses a different occupant. The modern North Broad (SEPTA station)
stands nearby.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
park
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its formal name, painted on its outer wall, was National League Park. It was also initially known as Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds.
It was on a small city block bounded by N. Broad St., W. Huntingdon St., N. 15th St. and W. Lehigh Avenue.
The ballpark was initially built in 1887. At that time the media praised it as state-of-the-art. In that dead-ball era
Dead-ball era
The dead-ball era is a baseball term used to describe the period between 1900 and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919. In 1919, Ruth hit a then league record 29 home runs, a spectacular feat at that time.This era was characterized by low-scoring games and a lack of home runs...
, the outfield was enclosed by a relatively low wall all around. Center field was fairly close, with the railroad tracks running behind it. Later, the tracks were lowered and the field was extended over top of them. Bleachers were built in left field, and over time various extensions were added to the originally low right field wall, resulting in the infamous 60 feet (18.3 m) fence.
The ballpark's second incarnation opened in 1895. Its upper deck was notable for having the first cantilevered design in a sports stadium and was the first ballpark to be constructed primarily from steel and brick. It also took the rule book literally, as the sweeping curve behind the plate was about 60 feet (18.3 m), and instead of angling back toward the foul lines, the 60 feet (18.3 m) wide foul ground extended all the way to the wall in right, and well down the left field line also. The spacious foul ground, while not fan-friendly, would have resulted in more foul-fly outs than in most parks, and thus was probably the park's one saving grace in the minds of otherwise-frustrated pitchers.
The Baker Wall
Green Monster
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the thirty-seven foot , two-inch high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team...
at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
is 37 feet (11 m) high and 310 feet (94 m) away. The Baker wall was a rather difficult task to surmount. The wall was an amalgam of different materials. It was originally a relatively normal-height masonry structure. When it became clear that it was too soft a home run touch, the barrier was extended upward using more masonry, wood, and a metal pipe-and-wire screen. The masonry in the lower part of the wall was extremely rough (Benson termed it "the sort of surface that efficiently removes an outfielder's skin upon contact") and eventually a layer of tin was laid over the entire structure except for the upper part of the screen. The wall dominated the stadium in much the same way as the Green Monster does, only some 30 feet (9.1 m) closer to the diamond; and because of its material, it made a distinctive sound when balls ricocheted off it, as happened frequently.
Name
The ballpark, shoehorned as it was into the Philadelphia city grid, acquired a number of nicknames over the years. Baker Bowl is the best-known name; its formal name, painted on its outer wall, was National League Park.Huntingdon Street Grounds was a nickname for a while, as it was a side street running behind the first base line that intersected Broad Street, a major thoroughfare. Baker Bowl, also called Baker Field in the baseball guides, referred to one-time Phillies owner William F. Baker. The use of "Baker Field" was perhaps confusing, since Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's athletic facility in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
was also called "Baker Field". How it acquired the unique suffix "Bowl" is subject to conjecture. It may have referred to the banked bicycle track that was there for a time, or it may have been used derisively, suggesting non-existent luxuriousness. The Hump referred to a hill in center field covering a partially submerged railroad tunnel in the street beyond right field that extended through into center field. The Cigar Box and The Band Box referred to the tiny size of the playing field. After the demise of the Baker Bowl, the terms "cigar box" and "bandbox" were subsequently applied to any "intimate" ballpark (like Boston's Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
or Brooklyn's Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
) whose configurations were conducive to players hitting home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s.
Philadelphia Phillies
During the 51½ seasons the Phillies played there, they managed only one pennant (19151915 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Phillies winning the National League, then going on to lose the 1915 World Series to the Boston Red Sox. This was the team's first pennant since joining the league in...
). The 1915 World Series
1915 World Series
In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.In their only World Series before , the Phillies won Game 1 before being swept the rest of the way. It was 65 years before the Phillies won their next Series game...
was significant in that it was the first time a sitting president attended a World Series game when President Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
attended and threw out the first pitch prior to Game 2. The Series was also the first post-season appearance by Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
.
While they were occasionally at least respectable in the dead-ball era, once the lively ball was introduced the Phils nearly always finished in last place, substantially helping them towards the 10,000-loss "milestone" they reached on July 15, 2007. During its last two decades, the ballpark became heaven for batters (both home and visiting), whereas having to play half their games there every year became hell for the Phillies' pitching staff. For a number of years, a huge advertising sign on the rightfield wall read "The Phillies Use Lifebuoy
Lifebuoy (soap)
Lifebuoy is a brand of soap containing phenol marketed originally by Lever Brothers in England in 1895.-History:Although Lifebuoy is no longer produced in the US and UK, it is still being mass produced by Unilever in Cyprus for the UK, EU, US and Brazil markets, as well as in Trinidad and Tobago...
", a popular brand of soap. This led to the oft-reported quip that appended "... and they still stink!" In 1936, a vandal sneaked into Baker Bowl one night and actually wrote that phrase on the Lifebuoy ad. Conventional wisdom ties their failures to Baker Bowl, but they remained cellar-dwellers in Shibe Park as well.
On June 9, 1914, Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
hit his 3,000th career hit in the stadium. Babe Ruth played his last major league baseball game in Baker Bowl on May 30, 1935.
The ballpark was abandoned during the middle of the 1938 season
1938 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in eighth place -- last in an eight-team National League -- with a record of 45-105, 43 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs and 24.5 games behind the seventh-place Brooklyn Dodgers...
, as the Phillies chose to move 5 blocks west on Lehigh Avenue to rent the newer and more spacious Shibe Park from the A's rather than remain at the Baker Bowl. Phils president Gerald Nugent
Gerald Nugent
Gerald Nugent was the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team of the National League from through .A leather goods and shoe merchant, Nugent married longtime Phillies secretary Mae Mallen in 1925. Longtime Phillies owner William Baker died in 1930, leaving half of his estate to Mallen...
cited the move as an opportunity for the Phillies to cut expenses as stadium upkeep would be split between two clubs.
At Baker Bowl, the Phillies finished with a 30-38-1 record against the A's
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
in City Series exhibition games.
After the Phillies' move, the upper deck was peeled off and the stadium was used for sports ranging from midget auto racing to ice skating. Its old centerfield clubhouse served as a piano bar for a while. By the late 1940s, all that stood of the original structure were the four outer walls and a field choked with weeds. What remained of the ballpark was finally demolished in 1950 - coincidentally, the year of the Phils' first pennant since 1915. The site now features a gas station/convenience store where the centerfield clubhouse once stood, garages, and a car wash.
Philadelphia Eagles
Baker Bowl was the first home field of the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
who played there from 1933
1933 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1933 Philadelphia Eagles season was their inaugural in the league. The team went 3–5–1 failing to qualify for the playoffs.-Off Season:When Pennsylvania eased some of the Blue Laws and allowed Sunday sporting events, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh became available for NFL franchises as they could...
through 1935
1935 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1935 Philadelphia Eagles season was their third in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 4–7, winning only two games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season...
. In their three seasons there, they had a record of 9-21-1.
Eagles' owner Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
hoped to play home games at larger Shibe Park, but negotiations with the Athletics were not fruitful, and Bell agreed to a deal with Phillies' owner Gerry Nugent. For Eagles games, 5,000 temporary seats were erected along the right-field wall. The Eagles played their first game at the ballpark on October 3, 1933, a 40–0 pre-season victory over a U.S. Marines team; the game was played at night under rented floodlights. In the first regular-season game on October 18, 1933, 1,750 fans saw the Portsmouth Spartans beat the Eagles, 25–0. Later that season, 17,850 fans watched the Eagles tie the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
on Sunday, November 18, 1933. Under Pennsylvania Blue Laws, Sunday games had been prohibited.
With the ballpark in poor condition, the Eagles left Baker Bowl after the 1935 season for the city-owned Municipal Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
, which was then only ten years old and could seat up to 100,000 spectators.
Other tenants
During its tenure, the park also hosted Negro League games, including those of the Hilldale Daisies and Negro League World SeriesNegro League World Series
The Negro League World Series was a post-season baseball tournament which was held from 1924-1927 and from 1942-1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east coast counterparts....
games from 1924-1926. The first two games of the 1924 Colored World Series
1924 Colored World Series
The 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series...
between the Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
and the local Hilldale Club
Hilldale Club
The Hilldale Athletic Club was an African American professional baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia....
were hosted at Baker Bowl on October 3 and October 4, owing to its larger capacity.
It was during a 1929 exhibition with a Negro League team that Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
hit two home runs that landed about halfway into the rail yards across the street in right.
Rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
s were occasionally held at Baker Bowl in order to raise additional revenue. That activity and mindset fit with the reported use of sheep to graze on the field during Phillies road trips, in lieu of buying lawn mowers, until sometime in the 1920s.
Disasters
Temporary stands were built in time for a game on August 18. It was then fully rebuilt of fireproof materials with a cantilevered upper deck. It also contained a banked bicycle track for a while, exploiting the cycling craze that caught the nation's fancy in the late 19th century. In terms of pure design, the ballpark was well ahead of its time, but subsequent problems and the parsimony of the team's owners undermined any apparent positives, as the ballpark soon became rundown and unsafe.
During a game on August 8, 1903, some carrying-on in 15th Street caught the attention of bleacher fans down the left field line. Many of them ran to the top of the wooden seating area, and the added stress on that section of the bleachers caused it to collapse into the street, killing 12 and injuring 232. This led to more renovation of the stadium and forced the ownership to sell the team. The Phillies temporarily moved to the Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
' home field, Columbia Park
Columbia Park
For other places known as Columbia Park, see Columbia Park Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball stadium that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, while Baker Bowl was repaired. The Phillies played sixteen games at Columbia Park in August and September 1903.
During a game on May 14, 1927, parts of two sections of the lower deck extension along the right-field line collapsed due to rotted shoring timbers, again triggered by an oversize gathering of people, who were seeking shelter from the rain. Miraculously, no one died during the collapse, but one individual did die from heart failure in the subsequent stampede that injured 50.
After both of those catastrophes, the Phils rented from the A's while repairs were being made to the old structure.
Legacy
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
, would similarly undergo the cycle of praise upon opening and disdain upon closure.
A Pennsylvania Historical marker stands on Broad Street
Broad Street (Philadelphia)
Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is nearly 13 miles long.It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95...
just north of West Huntingdon Street, Philadelphia. The marker is titled, "Baker Bowl National League Park" and the text reads,
The Phillies' baseball park from its opening in 1887 until 1938. Rebuilt 1895; hailed as nation's finest stadium. Site of first World Series attended by U.S. President, 1915; Negro League World Series, 1924-26; Babe Ruth's last major league game, 1935. Razed 1950.
The marker was dedicated on August 16, 2000 at Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
during an on-the-field pre-game ceremony. The marker was unveiled by former-Phillies shortstop Bobby Stevens
Bobby Stevens
Robert Jordan Stevens was an American professional baseball player who played in twelve games for the Philadelphia Phillies during the season....
, who played for the team in 1931
1931 Philadelphia Phillies season
- Offseason :* November 6, 1930: Tommy Thevenow and Claude Willoughby were traded by the Phillies to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dick Bartell.- Roster :- Starters by position :...
and then current-Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf
Randy Wolf
Randall Christopher Wolf is a left-handed pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball. Randy's older brother Jim is a Major League umpire. Unlike his brother Jim and Houston Astros relief pitcher Ross Wolf, Randy is a boss...
. The marker was displayed at the Vet through the end of the 2000 season and then moved to the location of the ballpark, just behind where the right field foul pole would be.
Some distinctive buildings visible in vintage photos of the ballpark remain standing and help to mark the ballpark's former location. One is the roughly 10-story-tall, triangular building across Lehigh to the north-northeast, behind what was centerfield. It was originally a Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
building, and was completed at some point prior to the 1915 World Series. Another is the neoclassical North Broad Street Station train depot building across Broad Street from what was the end of the first base grandstand. It was built in the 1920s and is visible in later aerial photos of the ballpark. The building itself now houses a different occupant. The modern North Broad (SEPTA station)
North Broad (SEPTA station)
North Broad is a SEPTA Regional Rail station located at 2601 North Broad Street south of Lehigh Avenue along the SEPTA Main Line. Unlike most stations, such as Wayne Junction, only the Lansdale/Doylestown Line and Manayunk/Norristown Line serve this station, while most trains pass by the station...
stands nearby.