Connie Mack Stadium
Encyclopedia
Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a major league baseball park
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. When it opened April 12, 1909, it became baseball's first steel-and-concrete
stadium. In different eras it was home to "The $100,000 Infield"
, "The Whiz Kids"
and "The 1964 Phold"
. Its two home teams won both the first and last games at the stadium: The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox
8–1 on opening day 1909, while the Philadelphia Phillies
beat the Montreal Expos
2–1 on October 1, 1970, in the park's final contest.
It stood on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street. It was thus just five blocks west, corner-to-corner, from Baker Bowl
, the home of the Phillies from 1887 to 1938. The stadium hosted eight World Series
and two major league baseball All-Star Games
, in 1943
and again in 1952
, with that game holding the distinction of being the only All-Star contest shortened by rain (in this case, to five innings).
Phillies Hall-of-Fame centerfielder and longtime broadcaster Richie Ashburn
remembered Shibe Park: "It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a ballpark. It had a feeling and a heartbeat, a personality that was all baseball."
found his team regularly turning away customers from their cramped Columbia Park
ballpark even though it was just a few years old. When as many as 28,000 showed up to fill the 9,500 wooden bleacher seats, Shibe and partner Connie Mack
decided the A's needed a new place to play.
He searched for a site for his new park and found one on Lehigh Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, five blocks west of Baker Bowl
, straddling the neighborhoods known as Swampoodle and Goosetown. It was still primitive at the time, an area of "high clay bluffs, rain-washed gullies, quagmires, open fields, even ponds" where chickens pecked and pigs rooted. Although a neat grid of streets was planned for the area, only a few actually existed. Importantly, the area was already served by public transportation: trolleys ran up and down Broad Street and back and forth along Lehigh, and both the Pennsylvania
and the Reading railroads had major stations nearby. The area had "underachieved" thus far due to the presence of the city's Hospital for Contagious Diseases — the "smallpox hospital" — a block west on Lehigh, but Shibe's privileged connections in town brought him word that the city would be closing the facility. Minus the hospital, the area's stigma would soon dissipate, but for now, the land was still a bargain.
Shibe quietly assembled title to his square block of land early in 1907, picking up parcels "through a complicated series of acquisitions, preventing price inflation by masking his intentions," even using straw buyers to keep his name out of the dealings. He spent a total of $67,500 on seven land packages totalling 5.75 acres, and in February 1908, he arranged to have two projected streets running through his block dropped from the city plan. He was ready to build.
For the design and its execution, Shibe hired William Steele and Sons, perhaps the foremost architectural and construction firm in town. Their engineering staff had perfected the new technology of steel-reinforced concrete
, and they had designed and built the city's first skyscraper
, the Witherspoon Building at Walnut and Juniper. The Steele design for the Shibe façade
was in the ornate French Renaissance
style, including arch
es, vaultings and Ionic
pilaster
s. The grandstand walls were to be red brick and terra cotta
and featured elaborate decorative frieze
s with baseball motifs, while cartouches
framed the Athletics' "A" logo at regular intervals above the entrances. The souvenir program on Opening Day called it "a fetching combination of color." Gable
d dormer
windows on the upper deck's copper-trimmed green-slate mansard roof
looked out over the streets below. Presiding over all were terra cotta busts of Shibe and Mack above the main entrances on Lehigh and 21st.
The signature feature of the exterior design was the octangular tower on the southwest corner. The upper floors would accommodate the A's offices, those of Shibe's sons Jack and Tom, who ran the day-to-day business aspects of the team, and the domed cupola
on the very top would house the office of Connie Mack
, manager of the team's baseball operations. On the ground floor was an elegant main entrance lobby for fans coming into the park. Bobby Shantz
, pitcher for the A's in their last years at Shibe, wrote that the corner tower entrance "looked almost like a church." Shibe was proud of the egalitarianism
of the design; he said it was "for the masses as well as the classes."
In April 1908, design in hand, the Shibes and the Steeles broke ground. With the massive resources — and technical mastery — of the Steele firm, construction was speedy, efficient and completed in time to open the 1909 season.
The city was excited about its new ballpark: the Philadelphia Public Ledger called it "a palace for fans, the most beautiful and capacious baseball structure in the world." American League president Ban Johnson
pronounced that "Shibe Park is the greatest place of its character in the world." In more recent times, baseball author David M. Jordan wrote that it was "a splendid forerunner of others like it.... Ben Shibe and the Steeles initiated 'the golden age of ballparks'."
The original 1909 configuration was a double-deck grandstand in the southwest corner of the block, with open pavilion seating extending to the foul poles. The outfield was a large rectangle, surrounded by a 12-foot brick wall that bordered the streets. The deepest part of center field was a square corner 515 feet from home plate. It was 378 to the left field foul marker, and 340 to right field. The slight upslope of the land from south to north was reflected in a small "terrace" that ran across left and center field. The only link with the Columbia Park was the transplanted sod, rolled out at the new venue. The 1909 seating capacity certainly was an upgrade from Columbia Park: 11,000 in the double deck and 12,000 in the two pavilions, for a total of 23,000. Overflow crowds were accommodated by roping off the left field area in front of the wall. Some 500 tons of steel went into the construction.
called the new facility a "pride to the city" and threw out the first ball. The game started around 3:00 pm, and the A's did not disappoint: they beat the Red Sox 8–1.
The Athletics and their new stadium were a hit: the A's won pennants — and brought World Series to town — in 1910 and 1911, and by 1913, when they would win another, Shibe initiated the first of the expansions of seating capacity that would continue right on through the 1950s. He called again upon the Steele company and added a new unroofed bleacher section across left field, taking advantage of the site's rectangular, rather than square, shape, and also added roof structures to cover the open pavilions down the first base and third base lines.
After Ben Shibe's death in 1922, sons Tom and Jack represented the Shibe interest in the team and in 1925 they replaced the 1913 open left field bleachers with a double-deck that extended from the foul pole to the center field corner. This construction covered the "terrace" except in the deepest part of center field which still had a slight upslope. They also extended the upper deck out over the pavilions. These expansions resulted in another 10,000 seats. In 1928, the brothers installed a mezzanine
that added 750 pricey box seats and the following year they raised the original grandstand roof and installed a press box underneath it, along with 3,500 more seats.
For the 1923 season, Connie Mack had moved home plate back an estimated 21 feet. This was a choice of speed over power, as moving the plate back increased left field and right field dimensions by 15 feet each. Home runs dropped about 50% for the next 3 seasons. The Shibe brothers moved it back out, resulting in field dimensions of 331 feet to right field, 334 to left, and 468 to the square corner in center.
In 1936, A's President Tom Shibe died, and Connie Mack gained control of the team by buying out Tom Shibe's share from his widow. The move made the Mack family the controlling partner in 1937, though various Shibe family members still had "considerable holdings" in the team.
More renovation — and a round of controversy — came after the 1938 season when Mack sought to install light towers for night play. In the wake of the "spite fence" disagreement a few years before (below), the local residents stood against the lighting plan. They objected in general to the light, noise and traffic that night game
s would bring to the neighborhood, and objected specifically to the danger of home run balls hitting them as they sat on their porches and to the ability of fans in the upper decks to peer into their bedrooms at night. The matter went to court, and Mack hired a young Philadelphia lawyer to plead his case. The presentation of young Richardson Dilworth
, future mayor of the city, carried the day: the A's won the case and the light towers went up in time for the 1939 season. The first night game in the AL was at Shibe Park on May 16, 1939: the Indians
skinned the A's, 8–3.
In 1941, Mack installed a new, larger scoreboard in deep right-center field, replacing the small board that had been in the same general area, and about the same time an imposing sign went up on the left field fence with the fan-friendly message: "Warning: Persons throwing bottles or other missiles will be arrested and prosecuted." A few years later, he would further add a tunnel between the visitors' clubhouse and their dugout to avoid confrontations with belligerent hometown "wolves."
After the war, the Macks wanted to expand the seating capacity again, in a park that was running out of room to expand into. In 1949, they proposed erecting the ultimate spite fence: a new double-deck seating section in right field that would boost the capacity of Shibe Park to 50,000. The problem was, the home plate-to-right field axis was the shorter dimension of the Shibe block rectangle, and since the new stand could not intrude into the play area, its fascia
would have to be in the plane of the existing right field fence while its hindquarters would have to protrude out back, dangling some fifteen feet above the west sidewalk of North 20th Street and forming a covered arcade
walkway. The $2.5 million proposal galvanized the 20th Street neighbors against the A's for the third time in fifteen years, and this time the legal team could not overcome the zoning issues.
The Macks did spend $300,000 on renovations in 1949 and managed to shoehorn 2,500 more box seats in; the old lower deck pavilion seating was reconstructed to turn the more distant seats toward the diamond instead of facing the outfield. This resulted in the high corners that were a noticeable feature of the ballpark during its final two decades, the corners being just far enough away from the foul lines to accommodate the bullpens. They also added an "annunciator" on the upper deck beyond third base that flashed the at-bat number; ball-strike-out count; hit-or-error and score.
, Universal Newsreel
and Fox Movietone News
even set up cameras at 2739 North 20th as part of their World Series coverage.
The numbers involved in this cottage industry were considerable: a rooftop bleacher could hold up to 80 people, with 18 more in the bay window of the front bedroom and more even on the porch roof. Viewers on the block could number up to several thousand for important games. Housewives served up refreshments for sale and children scurried to the hot dog vendors on the street, bought dogs for a nickel, and brought them back to sell for a dime. With so much money on the line, the business got organized and formalized very quickly; homeowners were quickly squeezed for bribes by city amusement tax collectors, and city police collected commissions for collaring and herding fans from the sidewalk into particular homes. By 1929, the extra income from the rooftop bleachers actually caused real estate values to climb on the 2700 block of N. 20th Street.
As long as the A's were winning games and filling the park, the 20th Street entrepreneurs were annoying, but little more, to Mack and the Shibes; it was not until the early 1930s that the A's collective tempers boiled over. Starting in 1932, Mack's sell-off of his Second Dynasty stars, combined with general Great Depression
hard times, sent attendance plummeting. 20th Streeters, accustomed to the income but now suffering from the tough economy like everyone else, actually sent reps to the lines — such as they were — at the Shibe box office to offer discount seats and snake some customers away from the ballclub. This was the last straw for Jack Shibe. Even though it would become universally known as "Connie Mack's Spite Fence", the 35-foot raising of the fence, to nearly 50 feet, was actually Shibe's project in the off-season of 1934–35. It not only limited the view from the street, the unattractive corrugated metal structure curtailed much of the goodwill the team had had with its neighbors, goodwill that would never return.
It also frustrated many Philadelphia players, both offensively and defensively. Among them, A's and Phils outfielder Elmer Valo
and Phils right fielder Johnny Callison
, both leftie batters, complained that the high fence in right cost them many home runs. It dogged them when they played the field, too: its rippling corrugations made caroms absolutely unpredictable, with some balls dropping straight down, others bounding all the way back to second base and some bouncing radically to one side or another, sometimes into the bullpen. It was "one of the hardest" walls to play in the majors.
ballpark, the National League
Philadelphia Phillies
were finally able to slip out of their lease and move the five blocks west on Lehigh to Shibe Park in mid-season 1938. They would be the tenants of the A's and their arrangement with Connie Mack was simple: they would pay ten cents a head "rent" for the fans they drew, and they would hire and pay their own stadium staff on game days. Having two teams play in the park complicated the scheduling enormously, and the impact of the extra Phillies income was blunted by the fact that the crowded schedule virtually precluded any other events throughout the summer, so the new tenant's income actually altered the park's bottom line very little. The Phillies' tenure at Shibe Park began with a split doubleheader against Boston on July 4 that year, but the boost to their morale from their new digs could not have lasted long: they finished last in the league, 24-1/2 games behind the seventh place Dodgers.
21st and Lehigh was a gloomy address indeed in the first years of the Phillies' tenancy. Both the A's and the Phils finished last in their respective leagues in 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1945. Making things worse was that Phils owner Gerald Nugent
was mired in debt to both Mack and the National League, and other NL owners were grumbling about the dismal "gates" that their Philly trips earned them. The league had no choice but to buy the franchise from Nugent; they found a buyer in New York businessman William Cox
, who paid off Mack and put money down on future rent. Flamboyant Cox set about abrading fans, NL owners and Commissioner Landis, but the uproar did not last long: he was found to be betting on Phillies games and Landis banned him for life in short order. The NL once again owned its Philadelphia franchise.
Enter R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
— Bob — a wealthy 28-year-old Delawarean whose mother was a DuPont
, whose father was a vice-president at DuPont
, who had a partnership with Connie Mack in the Wilmington Blue Rocks
minor league team, and whose family agreed to buy the Phillies and install him as president in 1943. The genial young millionaire admitted at his first press conference that he was short on experience, but added, "But I'm not worried. I think we can all have a good time." Carpenter slowly pulled the team out of its "dime store" way of doing business and invested major funds in the farm system, hired marketing consultants and investigated strategies for selling more tickets. He upgraded his staff with professional administrators who modernized operations at the same time he was spending time in Mr. Mack's plush tower office getting guidance from The Grand Old Man of Baseball. The result: an upsurge in attendance, including the city's first million-fan season in 1946, and the 1950 "Whiz Kids" team, who brought the NL pennant to Philadelphia for the first time in 35 years.
But as the Phillies improved the quality of baseball life in Philadelphia, there was a simultaneous decline in the fortunes of the A's — in the team, in the owner, and in the ballpark. Mack had alienated many fans in 1915 and again in 1932 when he sold off his pennant-winning teams for cash, and his clashes with his neighbors over the spite fence, the night games and the 20th Street overhang sparked ill-will between the team and its most important asset: its fan base. The Phillies began to outdraw the A's, whose bottom-feeder status in the American League contributed to the vicious circle of bad teams and empty seats.
There was also a precipitous decline in the boss himself. 1950 marked Mack's fiftieth year in Philadelphia — and his 87th birthday — and for several years prior, it had been plain that he was losing his mental acuity. He blithely predicted the 1950 A's would win the pennant (they finished dead last); he would call for "Baker!" and "Foxx
!" — sluggers he had sold off decades before — to step up and pinch-hit. Most ominous of all: the other AL owners complained to the league that their visits to Shibe Park did not yield receipts enough to justify the trip. Mack's sons Roy
and Earle
gently pushed their father into retirement.
The power vacuum in the wake of "Mr. Baseball's" exit only worsened the problems, however. Roy and Earle Mack, "undistinguished men living in the shadow of their father," were products of Mack's first marriage; their half-brother Connie, Jr. came from his second. As the family factions squared off to battle for control of the A's, Junior and his mother joined forces with remnants of the Shibe family, who still owned 40% of the stock, while Roy and Earle shelved their years of squabbles to present a united front against what they derisively called "the Shibe faction." To raise cash for the coming internecine struggle, Roy and Earle made all the wrong decisions: they remortgaged the ballpark at a time when their cashflow was uncertain, and they jeopardized that flow even more by leasing the park concessions to an outside food service corporation.
In short order, the brothers had acquired huge excess debt and lost their best income sources to repay it. Even though they were successful in buying out Junior, the second Mrs. Mack and the remaining Shibes late in 1950, the business the brothers had gained control of was a doomed enterprise. And the moment they got control of it, they resumed battling each other.
It would take several years for the operation to dip beneath the waves. In the meantime, the Macks tried to capitalize on the remaining vestiges of affection in the city for their father, who turned 90 years old in December 1952. They opened the nostalgic Elephant Room, filled with memorabilia from the old glory days, under the first base grandstand. They renamed the park Connie Mack Stadium for the opening of the 1953 season, hanging a new metal plate over the old SHIBE PARK inscription, which was "still written in stone" beneath. Many old-timers refused to acknowledge the change.
But by 1954, it was clear the Macks would have to sell. Roy had hoped to keep the team, but Earle wanted out, and the numbers were hard to argue with: the A's business plan required attendance of 550,000 to break even and in 1954, they drew just 305,000. An embarrassing "Save the A's" committee formed to help, and it published the daily figure of turnout needed to stay on pace with breakeven, but the attendance remained flat while the published number grew each day and the committee collapsed in the stretch run. Even Mayor Clark hurt the effort: he admitted he was a Phillies fan. The A's finished 1954 sixty games out of first; their final game at Shibe, against the World Champion Yankees
, drew only 1,715 fans.
In early August, Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson
stepped forward with a complicated $3.375 million plan to buy the Athletics and move them to Kansas City — to a minor league park he already owned, but would sell to the city for upgrading to major league standards. Roy, Earle and Connie Mack, Sr. would get about $1.5 million dollars, plus Johnson would pay off the remaining mortgage and assume the $400,000–$800,000 debt to the concessionaires. Very little of Johnson's own cash would be involved: the deal depended on real estate and the eagerness of the Kansas City town fathers to take on debt to snag a major league franchise.
The fly in the ointment was Connie Mack Stadium. The plan assumed a $1.5 million cash infusion from Bob Carpenter to buy the old ballpark, and he was anything but enthusiastic about it: "We need that ballpark as much as we need a hole in the head," he said. Carpenter recognized that modernizing the place would cost a million dollars, and even at that it would be impossible to enlarge the seating capacity. He also recognized the growing parking problem and the declining affluence of the neighborhhod. He tried to pass on the purchase, reminding Johnson that he had a lease until 1957. Johnson responded by threatening to raise the "rent" from a dime-a-head to twenty cents, and to bill the Phillies for stadium upkeep the A's had always paid for. When Carpenter did not show signs of giving in, Johnson said he would call the entire deal off. Carpenter knew he did not have much choice — there was nowhere else in town to play — so he ponied up the $1.7 million, bought the place himself, and collected rent from the Phillies just as the A's had previously. When he would sell it just seven years later, he got only $600,000 for it, a loss of over a million dollars.
The deal was done and the A's were gone. In early 1955, two trucks backed up to the stadium and packed the artifacts from the Elephant Room for removal to Kansas City. Carpenter graciously encouraged Mr. Mack to continue using his opulent tower office in the stadium that now bore his name, which he did almost daily until his death some thirteen months later.
, Philco
, Cadillac
, Alpo
, Coca-Cola
and Mertz Tours signs became familiar sights to stadiumgoers and to fans watching on television. A new straight-across fence covered the square corner in center field and most of the remaining "terrace", reducing the distance to a still-formidable 447 feet. Distance markers also appeared on the walls for the first time. In addition to the foul poles (334 and 331) and the center field area (447), a 400 marker was posted just to the center field side of the scoreboard, and a 405 marker in the corresponding area of deep left center field. A few years later, wooden fencing covered the rough bricks along the right field wall, and eventually the 331 sign was changed to read 329, although that change had no impact on the actual home run distance.
In 1956, Bob Carpenter replaced the old 1941 scoreboard in right-center field with a new, much larger board, constructed for Connie Mack Stadium. A prominent feature of the new board was the Ballantine Beer advertisement across the top and the Longines
clock perched above it. The board's superficial resemblance to the similarly-adorned board in Yankee Stadium gave rise to the urban legend that the board was acquired second-hand from the Yankees. However, the boards differed in many details, and the Yankee Stadium board remained until 1959 when it was replaced, a few years after Connie Mack Stadium's new board had made its appearance.
The big scoreboard extended well above the top of the right field fence, topping out at 75 feet including the clock. The entire board was in play except for the clock that topped the board: Balls that hit the clock were home runs. Dick Allen
was the only player to ever hit a home run over the Ballantine Beer sign and scoreboard. The scoreboard was used through the final year at the ballpark. Also in 1956, a new plexiglass barrier replaced the old backstop screen, an experiment also conducted at Cincinnati's Crosley Field
around that same time.
After the death of Mr. Mack in February 1956, a Mack Memorial Committee raised funds and commissioned sculptor Harry Rosin to create a statue of "Mr. Baseball". On April 16, 1957, it was unveiled across Lehigh Avenue in Reyburn Park — named after the mayor who threw out the first ball at Shibe back in 1909 — as part of the Opening Day ceremonies for the 1957 season. Commissioner Ford Frick
, AL president Will Harridge
and Leo Durocher
all attended, as did many former A's players; the ceremony was emceed by sportscaster Bill Campbell
. Shortly after, Philadelphia City Council removed Reyburn's name from the park and replaced it with Mack's. The statue was later moved to Veterans Stadium
in 1971, and ultimately to Citizens Bank Park
in 2004
.
For the 1960 season, additional box seats in front of the original grandstand reduced the plate-to-screen distance by about 10 feet. With a couple of years of life left in the park, a curving inner fence across center field reduced the distance from 447 to 410. The final seating capacity of the ballpark, as recorded in the 1970 Sporting News Baseball Guide, was 33,608.
Carpenter's prescient reluctance about Connie Mack Stadium proved justified. It was hard to put together a scenario where the park could be profitable. His first thought was to extend the length of his income season, so in 1959 he sought to buy an American Football League
franchise; the negotiations failed. The neighborhood continued to decline and the phrase "Watch your car, mister?" became a catch phrase to game attendees. Indeed, the parking problem became the very crux of the issue in the 1950s and 1960s: whereas most people had formerly come to the park on public transportation, after the war, the automobile became the standard mode of transport. There was a 500-car lot, later expanded to 850 cars, across 21st Street, but it was not nearly enough. Carpenter tried to buy the whole block in 1959 for a multi-level garage, but the deal fell through. The team maintained special "Phillies Express" buses to shuttle fans from transportation hubs in Camden and Upper Darby
, but the service never really caught on.
Carpenter investigated land tracts first in West Philadelphia, then in the Torresdale area of Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey
, and also in the adjacent city of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. However, there were problems with every one of those proposed sites. The plan that came closest to fruition was a complicated 1964 package that called for a new stadium with parking for 7,000 cars to be built "on stilts" over the vast railroad yards near 30th Street Station
. This plan had considerable backing from city politicians and businessmen, but it too eventually unraveled when federal urban renewal funds did not come through and extended wrangling between Jerry Wolman
, current stadium (and Philadelphia Eagles
) owner, and everyone else involved brought it down. Eventually the city would build Veterans Stadium
in South Philadelphia and the Phillies would leave Connie Mack Stadium.
The final game at Connie Mack Stadium was played on October 1, 1970, with the Phillies defeating the Montreal Expos
2–1 in 10 innings. The occasion was marred by souvenir hunters literally dismantling the stadium even while the game was still in progress. A special post-game ceremony — including a helicopter removal of home plate and delivery of it at The Vet — was cancelled in the mayhem.
proclaimed on its cover: "The 1929 Philadelphia A's, not the '27 Yankees, may have been the greatest baseball club ever assembled."
Over their first six seasons in the park, the A's dominated the American League. They won four pennants those six years and were famed for their $100,000 Infield
, said to be the greatest infield of all time. Baseball historians since have dubbed the 1910–1914 A's clubs "The First Dynasty"; it was "the sport's first championship dynasty ever." After the 1914 team lost the World Series in four games, Connie Mack sold off his top stars. If there was any doubt the dynasty had ended, A's teams finished last in the AL the next seven years in a row. The fire sale and subsequent cellar seasons earned Mack and the A's tremendous acrimony among Philadelphia fans.
Mack launched a rebuilding program in the mid-1920s, and his effort became "The Second Dynasty", which culminated in back-to-back-to-back AL pennants in 1929, 1930 and 1931. It was an ill-timed hegemony, though: the Wall Street Crash of 1929
triggered the Great Depression
, and hard times caused baseball attendance to plummet, winners or no. By October 1932, the second great sell-off, of The Second Dynasty, was underway; by 1935, the stars were gone and the franchise had picked up $545,000 cash for itself. The A's had won the last of their pennants, and goodwill with the fan base was in short supply indeed.
The highs and lows of the A's were matched by those of the Phillies — except for most of the highs. Their 1950 Whiz Kids
team did win the franchise's sole NL pennant during their years at the park, and the 1964 Phils
came close to doing it again — until the infamous "Phold". The 1961 team
managed to set an enduring record, though: their 23-losses-in-a-row mark (from July 29–August 20) has yet to be bested.
of the Philadelphia Athletics is said by some to have suffered internal injuries after crashing into a wall to catch a foul pop-up. Powers did die two weeks later.
The Athletics participated in seven World Series
during their tenure at the stadium: 1910
, 1911
, 1913
, 1914
, 1929
, 1930
and 1931
. The hometown fans got to witness A's Series championship clinches at Shibe Park in 1911, 1929 and 1930.
The Phillies participated in one World Series during their tenure at the stadium, in 1950
. They were swept by the New York Yankees
.
The 1943 All-Star Game
was the first of two that would be held at Shibe Park. The 1943 game was hosted by the Athletics, and the 1952 game by the Phillies. The 1943 game was the second of three wartime All-Star Games that would be played at night. The American Leaguers won the game, 5-3.
The 1951 All-Star Game
had originally been awarded to the Phillies. The City of Detroit was celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding in 1701 and requested to host the year's All-Star Game. The 1951 game was moved to Detroit, and the Phillies then hosted the 1952 Game
. The home city was well-represented on the All-Star teams. Phillies pitcher Curt Simmons
started the game for the Nationals in front of the home crowd; Phillies shortstop Granny Hamner
started and batted eighth; and A's pitcher Bobby Shantz
pitched the fifth inning for the Americans and struck out Whitey Lockman
, Jackie Robinson
and Stan Musial
in succession. It had rained all day, starting early in the morning and keeping both teams from pre-game warm ups. Rain delayed the first pitch by twenty minutes and eventually caused the game to be called after the fifth inning. The National Leaguers emerged with a then-rare All-Star victory for the Senior Circuit, 3-2.
In September 1923, the A's had the misfortune of being no-hit
twice in just four days, at home in Shibe Park. On the 4th, Yankees hurler Sam Jones
was just one walk away from a perfect game
when he no-hit the A's; four days later on the 7th, it was Boston's Howard Ehmke
who was likewise a lone BB away from perfection.
In Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, the A's, down 8–0 to the Chicago Cubs
, scored ten runs in 7th inning to win. It was the highest score in a single inning and the biggest comeback in World Series history.
The game on May 16, 1939 was the first night game played in the American League. The Cleveland Indians
beat the A's 8–3 in front of 15,000-plus nocturnal fans.
On September 28, 1941, the last day of the season, Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams
went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader at Shibe Park to boost his batting average from .3995 to .406. The day before, Bosox manager Joe Cronin
gave Williams the option of sitting out the final two games, because his .3995 average would round up to .400. Williams walked the streets of Philadelphia that night, pondering; he decided the stat would be cheapened if he did sit out, so he played and went 6-for-8. His .406 average for 1941 was the last .400-plus average in the major leagues.
Over the years, four A's pitchers tossed no-hitters in Shibe Park: Chief Bender
in 1910, Bullet Joe Bush
in 1916, Dick Fowler
in 1945 and Bill McCahan
in 1947.
On May 29, 1909, Frank "Home Run" Baker used his 52-ounce bat to hit the first home run in Shibe Park: 340 feet over the right field fence, off Boston's RHP Frank Arellanes
, who had previously served him up a grand slam pitch in Boston on April 24. Montreal Expos
catcher John Bateman hit the last home run there on September 29, 1970, in the antepenultimate game played at the stadium.
Babe Ruth
, who got his first hit as a Yankee at Shibe Park on April 14, 1920, hit a blast to deep left-center on September 9, 1921, that cleared the then-single bleacher stand, went across the street, and hit a tree over 500 feet away. On May 21, 1930, Ruth hit one to right field over the 12-foot wall that landed in Opal Street, the alley behind the second row of houses, again over 500 feet distant and said to be the longest-ever home run hit at Shibe Park. The longest strike ever hit there is said to be Ted Williams's prodigious foul ball blast that cleared the high roof at the right field line, passed over 20th, over Opal, over Garnet, and came down on 19th Street.
On June 3, 1932, Lou Gehrig
hit four homers in one game. Showing no favoritism, he hit two to the left field bleachers, two over the right field wall, and had a shot at an unprecedented fifth homer with a deep fly to center, but center fielder Al Simmons
snared it on a running catch.
A's muscular slugger Jimmie Foxx
was also known for tape-measure blasts, especially during 1932 when he hit 58 home runs and challenged Ruth's season record of 60. Foxx was the all-time home run hitter at Shibe Park, with 195 round-trippers between 1927 and 1945.
On May 24, 1936, New York Yankees second baseman Tony Lazzeri
hit two grand slams — one in the second off George Turbeville
, one in the fifth off Herman Fink
— and a solo shot in the seventh off Woody Upchurch
, setting a single game RBI record of 11 (he also hit a 2-RBI triple). The Yanks prevailed, 25–2.
Yankee sluggers set the record for home runs hit in a doubleheader when they visited Shibe Park on June 28, 1939. Tommy Henrich
, Bill Dickey
, George Selkirk
and Frankie Crosetti hit one each and Joe Gordon, Babe Dahlgren
and Joe Dimaggio
all hit three. Total: 13 round-trippers. The Yanks won both ends, 23–2 and 10–0.
On June 2, 1949, the Phillies hit 5 HRs in the 8th inning: Del Ennis
, Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones
and Schoolboy Rowe
each smacked one and Andy Seminick
hit two off Cincinnati Reds
pitchers Ken Raffensberger
, Jess Dobernic
and Kent Peterson
. Final score: 12–3.
In later years, Dick Allen
hit some booming drives over the roof of the double-decked bleachers, in the general direction of the 1921 Ruthian shot. He also cleared the big scoreboard in right-center field. Despite his hitting prowess, Allen was unpopular with the fans, and fellow long-ball hitter Willie Stargell
of the Pittsburgh Pirates
joked that the reason Allen was booed at home was that he hit his long drives clear out of the stadium: "When he hits a homer, there's no souvenir."
The single most famous home run hit at Shibe Park may be the one that stayed inside the park, in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series
vs. the Chicago Cubs
. Mule Haas
of the A's hit a deep fly to centerfield which Hack Wilson
of the Cubs lost in the sun. It landed behind him and rolled toward the center field corner, nearly 470 from home plate. As Wilson tried to chase down the ball, Haas circled the bases. The A's scored a total of 10 runs in that inning, and went on to defeat the Cubs in the Series.
games in 1919 when the Hilldale Club
and Bacharach Giants
played home games at the ballpark. Games between white major league teams and Negro League teams were not uncommon. The Bacharach Giants hosted an exhibition game at Shibe Park against John McGraw
's New York Giants
on October 6, 1919.
Shibe Park was a neutral site venue for Negro League World Series
games. The Cleveland Buckeyes
defeated the Homestead Grays
, 5 to 0, on September 20, 1945, to win game four and sweep the Series, four games to zero. Cleveland's Frank Carswell
defeated Homestead's Ray Brown.
The Negro League Philadelphia Stars
played home games at Shibe Park in the 1940s. The team's usual home field, at 44th and Parkside
seated approximately 6,000 fans; the Stars were able to draw between 10,000 and 12,000 to Shibe Park. They often played double-headers on Monday nights which was a travel day for the major league clubs.
Former Stars player Gene Benson
would later recall the team playing about twenty games per season at Shibe Park. The Stars would dress in the A's locker room. The Stars drew their largest crowd on June 21, 1943 when they beat the Kansas City Monarchs
in front of 24,165.
against the Chicago Bears
on December 5, 1925 and the Yellow Jackets against the Bears on December 4, 1926. It also served as the site of two AFL
games in 1926, the Philadelphia Quakers
against the Los Angeles Wildcats
on November 20, 1926 and the Quakers against the New York Yankees
on November 27, 1926. The stadium hosted the December 12, 1925, Pottsville Maroons
-Notre Dame
All-Stars game. The Maroons' NFL franchise was suspended as a result of the team's participation in that contest, costing Pottsville the 1925 NFL championship
.
The National Football League
's Philadelphia Eagles
moved to Shibe Park in 1940
and played their home games at the stadium through 1957.
The Eagles played the 1948 NFL Championship game
in a blizzard; the home team defeated the Chicago Cardinals
7-0 with the only score by a Steve Van Buren
touchdown. The Eagles left Connie Mack Stadium after the 1957 season
for Franklin Field
. Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000.
vs. George Chaney
to Shibe Park in July 1917, and although the fight itself was unremarkable, the concept propelled the pair to the forefront of their trade. Over the next forty years, perhaps a hundred boxing cards took place at Shibe, some of them big-time pairings and even championship bouts. Benny Leonard
retained his championship against challenger Johnny Kilbane
in 1917, and 1928's Benny Bass
vs. Harry Blitman was said by sportswriters to be the best featherweight
bout in the city's history. In the 1950s, Gil Turner
, Ike Williams
, Charley Fusari
and many other top fighters fought important bouts at Shibe Park. At first, groundskeepers set the ring up over the pitcher's mound, but soon this changed to the area over home plate with the baseball backstops dismantled; spectators sat in the main grandstand for the fight. Even before the installation of the light towers in 1939, staging night boxing was easy because of the vastly smaller area that needed to be lit — portable searchlights did the trick.
In October 1948, the US national soccer team
played three international friendlies against the Israel national team
. The first game was played at the Polo Grounds
and the last at Ebbets Field
. In the middle match on October 17, the US beat Israel at Shibe Park, shutting them out 4-0 before 30,000 fans.
The events were not always sports related: the 30-some thousand seats were a good venue for political rallies. In 1940
, Republican
presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie came to Shibe for a speech and rally. Four years later
, the man who beat Wilkie, Franklin D. Roosevelt
, made one of his few 1944 public appearances at 21st and Lehigh; he won again. In 1948
, third-party Progressive
candidate Henry A. Wallace
made his acceptance speech there.
Promoters tried jazz concerts in 1959, but the place was deemed "not intimate enough" for jazz. The rodeo came in 1962, but the hooves proved too destructive of the turf. The Ringling Brothers
circus set up shop at Shibe in 1955 when they were denied occupancy at all their regular Philadelphia venues, and evangelist Billy Graham
had many successful crusades there. But the favorite visitors of all to the stadium management were the Jehovah's Witnesses — "because the Witnesses left the park immaculate."
The Phillies were first to break the million mark for a season in 1946 with a team that was a "harbinger of the Whiz Kids." The star-crossed 1964 Phils
drew the highest single-season attendance with 1,425,891 in that infamous year; the Athletics' best-attended season was 1948, when they drew 945,076 fans.
The largest single-day baseball crowd came on May 11, 1947, the day that Jackie Robinson
made his Philadelphia debut; the Phillies beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in both ends of their doubleheader that day as 41,660 looked on. The Athletics' best single-day turnout was also for a doubleheader, with the Washington Senators
, on August 3, 1931, as the Second Dynasty team was closing in on its third AL pennant in a row; they too swept both games before a crowd of 38,800-plus.
Low-ebb seasons were the Phils' 1940 turnout at just 207,177, and the Athletics' dismal 146,223 in 1915, the year after Connie Mack sold off the stars from his 1914 pennant-winning team.
, who had purchased it in 1964 for $757,500 and was no longer able to meet the mortgage on it. The sale, however, was not completed and some sources say that Wolman eventually sold the ballpark to the city of Philadelphia for the token price of 50 cents.
On August 20, 1971, the Connie Mack statue was re-dedicated at Veterans' Stadium. That same day, while an evangelical revival group was setting up its tent, two stepbrothers, aged nine and twelve, sneaked into the park and started a small fire that grew into a five-alarmer, burning through much of the original upper deck, collapsing the roof and leaving twisted steel supports visible from the streets; ironically, the collapse of the overbloated roof restored much of the balanced grandeur of the original design. The park sat that way for the next 4 years, slowly deteriorating and becoming increasingly hazardous. Squatters took up revolving residence, and trash and debris accumulated; small trees took root and the manicured emerald turf became unruly knee-high stalks. In October 1975, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Ned Hirsh ordered the stadium razed. The corner tower and its domed cupola, Connie Mack's original office, whose design had been compared to a church, was the last segment of the ballpark demolished, on July 13, 1976.
In 1991, Deliverance Evangelistic Church, an independent Pentecostal congregation, began construction of a new church building on the site.
when it opened in 2004
. Of their "Rooftop Bleacher Seats", the Phillies announced, "The Phillies are bringing back rooftop bleacher seats, a Shibe Park phenomenon of the 1920s when residents of 20th Street built bleacher seats on top of their roofs. The seats are located on top of the buildings along Ashburn Alley."
In June 2001, Shibe Park was one of ten historic ballparks celebrated on the USPS
34-cent Commemorative issue stamps, "Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields". The stamps were released June 27, 2001. The reverse of the Shibe Park stamp reads, "The first Major League Baseball concrete-and-steel stadium, Philadelphia's Shibe Park featured a 34-foot-high right field wall, as well as a façade with stately columns and a French Renaissance cupola."
In 2009, the Philadelphia Brewing Co. released an ale named "Fleur de Lehigh" which features Shibe Park on the label.
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...
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...
. When it opened April 12, 1909, it became baseball's first steel-and-concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
stadium. In different eras it was home to "The $100,000 Infield"
$100,000 infield
The $100,000 infield was the name given to the famous infield of the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 1910s. The $100,000 infield consisted of first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop Jack Barry and third baseman Frank Baker.Baseball historian Bill James rated the...
, "The Whiz Kids"
Whiz Kids (baseball)
The Whiz Kids was a nickname given to the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball. This team, averaging only 26.4 years of age, won the National League pennant during that season.After owner R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr...
and "The 1964 Phold"
1964 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 82nd season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in a second-place tie in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds, while posting a record of 92-70. The teams finished one game behind the NL and World Series champion St. Louis...
. Its two home teams won both the first and last games at the stadium: The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
8–1 on opening day 1909, while the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
beat the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
2–1 on October 1, 1970, in the park's final contest.
It stood on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street. It was thus just five blocks west, corner-to-corner, from Baker Bowl
Baker Bowl
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...
, the home of the Phillies from 1887 to 1938. The stadium hosted eight World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
and two major league baseball All-Star Games
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
, in 1943
1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 11th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 13, 1943, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the home...
and again in 1952
1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 19th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 8, 1952, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the home of...
, with that game holding the distinction of being the only All-Star contest shortened by rain (in this case, to five innings).
Phillies Hall-of-Fame centerfielder and longtime broadcaster Richie Ashburn
Richie Ashburn
Don Richard "Richie" Ashburn , also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" due to his light-blond hair, was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in Tilden, Nebraska...
remembered Shibe Park: "It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a ballpark. It had a feeling and a heartbeat, a personality that was all baseball."
History
1907: Design and construction
So popular was baseball in the first few years of the 20th century that Philadelphia Athletics president Ben ShibeBen Shibe
Benjamin Franklin Shibe was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who, along with his sons John and Tom, was half-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with the invention of the automated stitching machinery to make...
found his team regularly turning away customers from their cramped 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...
ballpark even though it was just a few years old. When as many as 28,000 showed up to fill the 9,500 wooden bleacher seats, Shibe and partner Connie Mack
Connie Mack
Connie Mack may refer to:* Connie Mack I , Hall of Fame baseball manager, player, owner* Connie Mack III , U.S. Representative , U.S. Senator from Florida * Connie Mack IV , U.S...
decided the A's needed a new place to play.
He searched for a site for his new park and found one on Lehigh Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, five blocks west of Baker Bowl
Baker Bowl
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...
, straddling the neighborhoods known as Swampoodle and Goosetown. It was still primitive at the time, an area of "high clay bluffs, rain-washed gullies, quagmires, open fields, even ponds" where chickens pecked and pigs rooted. Although a neat grid of streets was planned for the area, only a few actually existed. Importantly, the area was already served by public transportation: trolleys ran up and down Broad Street and back and forth along Lehigh, and both the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and the Reading railroads had major stations nearby. The area had "underachieved" thus far due to the presence of the city's Hospital for Contagious Diseases — the "smallpox hospital" — a block west on Lehigh, but Shibe's privileged connections in town brought him word that the city would be closing the facility. Minus the hospital, the area's stigma would soon dissipate, but for now, the land was still a bargain.
Shibe quietly assembled title to his square block of land early in 1907, picking up parcels "through a complicated series of acquisitions, preventing price inflation by masking his intentions," even using straw buyers to keep his name out of the dealings. He spent a total of $67,500 on seven land packages totalling 5.75 acres, and in February 1908, he arranged to have two projected streets running through his block dropped from the city plan. He was ready to build.
For the design and its execution, Shibe hired William Steele and Sons, perhaps the foremost architectural and construction firm in town. Their engineering staff had perfected the new technology of steel-reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, and they had designed and built the city's first skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, the Witherspoon Building at Walnut and Juniper. The Steele design for the Shibe façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
was in the ornate French Renaissance
French Renaissance architecture
French Renaissance architecture is the style of architecture which was imported to France from Italy during the early 16th century and developed in the light of local architectural traditions....
style, including arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es, vaultings and Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s. The grandstand walls were to be red brick and terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
and featured elaborate decorative frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s with baseball motifs, while cartouches
Cartouche (design)
A cartouche is an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scrollwork. It is used to hold a painted or low relief design....
framed the Athletics' "A" logo at regular intervals above the entrances. The souvenir program on Opening Day called it "a fetching combination of color." Gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
windows on the upper deck's copper-trimmed green-slate mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
looked out over the streets below. Presiding over all were terra cotta busts of Shibe and Mack above the main entrances on Lehigh and 21st.
The signature feature of the exterior design was the octangular tower on the southwest corner. The upper floors would accommodate the A's offices, those of Shibe's sons Jack and Tom, who ran the day-to-day business aspects of the team, and the domed cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
on the very top would house the office of Connie Mack
Connie Mack
Connie Mack may refer to:* Connie Mack I , Hall of Fame baseball manager, player, owner* Connie Mack III , U.S. Representative , U.S. Senator from Florida * Connie Mack IV , U.S...
, manager of the team's baseball operations. On the ground floor was an elegant main entrance lobby for fans coming into the park. Bobby Shantz
Bobby Shantz
Robert Clayton Shantz was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics , Kansas City Athletics , New York Yankees , Pittsburgh Pirates , Houston Colt .45's , St...
, pitcher for the A's in their last years at Shibe, wrote that the corner tower entrance "looked almost like a church." Shibe was proud of the egalitarianism
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
of the design; he said it was "for the masses as well as the classes."
In April 1908, design in hand, the Shibes and the Steeles broke ground. With the massive resources — and technical mastery — of the Steele firm, construction was speedy, efficient and completed in time to open the 1909 season.
The city was excited about its new ballpark: the Philadelphia Public Ledger called it "a palace for fans, the most beautiful and capacious baseball structure in the world." American League president Ban Johnson
Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson , was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League ....
pronounced that "Shibe Park is the greatest place of its character in the world." In more recent times, baseball author David M. Jordan wrote that it was "a splendid forerunner of others like it.... Ben Shibe and the Steeles initiated 'the golden age of ballparks'."
The original 1909 configuration was a double-deck grandstand in the southwest corner of the block, with open pavilion seating extending to the foul poles. The outfield was a large rectangle, surrounded by a 12-foot brick wall that bordered the streets. The deepest part of center field was a square corner 515 feet from home plate. It was 378 to the left field foul marker, and 340 to right field. The slight upslope of the land from south to north was reflected in a small "terrace" that ran across left and center field. The only link with the Columbia Park was the transplanted sod, rolled out at the new venue. The 1909 seating capacity certainly was an upgrade from Columbia Park: 11,000 in the double deck and 12,000 in the two pavilions, for a total of 23,000. Overflow crowds were accommodated by roping off the left field area in front of the wall. Some 500 tons of steel went into the construction.
April 1909: "Play ball!"
On Monday, April 12, 1909, the Opening Day proceedings walked a fine line between festival and chaos. More than 30,000 fans showed up and got in; another 15,000 showed up and were turned away. Nervous officials closed the gates hours before game time, turning the outsiders into a "howling mob of thousands" whose pressure forced open one of the gates. Hundreds poured in without paying admission, and an estimated 7,000 SRO spectators saw that first game ringing the outfield up to seven-deep, held back by a rope stretched between the left field seats and the right field bleacher. Another 6,000 more looked in from various rooftops around the block. "It seemed as if all of Philadelphia was there," wrote the Public Ledger. Mayor John E. ReyburnJohn E. Reyburn
John Edgar Reyburn was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, and Mayor of Philadelphia....
called the new facility a "pride to the city" and threw out the first ball. The game started around 3:00 pm, and the A's did not disappoint: they beat the Red Sox 8–1.
The Athletics and their new stadium were a hit: the A's won pennants — and brought World Series to town — in 1910 and 1911, and by 1913, when they would win another, Shibe initiated the first of the expansions of seating capacity that would continue right on through the 1950s. He called again upon the Steele company and added a new unroofed bleacher section across left field, taking advantage of the site's rectangular, rather than square, shape, and also added roof structures to cover the open pavilions down the first base and third base lines.
After Ben Shibe's death in 1922, sons Tom and Jack represented the Shibe interest in the team and in 1925 they replaced the 1913 open left field bleachers with a double-deck that extended from the foul pole to the center field corner. This construction covered the "terrace" except in the deepest part of center field which still had a slight upslope. They also extended the upper deck out over the pavilions. These expansions resulted in another 10,000 seats. In 1928, the brothers installed a mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
that added 750 pricey box seats and the following year they raised the original grandstand roof and installed a press box underneath it, along with 3,500 more seats.
For the 1923 season, Connie Mack had moved home plate back an estimated 21 feet. This was a choice of speed over power, as moving the plate back increased left field and right field dimensions by 15 feet each. Home runs dropped about 50% for the next 3 seasons. The Shibe brothers moved it back out, resulting in field dimensions of 331 feet to right field, 334 to left, and 468 to the square corner in center.
In 1936, A's President Tom Shibe died, and Connie Mack gained control of the team by buying out Tom Shibe's share from his widow. The move made the Mack family the controlling partner in 1937, though various Shibe family members still had "considerable holdings" in the team.
More renovation — and a round of controversy — came after the 1938 season when Mack sought to install light towers for night play. In the wake of the "spite fence" disagreement a few years before (below), the local residents stood against the lighting plan. They objected in general to the light, noise and traffic that night game
Night game
A night game is a sporting event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can be done either with floodlights or with the usual low-light conditions.-Cricket:...
s would bring to the neighborhood, and objected specifically to the danger of home run balls hitting them as they sat on their porches and to the ability of fans in the upper decks to peer into their bedrooms at night. The matter went to court, and Mack hired a young Philadelphia lawyer to plead his case. The presentation of young Richardson Dilworth
Richardson Dilworth
Richardson K. Dilworth was an American Democratic Party politician, born in the Pittsburgh area, who served as the 91st Mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962.-Education and early career:...
, future mayor of the city, carried the day: the A's won the case and the light towers went up in time for the 1939 season. The first night game in the AL was at Shibe Park on May 16, 1939: the Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
skinned the A's, 8–3.
In 1941, Mack installed a new, larger scoreboard in deep right-center field, replacing the small board that had been in the same general area, and about the same time an imposing sign went up on the left field fence with the fan-friendly message: "Warning: Persons throwing bottles or other missiles will be arrested and prosecuted." A few years later, he would further add a tunnel between the visitors' clubhouse and their dugout to avoid confrontations with belligerent hometown "wolves."
After the war, the Macks wanted to expand the seating capacity again, in a park that was running out of room to expand into. In 1949, they proposed erecting the ultimate spite fence: a new double-deck seating section in right field that would boost the capacity of Shibe Park to 50,000. The problem was, the home plate-to-right field axis was the shorter dimension of the Shibe block rectangle, and since the new stand could not intrude into the play area, its fascia
Fascia
A fascia is a layer of fibrous tissue that permeates the human body. A fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding those structures together in much the same manner as plastic wrap can be used to hold the contents of sandwiches...
would have to be in the plane of the existing right field fence while its hindquarters would have to protrude out back, dangling some fifteen feet above the west sidewalk of North 20th Street and forming a covered arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
walkway. The $2.5 million proposal galvanized the 20th Street neighbors against the A's for the third time in fifteen years, and this time the legal team could not overcome the zoning issues.
The Macks did spend $300,000 on renovations in 1949 and managed to shoehorn 2,500 more box seats in; the old lower deck pavilion seating was reconstructed to turn the more distant seats toward the diamond instead of facing the outfield. This resulted in the high corners that were a noticeable feature of the ballpark during its final two decades, the corners being just far enough away from the foul lines to accommodate the bullpens. They also added an "annunciator" on the upper deck beyond third base that flashed the at-bat number; ball-strike-out count; hit-or-error and score.
1935: The "spite fence"
At the park's beginning, homeowners on both Somerset Street and 20th Street had a great view of the proceedings within, thanks to the low outfield fences. While this changed for the people on Somerset in 1913 when Shibe added the left field bleacher section and blocked the view from that direction, it was still a clear shot in from 20th Street over the low, twelve-foot wall in right. The view from the roofs, the bedroom bay windows — even the porch roofs — on 20th was as good as from some of the seats inside the park: Pathé NewsPathe News
Pathé Newsreels were produced from 1910 until the 1970s, when production of newsreels was in general stopped. Pathé News today is known as British Pathé and its archive of over 90,000 reels is fully digitised and online.-History:...
, Universal Newsreel
Universal Newsreel
Universal Newsreel was a series of 7- to 10-minute newsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 by Universal Studios. A Universal publicity official, Sam B. Jacobson, was involved in originating and producing the newsreels...
and Fox Movietone News
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
even set up cameras at 2739 North 20th as part of their World Series coverage.
The numbers involved in this cottage industry were considerable: a rooftop bleacher could hold up to 80 people, with 18 more in the bay window of the front bedroom and more even on the porch roof. Viewers on the block could number up to several thousand for important games. Housewives served up refreshments for sale and children scurried to the hot dog vendors on the street, bought dogs for a nickel, and brought them back to sell for a dime. With so much money on the line, the business got organized and formalized very quickly; homeowners were quickly squeezed for bribes by city amusement tax collectors, and city police collected commissions for collaring and herding fans from the sidewalk into particular homes. By 1929, the extra income from the rooftop bleachers actually caused real estate values to climb on the 2700 block of N. 20th Street.
As long as the A's were winning games and filling the park, the 20th Street entrepreneurs were annoying, but little more, to Mack and the Shibes; it was not until the early 1930s that the A's collective tempers boiled over. Starting in 1932, Mack's sell-off of his Second Dynasty stars, combined with general Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hard times, sent attendance plummeting. 20th Streeters, accustomed to the income but now suffering from the tough economy like everyone else, actually sent reps to the lines — such as they were — at the Shibe box office to offer discount seats and snake some customers away from the ballclub. This was the last straw for Jack Shibe. Even though it would become universally known as "Connie Mack's Spite Fence", the 35-foot raising of the fence, to nearly 50 feet, was actually Shibe's project in the off-season of 1934–35. It not only limited the view from the street, the unattractive corrugated metal structure curtailed much of the goodwill the team had had with its neighbors, goodwill that would never return.
Elmer Valo
Elmer William Valo , born Imrich Valo, was a Slovak-American right fielder, coach and scout in Major League Baseball, making his debut on September 22,...
and Phils right fielder Johnny Callison
Johnny Callison
John Wesley Callison was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1960 to 1969...
, both leftie batters, complained that the high fence in right cost them many home runs. It dogged them when they played the field, too: its rippling corrugations made caroms absolutely unpredictable, with some balls dropping straight down, others bounding all the way back to second base and some bouncing radically to one side or another, sometimes into the bullpen. It was "one of the hardest" walls to play in the majors.
1938–1954: New tenant, new name, new owner
After several years of trying to escape their shabby wooden 50-year-old Baker BowlBaker Bowl
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...
ballpark, the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
were finally able to slip out of their lease and move the five blocks west on Lehigh to Shibe Park in mid-season 1938. They would be the tenants of the A's and their arrangement with Connie Mack was simple: they would pay ten cents a head "rent" for the fans they drew, and they would hire and pay their own stadium staff on game days. Having two teams play in the park complicated the scheduling enormously, and the impact of the extra Phillies income was blunted by the fact that the crowded schedule virtually precluded any other events throughout the summer, so the new tenant's income actually altered the park's bottom line very little. The Phillies' tenure at Shibe Park began with a split doubleheader against Boston on July 4 that year, but the boost to their morale from their new digs could not have lasted long: they finished last in the league, 24-1/2 games behind the seventh place Dodgers.
21st and Lehigh was a gloomy address indeed in the first years of the Phillies' tenancy. Both the A's and the Phils finished last in their respective leagues in 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1945. Making things worse was that Phils owner 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...
was mired in debt to both Mack and the National League, and other NL owners were grumbling about the dismal "gates" that their Philly trips earned them. The league had no choice but to buy the franchise from Nugent; they found a buyer in New York businessman William Cox
William B. Cox
William D. Cox was an American businessman and sports executive.-New York Yankees :A Yale University alumnus and wealthy lumber broker, Cox first entered the sports world when he headed a group that bought the New York Yankees of the third American Football League in 1941...
, who paid off Mack and put money down on future rent. Flamboyant Cox set about abrading fans, NL owners and Commissioner Landis, but the uproar did not last long: he was found to be betting on Phillies games and Landis banned him for life in short order. The NL once again owned its Philadelphia franchise.
Enter R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter Jr. was an owner and club president of the Philadelphia Phillies of American Major League Baseball. When he took command of the Phils, in November 1943 after his father purchased the franchise, Carpenter became the youngest club president in baseball history, and he...
— Bob — a wealthy 28-year-old Delawarean whose mother was a DuPont
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
, whose father was a vice-president at DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, who had a partnership with Connie Mack in the Wilmington Blue Rocks
Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952)
The Wilmington Blue Rocks were a minor league baseball team based in Wilmington, Delaware, playing in the Interstate League from 1940-1952. The nickname "Blue Rocks" came from 73-year-old Robert Miller in a name-the-team contest. Miller lived in the Henry Clay section of the city, famed for its...
minor league team, and whose family agreed to buy the Phillies and install him as president in 1943. The genial young millionaire admitted at his first press conference that he was short on experience, but added, "But I'm not worried. I think we can all have a good time." Carpenter slowly pulled the team out of its "dime store" way of doing business and invested major funds in the farm system, hired marketing consultants and investigated strategies for selling more tickets. He upgraded his staff with professional administrators who modernized operations at the same time he was spending time in Mr. Mack's plush tower office getting guidance from The Grand Old Man of Baseball. The result: an upsurge in attendance, including the city's first million-fan season in 1946, and the 1950 "Whiz Kids" team, who brought the NL pennant to Philadelphia for the first time in 35 years.
But as the Phillies improved the quality of baseball life in Philadelphia, there was a simultaneous decline in the fortunes of the A's — in the team, in the owner, and in the ballpark. Mack had alienated many fans in 1915 and again in 1932 when he sold off his pennant-winning teams for cash, and his clashes with his neighbors over the spite fence, the night games and the 20th Street overhang sparked ill-will between the team and its most important asset: its fan base. The Phillies began to outdraw the A's, whose bottom-feeder status in the American League contributed to the vicious circle of bad teams and empty seats.
There was also a precipitous decline in the boss himself. 1950 marked Mack's fiftieth year in Philadelphia — and his 87th birthday — and for several years prior, it had been plain that he was losing his mental acuity. He blithely predicted the 1950 A's would win the pennant (they finished dead last); he would call for "Baker!" and "Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
!" — sluggers he had sold off decades before — to step up and pinch-hit. Most ominous of all: the other AL owners complained to the league that their visits to Shibe Park did not yield receipts enough to justify the trip. Mack's sons Roy
Roy Mack
Roy Mack was the co-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League with his brother Earle Mack from through . In 1954, the brothers sold the Athletics to Arnold Johnson, who moved the team to Kansas City, Missouri one season later. Mack was the son of Hall of Fame manager and former...
and Earle
Earle Mack
Earle Thaddeus Mack, born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy , was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Connie Mack, was too ill to manage. He also became a part-owner of the franchise. His nephew...
gently pushed their father into retirement.
The power vacuum in the wake of "Mr. Baseball's" exit only worsened the problems, however. Roy and Earle Mack, "undistinguished men living in the shadow of their father," were products of Mack's first marriage; their half-brother Connie, Jr. came from his second. As the family factions squared off to battle for control of the A's, Junior and his mother joined forces with remnants of the Shibe family, who still owned 40% of the stock, while Roy and Earle shelved their years of squabbles to present a united front against what they derisively called "the Shibe faction." To raise cash for the coming internecine struggle, Roy and Earle made all the wrong decisions: they remortgaged the ballpark at a time when their cashflow was uncertain, and they jeopardized that flow even more by leasing the park concessions to an outside food service corporation.
In short order, the brothers had acquired huge excess debt and lost their best income sources to repay it. Even though they were successful in buying out Junior, the second Mrs. Mack and the remaining Shibes late in 1950, the business the brothers had gained control of was a doomed enterprise. And the moment they got control of it, they resumed battling each other.
It would take several years for the operation to dip beneath the waves. In the meantime, the Macks tried to capitalize on the remaining vestiges of affection in the city for their father, who turned 90 years old in December 1952. They opened the nostalgic Elephant Room, filled with memorabilia from the old glory days, under the first base grandstand. They renamed the park Connie Mack Stadium for the opening of the 1953 season, hanging a new metal plate over the old SHIBE PARK inscription, which was "still written in stone" beneath. Many old-timers refused to acknowledge the change.
But by 1954, it was clear the Macks would have to sell. Roy had hoped to keep the team, but Earle wanted out, and the numbers were hard to argue with: the A's business plan required attendance of 550,000 to break even and in 1954, they drew just 305,000. An embarrassing "Save the A's" committee formed to help, and it published the daily figure of turnout needed to stay on pace with breakeven, but the attendance remained flat while the published number grew each day and the committee collapsed in the stretch run. Even Mayor Clark hurt the effort: he admitted he was a Phillies fan. The A's finished 1954 sixty games out of first; their final game at Shibe, against the World Champion Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, drew only 1,715 fans.
In early August, Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson
Arnold Johnson
Arnold M. Johnson was an American industrialist, businessman and sportsman, who purchased the storied but financially unsound Philadelphia Athletics baseball club and moved it to Kansas City, Missouri, in the autumn of 1954...
stepped forward with a complicated $3.375 million plan to buy the Athletics and move them to Kansas City — to a minor league park he already owned, but would sell to the city for upgrading to major league standards. Roy, Earle and Connie Mack, Sr. would get about $1.5 million dollars, plus Johnson would pay off the remaining mortgage and assume the $400,000–$800,000 debt to the concessionaires. Very little of Johnson's own cash would be involved: the deal depended on real estate and the eagerness of the Kansas City town fathers to take on debt to snag a major league franchise.
The fly in the ointment was Connie Mack Stadium. The plan assumed a $1.5 million cash infusion from Bob Carpenter to buy the old ballpark, and he was anything but enthusiastic about it: "We need that ballpark as much as we need a hole in the head," he said. Carpenter recognized that modernizing the place would cost a million dollars, and even at that it would be impossible to enlarge the seating capacity. He also recognized the growing parking problem and the declining affluence of the neighborhhod. He tried to pass on the purchase, reminding Johnson that he had a lease until 1957. Johnson responded by threatening to raise the "rent" from a dime-a-head to twenty cents, and to bill the Phillies for stadium upkeep the A's had always paid for. When Carpenter did not show signs of giving in, Johnson said he would call the entire deal off. Carpenter knew he did not have much choice — there was nowhere else in town to play — so he ponied up the $1.7 million, bought the place himself, and collected rent from the Phillies just as the A's had previously. When he would sell it just seven years later, he got only $600,000 for it, a loss of over a million dollars.
The deal was done and the A's were gone. In early 1955, two trucks backed up to the stadium and packed the artifacts from the Elephant Room for removal to Kansas City. Carpenter graciously encouraged Mr. Mack to continue using his opulent tower office in the stadium that now bore his name, which he did almost daily until his death some thirteen months later.
1955–1970: Carpenter, Phillies and decline
When the stadium opened for the 1955 season, Carpenter's first, advertising billboards first appeared on the walls and roofs of the outfield: Formost dairy, Goldenberg's Peanut ChewsPeanut Chews
Long familiar to residents of the Philadelphia area and neighboring Mid-Atlantic states, Peanut Chews are a family of US candy products manufactured by Just Born. They consist of peanuts and molasses covered in chocolate, and are available in original dark chocolate flavor and milk chocolate...
, Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
, Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
, Alpo
Alpo (pet food)
Alpo is an American brand of dog food marketed and manufactured by the Nestlé Purina Petcare subsidiary of Nestlé. The brand is offered as a canned or packaged soft food, as well as in dry kibbles.-History:...
, Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
and Mertz Tours signs became familiar sights to stadiumgoers and to fans watching on television. A new straight-across fence covered the square corner in center field and most of the remaining "terrace", reducing the distance to a still-formidable 447 feet. Distance markers also appeared on the walls for the first time. In addition to the foul poles (334 and 331) and the center field area (447), a 400 marker was posted just to the center field side of the scoreboard, and a 405 marker in the corresponding area of deep left center field. A few years later, wooden fencing covered the rough bricks along the right field wall, and eventually the 331 sign was changed to read 329, although that change had no impact on the actual home run distance.
In 1956, Bob Carpenter replaced the old 1941 scoreboard in right-center field with a new, much larger board, constructed for Connie Mack Stadium. A prominent feature of the new board was the Ballantine Beer advertisement across the top and the Longines
Longines
Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The company was originally founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 and it currently holds the oldest registered logo for a watch company . Longines is currently owned by the Swatch Group.Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches...
clock perched above it. The board's superficial resemblance to the similarly-adorned board in Yankee Stadium gave rise to the urban legend that the board was acquired second-hand from the Yankees. However, the boards differed in many details, and the Yankee Stadium board remained until 1959 when it was replaced, a few years after Connie Mack Stadium's new board had made its appearance.
The big scoreboard extended well above the top of the right field fence, topping out at 75 feet including the clock. The entire board was in play except for the clock that topped the board: Balls that hit the clock were home runs. Dick Allen
Dick Allen
Richard Anthony Allen is a former Major League Baseball player and R&B singer. He played first and third base and outfield in Major League Baseball and ranked among his sport's top offensive producers of the 1960s and early 1970s...
was the only player to ever hit a home run over the Ballantine Beer sign and scoreboard. The scoreboard was used through the final year at the ballpark. Also in 1956, a new plexiglass barrier replaced the old backstop screen, an experiment also conducted at Cincinnati's Crosley Field
Crosley Field
Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second and third American Football League...
around that same time.
After the death of Mr. Mack in February 1956, a Mack Memorial Committee raised funds and commissioned sculptor Harry Rosin to create a statue of "Mr. Baseball". On April 16, 1957, it was unveiled across Lehigh Avenue in Reyburn Park — named after the mayor who threw out the first ball at Shibe back in 1909 — as part of the Opening Day ceremonies for the 1957 season. Commissioner Ford Frick
Ford Frick
Ford Christopher Frick was an American sportswriter and executive who served as president of the National League from to and as the third Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1951 to . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
, AL president Will Harridge
Will Harridge
William Harridge was an American executive in professional baseball whose most significant role was as president of the American League from 1931 to 1958...
and Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
all attended, as did many former A's players; the ceremony was emceed by sportscaster Bill Campbell
Bill Campbell (sportscaster)
Bill Campbell is a longtime sportscaster in the Philadelphia area.Campbell began his broadcasting career at the age of 17 at a radio station in his hometown of Atlantic City. He moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1941 as a minor league baseball announcer, and then settled in Philadelphia in...
. Shortly after, Philadelphia City Council removed Reyburn's name from the park and replaced it with Mack's. The statue was later moved to 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...
in 1971, and ultimately to Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
in 2004
2004 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since , ending the Curse of the Bambino.*With 262 hits, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners breaks George Sisler's record of 257. Suzuki also sets the record for most singles in a season, with 225.*2004 also marked the final...
.
For the 1960 season, additional box seats in front of the original grandstand reduced the plate-to-screen distance by about 10 feet. With a couple of years of life left in the park, a curving inner fence across center field reduced the distance from 447 to 410. The final seating capacity of the ballpark, as recorded in the 1970 Sporting News Baseball Guide, was 33,608.
Carpenter's prescient reluctance about Connie Mack Stadium proved justified. It was hard to put together a scenario where the park could be profitable. His first thought was to extend the length of his income season, so in 1959 he sought to buy an American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
franchise; the negotiations failed. The neighborhood continued to decline and the phrase "Watch your car, mister?" became a catch phrase to game attendees. Indeed, the parking problem became the very crux of the issue in the 1950s and 1960s: whereas most people had formerly come to the park on public transportation, after the war, the automobile became the standard mode of transport. There was a 500-car lot, later expanded to 850 cars, across 21st Street, but it was not nearly enough. Carpenter tried to buy the whole block in 1959 for a multi-level garage, but the deal fell through. The team maintained special "Phillies Express" buses to shuttle fans from transportation hubs in Camden and Upper Darby
69th Street Terminal
69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It is also the southwestern terminus of Philadelphia's EL, the Market-Frankford Line ....
, but the service never really caught on.
Carpenter investigated land tracts first in West Philadelphia, then in the Torresdale area of Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
, and also in the adjacent city of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. However, there were problems with every one of those proposed sites. The plan that came closest to fruition was a complicated 1964 package that called for a new stadium with parking for 7,000 cars to be built "on stilts" over the vast railroad yards near 30th Street Station
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
. This plan had considerable backing from city politicians and businessmen, but it too eventually unraveled when federal urban renewal funds did not come through and extended wrangling between Jerry Wolman
Jerry Wolman
Jerry Wolman is a former Washington, D.C. developer and the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team of the National Football League. Wolman bought the Eagles franchise in 1963 from the "Happy Hundred," a group of investors that owned the team from 1949–1963, for a sale price of...
, current stadium (and Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia 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...
) owner, and everyone else involved brought it down. Eventually the city would build 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...
in South Philadelphia and the Phillies would leave Connie Mack Stadium.
The final game at Connie Mack Stadium was played on October 1, 1970, with the Phillies defeating the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
2–1 in 10 innings. The occasion was marred by souvenir hunters literally dismantling the stadium even while the game was still in progress. A special post-game ceremony — including a helicopter removal of home plate and delivery of it at The Vet — was cancelled in the mayhem.
Baseball at the park
Over its 62 seasons of operation, Shibe Park was home to some of the best teams of their eras — and to some of the worst: the A's and the Phillies won eight of their leagues' pennants, bringing eight World Series to 21st and Lehigh. The two clubs also finished dead last in their leagues a combined 30 times, the A's 18 times between 1909 and 1954, and the Phillies 12 times between 1938 and 1970. In 1996, Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
proclaimed on its cover: "The 1929 Philadelphia A's, not the '27 Yankees, may have been the greatest baseball club ever assembled."
Over their first six seasons in the park, the A's dominated the American League. They won four pennants those six years and were famed for their $100,000 Infield
$100,000 infield
The $100,000 infield was the name given to the famous infield of the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 1910s. The $100,000 infield consisted of first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop Jack Barry and third baseman Frank Baker.Baseball historian Bill James rated the...
, said to be the greatest infield of all time. Baseball historians since have dubbed the 1910–1914 A's clubs "The First Dynasty"; it was "the sport's first championship dynasty ever." After the 1914 team lost the World Series in four games, Connie Mack sold off his top stars. If there was any doubt the dynasty had ended, A's teams finished last in the AL the next seven years in a row. The fire sale and subsequent cellar seasons earned Mack and the A's tremendous acrimony among Philadelphia fans.
Mack launched a rebuilding program in the mid-1920s, and his effort became "The Second Dynasty", which culminated in back-to-back-to-back AL pennants in 1929, 1930 and 1931. It was an ill-timed hegemony, though: the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
triggered the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and hard times caused baseball attendance to plummet, winners or no. By October 1932, the second great sell-off, of The Second Dynasty, was underway; by 1935, the stars were gone and the franchise had picked up $545,000 cash for itself. The A's had won the last of their pennants, and goodwill with the fan base was in short supply indeed.
The highs and lows of the A's were matched by those of the Phillies — except for most of the highs. Their 1950 Whiz Kids
Whiz Kids (baseball)
The Whiz Kids was a nickname given to the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball. This team, averaging only 26.4 years of age, won the National League pennant during that season.After owner R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr...
team did win the franchise's sole NL pennant during their years at the park, and the 1964 Phils
1964 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 82nd season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in a second-place tie in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds, while posting a record of 92-70. The teams finished one game behind the NL and World Series champion St. Louis...
came close to doing it again — until the infamous "Phold". The 1961 team
1961 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 69th in franchise history. The Phillies finished the season in last place in the National League at 47-107, 46 games behind the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds...
managed to set an enduring record, though: their 23-losses-in-a-row mark (from July 29–August 20) has yet to be bested.
Memorable games
In the very first game at Shibe Park, catcher Doc PowersDoc Powers
Michael Riley "Doc" Powers was an American Major League Baseball player who caught for four different teams from to . He played for the Louisville Colonels and Washington Senators of the National League, and the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Highlanders of the American League...
of the Philadelphia Athletics is said by some to have suffered internal injuries after crashing into a wall to catch a foul pop-up. Powers did die two weeks later.
The Athletics participated in seven World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
during their tenure at the stadium: 1910
1910 World Series
The 1910 World Series featured the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs, with the Athletics winning in five games to earn their first championship.Jack Coombs of Philadelphia won three games and Eddie Collins supplied timely hitting...
, 1911
1911 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 14, 1911 at Polo Grounds in Manhattan, New York-Game 2:Monday, October 16, 1911 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-Game 3:Tuesday, October 17, 1911 at Polo Grounds in Manhattan, New York-Game 4:...
, 1913
1913 World Series
In the 1913 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants four games to one.The A's pitching gave the edge to a closer-than-it-looked Series in 1913...
, 1914
1914 World Series
In the 1914 World Series, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics in a four-game sweep.A contender for greatest upset of all time, the "Miracle Braves" were in last place on July 4, then roared on to win the National League pennant by games and sweep the stunned Athletics...
, 1929
1929 World Series
In the 1929 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs in five games.The famous "Mack Attack" occurred in 1929, named for manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, in which the Athletics overcame an eight-run deficit by scoring ten runs in the seventh inning of Game 4...
, 1930
1930 World Series
In the 1930 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in six games, 4–2. Philadelphia's pitching ace Lefty Grove won two games.The St...
and 1931
1931 World Series
In the 1931 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Athletics in seven games, a rematch and reversal of fortunes of the 1930 World Series.The same two teams faced off during the 1930 World Series and the Athletics were victorious...
. The hometown fans got to witness A's Series championship clinches at Shibe Park in 1911, 1929 and 1930.
The Phillies participated in one World Series during their tenure at the stadium, in 1950
1950 World Series
The 1950 World Series was the 47th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the New York Yankees, as 1950 American League champions, competed to win a best-of-seven...
. They were swept by the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
.
The 1943 All-Star Game
1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 11th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 13, 1943, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the home...
was the first of two that would be held at Shibe Park. The 1943 game was hosted by the Athletics, and the 1952 game by the Phillies. The 1943 game was the second of three wartime All-Star Games that would be played at night. The American Leaguers won the game, 5-3.
The 1951 All-Star Game
1951 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1951 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 18th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 1951, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan the home of the...
had originally been awarded to the Phillies. The City of Detroit was celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding in 1701 and requested to host the year's All-Star Game. The 1951 game was moved to Detroit, and the Phillies then hosted the 1952 Game
1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 19th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 8, 1952, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the home of...
. The home city was well-represented on the All-Star teams. Phillies pitcher Curt Simmons
Curt Simmons
Curtis Thomas "Curt" Simmons is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1947–50 and 1952-67. With right-hander Robin Roberts, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Simmons was one of the twin anchors of the starting rotation of the "Whiz Kids", the Philadelphia Phillies' ...
started the game for the Nationals in front of the home crowd; Phillies shortstop Granny Hamner
Granny Hamner
Granville Wilbur Hamner was an American shortstop and second baseman in Major League Baseball. Hamner was one of the key players on the "Whiz Kids", the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies...
started and batted eighth; and A's pitcher Bobby Shantz
Bobby Shantz
Robert Clayton Shantz was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics , Kansas City Athletics , New York Yankees , Pittsburgh Pirates , Houston Colt .45's , St...
pitched the fifth inning for the Americans and struck out Whitey Lockman
Whitey Lockman
Carroll Walter "Whitey" Lockman was a player, coach, manager and front office executive in American Major League Baseball.-Role in miraculous 1951 comeback:...
, Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
and Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
in succession. It had rained all day, starting early in the morning and keeping both teams from pre-game warm ups. Rain delayed the first pitch by twenty minutes and eventually caused the game to be called after the fifth inning. The National Leaguers emerged with a then-rare All-Star victory for the Senior Circuit, 3-2.
In September 1923, the A's had the misfortune of being no-hit
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
twice in just four days, at home in Shibe Park. On the 4th, Yankees hurler Sam Jones
Sam Jones (baseball)
Samuel Jones , known during his career as "Toothpick Sam" Jones or "Sad Sam" Jones, was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to ....
was just one walk away from a perfect game
Perfect game
A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...
when he no-hit the A's; four days later on the 7th, it was Boston's Howard Ehmke
Howard Ehmke
Howard Jonathan Ehmke was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is best known for being the surprise starter who won Game 1 of the 1929 World Series for the Philadelphia Athletics at the age of 35...
who was likewise a lone BB away from perfection.
In Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, the A's, down 8–0 to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, scored ten runs in 7th inning to win. It was the highest score in a single inning and the biggest comeback in World Series history.
The game on May 16, 1939 was the first night game played in the American League. The Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
beat the A's 8–3 in front of 15,000-plus nocturnal fans.
On September 28, 1941, the last day of the season, Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader at Shibe Park to boost his batting average from .3995 to .406. The day before, Bosox manager Joe Cronin
Joe Cronin
Joseph Edward Cronin was a Major League Baseball shortstop and manager.During a 20-year playing career, he played from 1926–45 for three different teams, primarily for the Boston Red Sox. Cronin was a major league manager from 1933–47...
gave Williams the option of sitting out the final two games, because his .3995 average would round up to .400. Williams walked the streets of Philadelphia that night, pondering; he decided the stat would be cheapened if he did sit out, so he played and went 6-for-8. His .406 average for 1941 was the last .400-plus average in the major leagues.
Over the years, four A's pitchers tossed no-hitters in Shibe Park: Chief Bender
Chief Bender
Charles Albert "Chief" Bender was a pitcher in Major League Baseball during the first two decades of the 20th century...
in 1910, Bullet Joe Bush
Bullet Joe Bush
Leslie Ambrose "Bullet Joe" Bush born in Brainerd, Minnesota was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , St. Louis Browns , Washington Senators , Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants...
in 1916, Dick Fowler
Dick Fowler
Richard John Fowler was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics . Fowler batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
in 1945 and Bill McCahan
Bill McCahan
William Glenn McCahan was an American professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1946 to 1949....
in 1947.
Home runs
The ballpark was the site of some notable home run feats.On May 29, 1909, Frank "Home Run" Baker used his 52-ounce bat to hit the first home run in Shibe Park: 340 feet over the right field fence, off Boston's RHP Frank Arellanes
Frank Arellanes
Frank Julián Arellanes [ah-ray-yah'-ness] was a professional baseball starting pitcher. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox from 1908 through 1910...
, who had previously served him up a grand slam pitch in Boston on April 24. Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
catcher John Bateman hit the last home run there on September 29, 1970, in the antepenultimate game played at the stadium.
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...
, who got his first hit as a Yankee at Shibe Park on April 14, 1920, hit a blast to deep left-center on September 9, 1921, that cleared the then-single bleacher stand, went across the street, and hit a tree over 500 feet away. On May 21, 1930, Ruth hit one to right field over the 12-foot wall that landed in Opal Street, the alley behind the second row of houses, again over 500 feet distant and said to be the longest-ever home run hit at Shibe Park. The longest strike ever hit there is said to be Ted Williams's prodigious foul ball blast that cleared the high roof at the right field line, passed over 20th, over Opal, over Garnet, and came down on 19th Street.
On June 3, 1932, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
hit four homers in one game. Showing no favoritism, he hit two to the left field bleachers, two over the right field wall, and had a shot at an unprecedented fifth homer with a deep fly to center, but center fielder Al Simmons
Al Simmons
Aloysius Harry Simmons , born Aloisius Szymanski in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was an American baseball player. He played for two decades in the major leagues as an outfielder, and had his best years as a member of Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the 1930's...
snared it on a running catch.
A's muscular slugger Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
was also known for tape-measure blasts, especially during 1932 when he hit 58 home runs and challenged Ruth's season record of 60. Foxx was the all-time home run hitter at Shibe Park, with 195 round-trippers between 1927 and 1945.
On May 24, 1936, New York Yankees second baseman Tony Lazzeri
Tony Lazzeri
Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s , along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel...
hit two grand slams — one in the second off George Turbeville
George Turbeville
George Elkins Turbeville was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1935 to 1937....
, one in the fifth off Herman Fink
Herman Fink
Herman Adam Fink was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played all or part of three seasons in the majors, from until , for the Philadelphia Athletics.-Sources:...
— and a solo shot in the seventh off Woody Upchurch
Woody Upchurch
Jefferson Woodrow Upchurch was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. He pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics for three games during the 1935 Philadelphia Athletics season and seven games during the 1936 Philadelphia Athletics season. He played college baseball at Campbell...
, setting a single game RBI record of 11 (he also hit a 2-RBI triple). The Yanks prevailed, 25–2.
Yankee sluggers set the record for home runs hit in a doubleheader when they visited Shibe Park on June 28, 1939. Tommy Henrich
Tommy Henrich
Thomas David "Tommy" Henrich , nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire baseball career for the New York Yankees . He led the American League in triples twice and in runs scored once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times...
, Bill Dickey
Bill Dickey
William Malcolm Dickey was a Major League Baseball catcher and manager.He played his entire 19-year baseball career with the New York Yankees . During Dickey's playing career, the Yankees went to the World Series nine times, winning eight championships...
, George Selkirk
George Selkirk
George Alexander Selkirk was a Canadian outfielder and front office executive in Major League Baseball. In 1935, Selkirk succeeded the legendary Babe Ruth as the right fielder of the New York Yankees...
and Frankie Crosetti hit one each and Joe Gordon, Babe Dahlgren
Babe Dahlgren
Ellsworth Tenney "Babe" Dahlgren was a Major League Baseball infielder from 1935 to 1946 for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates...
and Joe Dimaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
all hit three. Total: 13 round-trippers. The Yanks won both ends, 23–2 and 10–0.
On June 2, 1949, the Phillies hit 5 HRs in the 8th inning: Del Ennis
Del Ennis
Delmer Ennis was an American left and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Philadelphia Phillies. From 1949 to 1957, Ennis accumulated more runs batted in than anyone besides Stan Musial and was 8th in the National League in home runs...
, Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones
Willie Jones (baseball)
Willie Edward Jones , nicknamed "Puddin' Head", was a Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Phillies , Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds...
and Schoolboy Rowe
Schoolboy Rowe
Lynnwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies...
each smacked one and Andy Seminick
Andy Seminick
Andrew Wasal Seminick was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1943 and 1951, and the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs from 1952 through part of 1955, when he rejoined the Phillies for the rest of his career until...
hit two off Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
pitchers Ken Raffensberger
Ken Raffensberger
Kenneth David Raffensberger was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1939 through 1954, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals , Chicago Cubs , Philadelphia Phillies , and Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs . Raffensberger batted right-handed and threw left-handed...
, Jess Dobernic
Jess Dobernic
Andrew Joseph "Jess" Dobernic was a former professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of three seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds...
and Kent Peterson
Kent Peterson
Kent Franklin Peterson was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eight seasons in the majors, and -, for the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. In , Peterson led the National League in hit batsmen with 6 despite pitching just 137 innings.-External links:* at Find a Grave...
. Final score: 12–3.
In later years, Dick Allen
Dick Allen
Richard Anthony Allen is a former Major League Baseball player and R&B singer. He played first and third base and outfield in Major League Baseball and ranked among his sport's top offensive producers of the 1960s and early 1970s...
hit some booming drives over the roof of the double-decked bleachers, in the general direction of the 1921 Ruthian shot. He also cleared the big scoreboard in right-center field. Despite his hitting prowess, Allen was unpopular with the fans, and fellow long-ball hitter Willie Stargell
Willie Stargell
Wilver Dornell "Willie" Stargell , nicknamed "Pops" in the later years of his career, was a Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
joked that the reason Allen was booed at home was that he hit his long drives clear out of the stadium: "When he hits a homer, there's no souvenir."
The single most famous home run hit at Shibe Park may be the one that stayed inside the park, in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series
1929 World Series
In the 1929 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs in five games.The famous "Mack Attack" occurred in 1929, named for manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, in which the Athletics overcame an eight-run deficit by scoring ten runs in the seventh inning of Game 4...
vs. the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
. Mule Haas
Mule Haas
George William Haas was a center fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1925 through 1938, Haas played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox...
of the A's hit a deep fly to centerfield which Hack Wilson
Hack Wilson
Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was an American professional baseball player who played 12 seasons with the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies...
of the Cubs lost in the sun. It landed behind him and rolled toward the center field corner, nearly 470 from home plate. As Wilson tried to chase down the ball, Haas circled the bases. The A's scored a total of 10 runs in that inning, and went on to defeat the Cubs in the Series.
Negro league baseball
Shibe Park hosted its first Negro LeagueNegro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
games in 1919 when the Hilldale Club
Hilldale Club
The Hilldale Athletic Club was an African American professional baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia....
and Bacharach Giants
Bacharach Giants
The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey.- Founding :The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 and renamed them after Harry Bacharach, the city's mayor...
played home games at the ballpark. Games between white major league teams and Negro League teams were not uncommon. The Bacharach Giants hosted an exhibition game at Shibe Park against John McGraw
John McGraw
John McGraw may refer to:* John McGraw , , New York lumber tycoon, and one of the founding trustees of Cornell University* John McGraw , , Governor of Washington state from 1893–1897...
's New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
on October 6, 1919.
Shibe Park was a neutral site venue for Negro League World Series
Negro 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. The Cleveland Buckeyes
Cleveland Buckeyes
The Cleveland Buckeyes were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro Leagues. They were established in 1942 in Cincinnati, Ohio . The following season, the team moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they played their games at League Park...
defeated the Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...
, 5 to 0, on September 20, 1945, to win game four and sweep the Series, four games to zero. Cleveland's Frank Carswell
Frank Carswell
Frank Willis Carswell was an American third baseman, first baseman, outfielder, manager and scout in professional baseball...
defeated Homestead's Ray Brown.
The Negro League Philadelphia Stars
Philadelphia Stars (baseball)
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930...
played home games at Shibe Park in the 1940s. The team's usual home field, at 44th and Parkside
Penmar Park
44th and Parkside Ballpark was a stadium in West Philadelphia built by the Pennsylvania Railroad YMCA. It was the home of the Pennsylvania Railroad YMCA of Philadelphia football club, often called the "Railroaders", from 1903 through 1905, and the Philadelphia Stars Negro league baseball club from...
seated approximately 6,000 fans; the Stars were able to draw between 10,000 and 12,000 to Shibe Park. They often played double-headers on Monday nights which was a travel day for the major league clubs.
Former Stars player Gene Benson
Gene Benson
Eugene Benson was an American center fielder in baseball's Negro Leagues. He played for the Philadelphia Stars in 1937, moved to the Homestead Grays in 1938, and returned to the Stars from 1939 to 1948...
would later recall the team playing about twenty games per season at Shibe Park. The Stars would dress in the A's locker room. The Stars drew their largest crowd on June 21, 1943 when they beat 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...
in front of 24,165.
Professional football
Shibe Park hosted the Frankford Yellow JacketsFrankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...
against 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 December 5, 1925 and the Yellow Jackets against the Bears on December 4, 1926. It also served as the site of two AFL
American Football League (1926)
The first American Football League , sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League. Founded by C. C...
games in 1926, the Philadelphia Quakers
Philadelphia Quakers (AFL)
Not to be confused with the defunct Philadelphia Quakers team of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia Quakers baseball team who became the Philadelphia Phillies in 1890 or the University of Pennsylvania athletics teams, the Pennsylvania Quakers....
against the Los Angeles Wildcats
Los Angeles Wildcats
The Los Angeles Wildcats was a traveling team of the first American Football League that was not based in its nominal home city but in Chicago, Illinois...
on November 20, 1926 and the Quakers against the New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
on November 27, 1926. The stadium hosted the December 12, 1925, Pottsville Maroons
Pottsville Maroons
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...
-Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
All-Stars game. The Maroons' NFL franchise was suspended as a result of the team's participation in that contest, costing Pottsville the 1925 NFL championship
1925 NFL Championship controversy
The 1925 National Football League Championship, officially held by the Chicago Cardinals, has been the subject of controversy since it was awarded. The controversy centers around the suspension of the Pottsville Maroons by NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, which prevented them from taking the title.The...
.
The National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia 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...
moved to Shibe Park in 1940
1940 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1940 Philadelphia Eagles season was their eighth in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 1–9–1, losing ten games...
and played their home games at the stadium through 1957.
To accommodate football at Shibe Park during the winter, management set up stands in right field, parallel to Twentieth Street. Some twenty feet high, these "east stands" had twenty-two rows of seats. The goalposts stood along the first base line and in left field. The uncovered east stands enlarged capacity of Shibe Park to over thirty-nine thousand, but the Eagles rarely drew more than twenty-five to thirty thousand.
The Eagles played the 1948 NFL Championship game
NFL Championship Game, 1948
The 1948 National Football League Championship game was the 16th NFL title game played. The game was a rematch of the previous year's championship game between the Chicago Cardinals, champions of the Western Division and the Philadelphia Eagles, champions of the Eastern Division. It was the first...
in a blizzard; the home team defeated the Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
7-0 with the only score by a Steve Van Buren
Steve Van Buren
Stephen W. Van Buren is a former professional American football halfback who played for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League from 1944–1951, and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
touchdown. The Eagles left Connie Mack Stadium after the 1957 season
1957 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1957 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 25th in the league. They improved on their previous output of 3–8–1, winning four games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.-NFL Draft:...
for Franklin Field
Franklin Field
Franklin Field is the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, field hockey, lacrosse, sprint football, and track and field . It is also used by Penn students for recreation, and for intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket, and is the site of Penn's graduation...
. Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000.
Politicians, pugilists, proselytizers—and soccer
Shibe scion Jack tried a quick whirl as a boxing promoter in the early 'teens, shortly after his father built Shibe Park, and although he did not pursue the career, he did make the acquaintance of the movers and shakers in the Philadelphia boxing world, including Bob Gunnis and Herman "Muggsy" Taylor. Gunnis and Taylor became among the first promoters to book a bout into a major league baseball stadium when they brought Johnny DundeeJohnny Dundee
Johnny Dundee was a featherweight and junior lightweight boxer who fought from 1910 until 1932. Dundee was born Giuseppe Curreri in Sciacca, Sicily, but was raised in the United States....
vs. George Chaney
George Chaney
George "KO" Chaney was a hard punching featherweight and lightweight who fought from 1910 to 1928. Chaney was born George Henry Chaney in Baltimore, Maryland to Irish-American parents. In his time he was known as the "knockout king of Fistiana" He compiled a lifetime record in boxing of 127 wins...
to Shibe Park in July 1917, and although the fight itself was unremarkable, the concept propelled the pair to the forefront of their trade. Over the next forty years, perhaps a hundred boxing cards took place at Shibe, some of them big-time pairings and even championship bouts. Benny Leonard
Benny Leonard
Benny Leonard was an American lightweight boxer. He was named as number 8 on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years and number 7 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time....
retained his championship against challenger Johnny Kilbane
Johnny Kilbane
John "Johnny" Patrick Kilbane was a featherweight boxer in the early part of the 20th century. He held the featherweight title from 1912 to 1923, the longest period in the division's history...
in 1917, and 1928's Benny Bass
Benny Bass
Benny Bass, known as "Little Fish," was an American boxer....
vs. Harry Blitman was said by sportswriters to be the best featherweight
Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
bout in the city's history. In the 1950s, Gil Turner
Gil Turner
Gil Turner was an American folk singer-songwriter, magazine editor, Shakespearean actor, political activist, and for a time, a lay Baptist preacher...
, Ike Williams
Ike Williams (boxer)
Ike Williams was a former lightweight world boxing champion. Williams was known for his great right hand, and was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time as well as Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year for 1948.-Professional Career:During his career, Williams faced and...
, Charley Fusari
Charley Fusari
Charley Fusari was an American boxer born in Italy. Charley was undefeated in his first 45 fights. In his 45th fight, he beat the great Tippy Larkin.Fusari had two world title shots during his career...
and many other top fighters fought important bouts at Shibe Park. At first, groundskeepers set the ring up over the pitcher's mound, but soon this changed to the area over home plate with the baseball backstops dismantled; spectators sat in the main grandstand for the fight. Even before the installation of the light towers in 1939, staging night boxing was easy because of the vastly smaller area that needed to be lit — portable searchlights did the trick.
In October 1948, the US national soccer team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
played three international friendlies against the Israel national team
Israel national football team
The Israel national football team is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association .Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate...
. The first game was played at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
and the last at 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...
. In the middle match on October 17, the US beat Israel at Shibe Park, shutting them out 4-0 before 30,000 fans.
The events were not always sports related: the 30-some thousand seats were a good venue for political rallies. In 1940
United States presidential election, 1940
The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...
, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie came to Shibe for a speech and rally. Four years later
United States presidential election, 1944
The United States presidential election of 1944 took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had been in office longer than any other president, but remained popular. Unlike 1940, there was little doubt that Roosevelt would run for...
, the man who beat Wilkie, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, made one of his few 1944 public appearances at 21st and Lehigh; he won again. In 1948
United States presidential election, 1948
The United States presidential election of 1948 is considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way...
, third-party Progressive
Progressive Party (United States, 1948)
The United States Progressive Party of 1948 was a left-wing political party that ran former Vice President Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for president and U.S. Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho for vice president in 1948.-Foundation:...
candidate Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
made his acceptance speech there.
Promoters tried jazz concerts in 1959, but the place was deemed "not intimate enough" for jazz. The rodeo came in 1962, but the hooves proved too destructive of the turf. The Ringling Brothers
Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers were seven siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in McGregor, Iowa and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, they were the children of Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling...
circus set up shop at Shibe in 1955 when they were denied occupancy at all their regular Philadelphia venues, and evangelist Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
had many successful crusades there. But the favorite visitors of all to the stadium management were the Jehovah's Witnesses — "because the Witnesses left the park immaculate."
Through the turnstiles
The Shibe Park turnstiles registered some 47 million clicks over 62 seasons of baseball.The Phillies were first to break the million mark for a season in 1946 with a team that was a "harbinger of the Whiz Kids." The star-crossed 1964 Phils
1964 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 82nd season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in a second-place tie in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds, while posting a record of 92-70. The teams finished one game behind the NL and World Series champion St. Louis...
drew the highest single-season attendance with 1,425,891 in that infamous year; the Athletics' best-attended season was 1948, when they drew 945,076 fans.
The largest single-day baseball crowd came on May 11, 1947, the day that Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
made his Philadelphia debut; the Phillies beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in both ends of their doubleheader that day as 41,660 looked on. The Athletics' best single-day turnout was also for a doubleheader, with the Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, on August 3, 1931, as the Second Dynasty team was closing in on its third AL pennant in a row; they too swept both games before a crowd of 38,800-plus.
Low-ebb seasons were the Phils' 1940 turnout at just 207,177, and the Athletics' dismal 146,223 in 1915, the year after Connie Mack sold off the stars from his 1914 pennant-winning team.
Last years
In March 1971, Louis Graboyes and S. Solis Tollin agreed in principal to buy the Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium property from Jerry WolmanJerry Wolman
Jerry Wolman is a former Washington, D.C. developer and the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team of the National Football League. Wolman bought the Eagles franchise in 1963 from the "Happy Hundred," a group of investors that owned the team from 1949–1963, for a sale price of...
, who had purchased it in 1964 for $757,500 and was no longer able to meet the mortgage on it. The sale, however, was not completed and some sources say that Wolman eventually sold the ballpark to the city of Philadelphia for the token price of 50 cents.
On August 20, 1971, the Connie Mack statue was re-dedicated at Veterans' Stadium. That same day, while an evangelical revival group was setting up its tent, two stepbrothers, aged nine and twelve, sneaked into the park and started a small fire that grew into a five-alarmer, burning through much of the original upper deck, collapsing the roof and leaving twisted steel supports visible from the streets; ironically, the collapse of the overbloated roof restored much of the balanced grandeur of the original design. The park sat that way for the next 4 years, slowly deteriorating and becoming increasingly hazardous. Squatters took up revolving residence, and trash and debris accumulated; small trees took root and the manicured emerald turf became unruly knee-high stalks. In October 1975, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Ned Hirsh ordered the stadium razed. The corner tower and its domed cupola, Connie Mack's original office, whose design had been compared to a church, was the last segment of the ballpark demolished, on July 13, 1976.
In 1991, Deliverance Evangelistic Church, an independent Pentecostal congregation, began construction of a new church building on the site.
Contemporary culture
Shibe Park's rooftop bleachers became one of the inspirations for a special seating area in Citizens Bank ParkCitizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
when it opened in 2004
2004 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season was the 122nd season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies finished in second-place in the National League East with a record of 86-76, ten games behind the Atlanta Braves, and six games behind the NL wild-card champion Houston Astros...
. Of their "Rooftop Bleacher Seats", the Phillies announced, "The Phillies are bringing back rooftop bleacher seats, a Shibe Park phenomenon of the 1920s when residents of 20th Street built bleacher seats on top of their roofs. The seats are located on top of the buildings along Ashburn Alley."
In June 2001, Shibe Park was one of ten historic ballparks celebrated on the USPS
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
34-cent Commemorative issue stamps, "Baseball's Legendary Playing Fields". The stamps were released June 27, 2001. The reverse of the Shibe Park stamp reads, "The first Major League Baseball concrete-and-steel stadium, Philadelphia's Shibe Park featured a 34-foot-high right field wall, as well as a façade with stately columns and a French Renaissance cupola."
In 2009, the Philadelphia Brewing Co. released an ale named "Fleur de Lehigh" which features Shibe Park on the label.
Further reading
- Jordan, David M. (1999). The Athletics of Philadelphia: Connie Mack's White Elephants. Jefferson, North Carolina: MacFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0620-8.
- Kuklick, BruceBruce KuklickBruce Kuklick is an American historian. He currently serves as the Nichols Professor of American History at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in diplomatic and intellectual history of the United States, as well as the history of philosophy...
(1991). To Every Thing A Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04788-X. (1991 winner of CASEY AwardCASEY AwardThe CASEY Award has been given to the best baseball book of the year since . The honor was begun by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of “Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine.”-CASEY Award recipients:...
for baseball book of the year) - Leventhal, Josh (2006). Take Me Out to the Ballpark. New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 978-1579125134.
- Lowry, Philip (2006). Green Cathedrals. New York: Walker & Company. ISBN 978-0-8027-1608-8.
- Ritter, LawrenceLawrence RitterLawrence S. Ritter was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball.Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School of Business Administration of New York University. He also edited the academic periodical...
(1992). Lost Ballparks. New York: The Penguin Group. ISBN 0-670-83811-X. - Sparks, Barry, (2005). Frank "Home Run" Baker: Hall of Famer and World Series Hero. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786423811.
- Westcott, Rich (1996). Philadelphia's Old Ballparks. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-454-6.
- Berkun, Todd (2011). A Tale of Two Scoreboards at Long Island & NYC Places That Are No More, June 10, 2011, on the urban legend of the Yankee Stadium sign.
- Connie Mack Stadium at Ballparks.com
- "The Team That Time Forgot" article in Sports Illustrated, August 19, 1996, about the 1929 A's