Columbia Park was a baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1908. It was
located at between 29th and 30th streets and between Oxford Street and
Columbia Avenue (now named Cecil B. Moore Avenue) in the Brewerytown
neighborhood.
At
a glance...
COLUMBIA PARK
Facility
statistics
Location
30th
Street and
Oxford Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Athletics
(AL, 1901-1908)
Phillies (NL, August 20-Sept 10, 1903)
Seating
capacity
9,500
(1901), 13,600 (1905)
Dimensions
Left
Field: 340
Left Center: 392
Center Field (deepest corner in left):
440
Center Field: 396
Right Center: 323
Right Field: 280
Backstop: 75
When Ban Johnson and his American League decided to "invade"
Philadelphia for the 1901 season, Columbia Park was quickly built on the
grounds of the old Recreation
Park. Connie Mack, who co-owned the franchise with Ben Shibe, took a
ten-year lease on the property - by then an empty lot - and undertook to
build the wooden park that would feature a covered grandstand extending
past first and third bases with uncovered bleachers extending down the
foul lines for seating capacity of 9,500.1
It was one of the last major league parks to not have dugouts and the
only clubhouse was for the Athletics - the visiting teams dressed at their
hotel.
Fly
to the site of Columbia Park!
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of Columbia Park. Of course the
stadium is no longer there, but you can see the old neighborhood.
(If you do not have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
While we do not have splits for the 1901-1908 seasons, it seems the
short fence in right field (just 280 feet) might explain why an Athletic
won the home run crown six of their seven seasons in the park. And despite
what has been characterized as a large foul area, Nap Lajoie won a triple
crown with an American League record .422 average in 1901.2
The National League's Phillies temporarily called Columbia Park home in
1903 while repairs were made to a balcony in the Baker
Bowl.3
Games 1 and 3 of the 1905 World Series, which the Philadelphia
Athletics lost to the New York Giants 4 games to 1, were played in
Columbia Park.
Annual "City Series" games between the Phillies and Athletics
were played at both the Baker Bowl and Columbia Park with each team
winning 13 of the 26 played at the latter.
The Athletics found a more permanent home following the 1908 season
when they moved to Shibe Park.
The park was torn down around 1912 and replaced with housing.
Columbia Park!
Columbia Park in
1907. Note the press box behind home plate
and above the grandstands
Postcard
courtesy of LCPC
FIRSTS
at COLUMBIA PARK
Game
04/26/1901
Senators 5, Athletics 1
Umpires
John Haskell
Managers
Connie Mack, Athletics
Jim Manning, Senators
Starting Pitchers
Chick Fraser, Athletics
Bill Carrick, Senators
Ceremonial Pitch
Philadelphia Mayor Ashbridge
Attendance
15,000 (est.)
Batting
Batter
John Farrell (ground out)
Hit
Jack O'Brien (single)
Run
Joe Quinn
RBI
Boileryard Clarke
Single
Jack O'Brien
Double
Nap Lajoie
Triple
John Farrell (04/27/1901)
Home Run
Billy Clingman (04/27/1901)
Grand Slam
Herm McFarland (09/10/1902)
IPHR
Joe Kelley (05/08/1902)
Stolen Base
Nap Lajoie
Sacrifice Hit
Dave Fultz (04/27/1901)
Sacrifice Fly
No sacrifice fly in rules at this
time
Cycle
(None)
Pitching
Win
Bill Carrick
Loss
Chick Fraser
Shutout
Eddie Plank (06/13/1901)
Save
N/A
Hit by Pitch
Win Kellum hit Nap Lajoie
(05/01/1901)
Wild Pitch
Win Kellum (05/01/1901)
Balk
Pete Dowling (06/18/1901)
No-Hitter
(None)
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
NOTES: 1. A record crowd of 23,897 somehow found space within the
grounds to witness the A's clinch the pennant on September 20, 1902. 2. In addition to Lajoie's HR crown, Harry Davis won four straight
from 1904-1907 and Socks Syebold won the title in 1902. 3. Part of a balcony collapsed killing 12 and injuring over 200
more. The Phillies first nine attempts at playing games at Columbia Park
were all rained out!
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