Connie Mack Stadium, known for the first two-thirds of its
existence as Shibe Park, was a Major League Baseball park in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue,
20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street.
1909:
Left Field - 360 ft
Left-Center - 393 ft
Center Field - 515 ft
Right-Center - 393 ft
Right Field - 360 ft (340 later in
season)
Backstop - 90 ft (estimated)
1969:
Left Field - 334 ft
Left-Center - 387 ft
Center Field - 410 ft
Right-Center - 390 ft
Right Field - 329 ft
Backstop - 64 ft
The stadium was thus just five blocks west, corner-to-corner, from Baker
Bowl, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies starting in 1887. It was
the first concrete and steel stadium in the Major Leagues.
The stadium hosted two Major League Baseball All-Star Games, the first
in 1943, marking the first time the game had been played at night, and in
1952, with that game holding the distinction of being the only All-Star
contest shortened by rain (in this case, to five innings).
The Philadelphia Athletics of the American League opened the ballpark
in 1909 after abandoning Columbia Park. The park was first called Shibe
Park, named for Benjamin Shibe, who was one of the initial owners along
with Connie Mack. Mr. Mack eventually acquired full ownership, but kept
the name the same. The park was finally renamed Connie Mack Stadium in
1953 in honor of the gentlemanly and modest Mr. Mack, who by then was
known as "The Grand Old Man of Baseball". A statue was erected
in 1957 across the street in a park, was moved to Veterans
Stadium in 1971, and ultimately to Citizens
Bank Park in 2004.
Fly
to the site of the Connie Mack Stadium!
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of the Connie Mack Stadium. Of
course the stadium is no longer there, but you can see the church
that now occupies the land. (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.)
Because the Athletics were popular at the time, sellout crowds made house
owners on 20th Street erect bleachers similar to those now at Wrigley
Field in Chicago, and charging admission to watch the game. This
infuriated Mr. Mack so much, because he was known as a tight owner when it
came to finances, that in the winter of 1933, after losing a lawsuit that
was filed by the club against the 20th Street house owners from his office
in the cupola of the French Renaissance-designed ballpark, he raised the
fence to a height of 33 feet (10 meters), a fence quickly dubbed by
writers as "spite fence". But when the fence went up, the team's
fortunes went down, never getting into pennant contention after that. The
Athletics played in the stadium until the 1954 season before relocating to
Kansas City in 1955.
The National League's Philadelphia Phillies had abandoned Baker
Bowl in mid-season 1938, and played at the stadium as co-tenants,
playing a doubleheader on July 4th that year, ultimately purchasing the
park in the winter of 1954 when the Athletics left Philadelphia, until the
stadium was closed after the 1970 season when the team moved to the
then-new Veterans Stadium. The final game played there, on October 1 with
the Phillies defeating the Montreal Expos 2-1 in 10 innings, was marred by
people literally wrecking the stadium before the game ended. In all, a
special post-game ceremony — including a helecopter delivery to The Vet
of home plate — was cancelled. The National Football League's
Philadelphia Eagles also played at the stadium during most of the 1940s
and 50s, including the 1948 NFL Championship game, played in a blizzard
where the home team defeated the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 with the only score
by a Steve Van Buren touchdown, before moving to Franklin Field in 1958,
which made Connie Mack a baseball-only facility, and eventually to The
Vet.
Shibe Park!
The entrance to
Shibe Park shortly after it opened.
Postcard
courtesy of LCPC.
FIRSTS
at SHIBE PARK
Game
04/12/1909
Red Sox 1, Athletics 8
Umpires
Tommy Connolly, Tim Hurst
Managers
Connie Mack, Athletics
Fred Lake, Red Sox
Starting Pitchers
Eddie Plank, Athletics
Frank Arellanes, Red Sox
Ceremonial Pitch
Philadelphia Mayor Reyburn
Attendance
30,162
Batting
Batter
Amby McConnell (ground out)
Hit
Simon Nicholls (single)
Run
Simon Nicholls
RBI
Danny Murphy
Single
Simon Nicholls
Double
Danny Murphy
Triple
Amby McConnell (04/13/1909)
Home Run
Home Run Baker (05/29/1909)
Grand Slam
Duffy Lewis (10/03/1912)
IPHR
Danny Murphy (06/03/1909)
Stolen Base
Harry Davis
Sacrifice Hit
Tris Speaker
Sacrifice Fly
Hamilton Patterson (06/15/1909)
Cycle
Danny Murphy (08/25/1910)
Pitching
Win
Eddie Plank
Loss
Frank Arellanes
Shutout
Lew Brockett (04/16/1909)
Save
N/A
Hit by Pitch
Jack Ryan hit Harry Davis
Wild Pitch
Eddie Plank
Balk
Chief Bender (08/03/1909)
No-Hitter
Chief Bender (05/12/1910)
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
Connie Mack Stadium sat empty and unwanted for the better part of six
years, suffering fire on August 20, 1971 — the same day the Connie Mack
statue was re-dedicated at Veterans' Stadium — along with vandalism and
jungle-like growth of weeds. It was finally razed in 1976, ironically
while Philadelphia was the central point of American Bicentennial
celebrations including the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at
Veterans' Stadium.
Many of the seats from this stadium were reused in War Memorial Stadium
in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in Duncan Park in Spartanburg, South
Carolina.
Our sites have always been by you and about you. If
you check
our TV Forums or our Technology & Science forums, you'll find literally thousands of messages from fans
of 1970s TV shows, survivors of hurricanes or aircraft accidents, etc. from all over the world sharing their memories, asking
questions, making comments. Our baseball section is new, but don't let
that stop you from sharing
your memories of the first game you went to, your favorite player, a
now-forgotten stadium, etc. Of course you can also ask questions, post
trivia, tell the world what you think of Barry Bonds, or just read what
others are saying.
Logos and team names may be trademarks of their respective franchises or leagues. This site is not recognized, approved, sponsored by, or endorsed by Major League Baseball nor any sports league or team. Any marks, terms, or logos are used for editorial/identification purposes and are not claimed as belonging to this site or its owners. Any statistical data provided courtesy of Retrosheet (see credits).
Notice from Retrosheet:
The information used here was obtained free of
charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested
parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd.,
Newark, DE 19711.
.gif)
.gif){kind=small}
.gif){kind=small}
(80).jpg&S=&L=1707&O=7/20/2008)
Stadiums
.jpg&S=&L=1707&O=7/20/2008)
.jpg)
