Shibe Park

From SoSH

Shibe Park

Location:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Opened:	April 12, 1909
Owner:	Connie Mack & Ben Shibe
Surface:	Grass
Architect:	William Steele & Sons
Current Capacity:	33,608
Build Cost:	$457,167
Tenants:	Philadelphia Athletics (AL) (1909-1954) Philadelphia Phillies (NL) (1938-1970) Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) (1940, 1942-1957)

1 Stadium History
2 Trivia
3 Field Dimensions
4 Wall Height
5 External Links

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Stadium History

Shibe Park opened in 1909 after the Philadelphia Athletics abandoned Columbia Park. The park was named for team owner Ben Shibe, who at that point co-owned the team with manager Connie Mack. When Mack acquired full ownership, he left Shibe's name on the park until it was renamed "Connie Mack Stadium" in Mack's honor in 1953. Shibe Park was the first concrete-and-steel park in Major League Baseball.

The Athletics were immensely popular when the park first opened, and people did their best to see the games any way they could -- even if it meant not entering the ballpark. House owners on 20th Street in Philadelphia put bleachers on top of their buildings and charged admission to watch the game. (The same would later happen at Chicago's Wrigley Field.) Mack filed a suit against the house owners. He lost, and instead of re-filing, in the winter of 1933, he ordered the extension of the right-field fence to a height of thirty-three feet. The fence became known as a "spite fence" and eventually came back to bite Mack on the hand, as when the wall went up, attendance, the team's fortunes, and the quality of the surrounding neighborhood all dropped.

Shibe Park featured many astonishing home runs, including a 500-foot shot by Babe Ruth to left-center that hit a tree across the street. Lou Gehrig hit four in one game at Shibe Park and nearly had a fifth to deep center field -- which was 470 feet away from home plate at the time -- until it was snagged by the center fielder on a running catch. Later on, Richie Allen became adept at hitting towering shots over the stadium's double-decked bleachers.

The Phillies moved into the park in 1938 after leaving Baker Bowl, which opened in 1887, and became co-tenants of the Athletics. When the Athletics left for Kansas City, the Phillies purchased the park and stayed there until the end of the 1970 season before moving into Veterans Stadium, where the original Shibe Park home plate was used.

Shibe Park was left unused for six years, damaged by fire and vandalism and covered with vines, until it was razed in 1976. The site of this former "Church of Baseball" now holds an actual church.

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Trivia

Site of the 1943 and 1952 All-Star Games, both significant games: the former was the first All-Star Game played at night, and the latter was the first -- and so far, only -- All-Star Game shortened by rain (five innings).

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