Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium

[Diamond Jim]

I better quit now. I could go on and on and bore you to death.

George, you better not quit, this is the stuff I am looking for. Retrosheet has a lot of game recaps with complete inning by inning discripiton, I was hoping your game from 1948 would be one of them. You keep typing and I'll keep reading. :up :up

Here are some of my favorite Phillie players:

Ruben Amaro
Jack Baldschun
John Buzhardt
Johnny Callison
Jimmie Coker
Wes Covington
Tony Curry
Clay Dalrymple
Bobby Del Greco
Don Demeter
Turk Farrell
Tony Gonzalez
Art Mahaffey
Robin Roberts
Chris Short
Bobby Gene Smith
Tony Taylor
Lee Walls
Ted Savage

I am just a pup (57), the Athelitics were gone to Kansas City before I knew what was going on . My son gave me a book entiled Connie Mack and the Early Years od Baseball. It was 643 pages and only covered his life from his birth in 1862 until the end of the 1914 season. If it had covered his whole life until he died in 1956 it would have been 6 inches thick instead of 4. It was great, I wished I would have live in that era.

 

[geonaz]

Jim, my all time favorite was Richie Ashburn. I remember all the players you have mentioned. On one of my trips to the airport I tried to shke Tony Taylor's hand not realizing he had injured it and it was bandaged. He always was a gentleman and always smiled at the fans. I could not understand what he said. Bobby Wine was one of my favorites as well. Not so much as aplayer but because of the type of man he was. He lived near me and would be an occasional customer at my father's store and gas station. He bought Tommy Lasorda's house in suburban Norristown, PA. I sold Bobby a lawn tractor in 1980 after the Phillies won the series. He told me several years earlier that he would buy one if the Phillies ever won the series. About two weeks later he called me at Sears and ordered the tractor. Wonder what he's doing now. Next time I'll write about the 1950 pennant race and Don Newcombe starting both games of a twi-nite double header against the Phillies. Oops, I just did write about it. Dodgers won both games but Newcombe won only the first game. There were about eight members of the Grogg clan in attendance that night and it was a school night. Oh well, enough rambling for tonight. Bye

 

[Diamond Jim]

My all time favorite was Richie Ashburn.

I was fairly young at that time, I remember Richie with the Cubs and the Mets. You keep on posting an I'll keep on reading.

 

[geonaz]

Man I was so tired I spelled my own name wrong. I am not Grogg, I am Groff. I think Grog is a character in the BC comic strip. Us old folks need our rest. One of my saddest memories at Connie Mack was in 1964 when the Phillies blew the NL pennant. I was sitting in a deluxe box seat behind the Reds dugout when I think it was Chio Ruiz stole home in the late innings of one of the games in the losing streak. I will never forget the grin on his face as he looked right into my eyes as he returned to the dugout. I thought the Phillies would never again get to the world series. What made it even worse was that the father of a friend had series tickets from his company but he did not like baseball. He asked me if I would take his son to the game if He gave me the tickets. DUH, what do you think was my reply? You mentioned Wes Covington, I attended a game when Jim Bunning was pitching and had a no-hitter going into I believe the seventh inning. There was a fly ball hit to Wes and he was so slow he could not quite get to it and it tipped off his glove for the first of the game. I forget the outcome of the game and even the opposing team but it was a long time before I forgave Wes. If I recall correctly he wore shoes with lead inserts before the game in an attempt to make him faster. Did not seem to work. More later.

 

[clapple]

I saw my first game at Schibe Park about 1942 or 43. Before the "A's" moved to Kansas City. Used to sit right behind the A's dugout for about $3. Would take the Reading Railroad to N. Broad St. Station and walk the 7 blocks to the field. Is Schibe Park long gone? The railroad apparently is. !st Eagles game in 1944. Steve Van Buren ran the opening kick off back 94yds. for a TD. Many Phillies games after the A's left. Got back there some tine in the 70's. to see a Phillies game. Now if I could only get a decent cheese steak in California!

 

[Diamond Jim]

Hi Clapple,

Thanks for you input.

Yes, Shibe Park is gone. The Phillies left it in 1970 for Verteran's Stadium. It stood open to vandels, the upper deck grandstand behind home plate was a victim of arson in 1971, until it was demolished in 1976. A church now stands at the corner of 21st and Lehigh.

Check out this link and see what the ole girl looked like in her final days: http://www.stadiumpage.com/stadiumgraveyard/

I was in Philadelphia back in Janurary of '07. My son took us to Dallasandros up in Germantown for a cheesesteak. After that, I will never eat another one unless it comes from Dallasandros. It was great!!!! :up

 

[Will94]

Here are a couple of more websites with pics of old ballparks.

Ballparks by Munsey and Suppes
Ballparks of Baseball-The Fields of Major League Baseball

 

[dishcomm]

Has anyone else noticed that all the newer parks are looking somewhat alike?

Yeah. Why not. They are mostly all from the same designer/builder "HOK".
Most new stadiums are smaler capacity ballparks with oddball dimesnsions and fence heights. Wells and other nuances. Some are over the top. Citi Field comes to mind. In that stadium no Met club leader will ever hit 35 HR's in a season again.
I would have liked to have been at the meeting where they decided the outfield wall dimensions and shapes.
I would have removed my shoes and jumped up on the conference table and yelled "What the hell are you people thinking about!!!
Anyway, the retro idea is cool.

 

[dishcomm]

It's not the nicest of town.We usually hit Pats King of Steaks or Genos on 9th & Passyunk at least once a month for cheesesteaks before a game.A few years ago,we met Kerry Fraser & Pat Dapuzzo the ref & linesman before a game.That is really the only other place in Philly I visit other than the Sports Complex.

Did they tear down all of the old baseball parks ? I was once told that there was still a facade of one of the old time parks still standing some place in Philly.

Save for Center City and the Sports Complex area, Philly is well, my parents always told me if I didn't have anything nice to say , say nothing.
Ok my opinion of Philly except for the aformentioned areas is "nothing".
I have seen some of the neighborhoods and it is tragic what Philadelphia city politicos have allowed to happen there.
ANyway, not trying to hijack the thread.
I always wanted to visit some of the old ballparks before they tore 'em down.
Wrigley and Fenway are the only two left now.

 

[lefatman]

My first game ever was in 1954 when I saw the NY Giants play the Phillies in Connie Mack. I was also there the day Granny Hamner had 3 triples in one game. (Still a record I believe). As a teenager, we drove from Lewisburg to Harrisburg to take the train to see many Sunday games. Many great games and the beer man on the train never checked for your age. Johnny Callison and Wes Covington still remain my favorite players for those teams, but the blown pennant in 1964 made me swear off the Phils for the rest of my life. Byrun Saam is still a legend in my mind and the reason I got into radio announcing as a young man. I guess seeing this topic and a couple of Keystone Lights opened up my memory... THANKS.

 

[Mr Tony]

Here is a great site for old ballparks
Ballparks, Arenas and Stadiums

with sections for Connie Mack Stadium & Baker Bowl
Shibe Part Part I
Shibe Park Part II

 

[Diamond Jim]

Tony, thanks for those links. Some of those photos will be added to the collection.