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Baker Bowl was the popular name of a baseball park that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its formal name was National League Park. It was also initially known as Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds. Image File history File links Baker_Bowl_aerial1. ...
Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area - City 369. ...
April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ...
1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...
June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 184 days remaining. ...
Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 14, 20, 32, 36, 42 Name Philadelphia Phillies (1883–present) unofficially Philadelphia Blue Jays (1944-1945) Philadelphia Quakers (1882) (Commonly referred to as Blue Jays 1944-1945 despite formal name remaining Phillies) Ballpark Citizens...
ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory[1], the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ...
Al Reach (May 25, 1840 – January 14, 1928), born in London, England, was one of the early stars of baseball playing in the National Association. ...
Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 14, 20, 32, 36, 42 Name Philadelphia Phillies (1883–present) unofficially Philadelphia Blue Jays (1944-1945) Philadelphia Quakers (1882) (Commonly referred to as Blue Jays 1944-1945 despite formal name remaining Phillies) Ballpark Citizens...
Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ...
1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...
Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
NFL logo For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ...
1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...
1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...
1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
A view of the playing field at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. ...
Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ...
Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area - City 369. ...
It was on a small city block bounded by N. Broad St., W. Huntingdon St., N. 15th St. and W. Lehigh Avenue. The ballpark, shoehorned as it was into the Philadelphia city grid, acquired a number of nicknames over the years.
- Huntingdon Street Grounds was a nickname for awhile, as it was a side street running behind the first base line that intersected Broad Street, a major thoroughfare.
- Baker Bowl, also called Baker Field in the baseball guides, referred to one-time Phillies owner William F. Baker. The use of "Baker Field" was perhaps confusing, since Columbia University's athletic facility in New York City was also called "Baker Field". How it acquired the unique suffix "Bowl" is subject to conjecture. It may have referred to the banked bicycle track that was there for a time, or it may have been derisive.
- The Hump referred to a hill in center field covering a partially submerged railroad tunnel in the street beyond right field that extended through into center field.
- The Cigar Box and The Band Box referred to the tiny size of the playing field.
- Perhaps a few unprintable names bestowed by frustrated pitchers.
The most notable and talked-about feature of Baker Bowl was the right field wall, which was only some 280 feet (85 meters) from home plate, with right-center only 300 feet (91.5 meters) away, and with a wall-and-screen barrier that in its final form was 60 feet (18 meters) high. By comparison, The Green Monster at Fenway Park is 37 feet (11 meters) tall and 310 feet (94 meters) away. The Baker wall was a rather difficult task to surmount. The way The Monster dominates Fenway's ambience today, suggests how much more Baker Bowl's wall dominated its own ballfield: Imagine the Green Monster being 30 feet closer, and almost half again higher. Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ...
New York, NY redirects here. ...
“Fenway†redirects here. ...
The ballpark was initially built in 1887. At that time the media praised it as state-of-the-art. In that dead-ball era, the outfield was enclosed by a relatively low wall all around. Center field was fairly close, with the railroad tracks running behind it. Later, the tracks were lowered and the field was extended over top of them. Bleachers were built in left field, and over time various extensions were added to the originally low right field wall, resulting in the infamous 60 foot fence. 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...
The dead-ball era is a baseball term generally used to describe the period between 1900 (though some date it to the beginning of baseball) and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1920. ...
Disasters
 Shibe Park (foreground), and Baker Bowl (background) The original stadium was destroyed by fire on August 6, 1894. Temporary stands were built in time for a game on August 18. It was then fully rebuilt in fireproof materials with a cantilevered upper deck. It also contained a banked bicycle track for awhile, exploiting the cycling craze that caught the nation's fancy in the late 1800s. In terms of pure design, the ballpark was well ahead of its time, but subsequent problems and the thriftiness of the team's owners undermined any apparent positives, as the ballpark soon became decrepit and unsafe. Image File history File links Shibe_Park_and_Baker_Bowl. ...
Image File history File links Shibe_Park_and_Baker_Bowl. ...
August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ...
1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
During a game on August 8, 1903, some carrying-on in 15th Street caught the attention of bleacher fans down the left field line. Many of them ran to the top of the wooden seating area, and the added stress on that section of the bleachers caused it to collapse into the street, killing 12 and injuring 232. This led to more renovation of the stadium and forced the ownership to sell the team. August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ...
1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...
During a game on May 14, 1927, parts of two sections of the lower deck extension along the right field line collapsed due to rotted shoring timbers, again triggered by an oversized gathering of people, who were seeking shelter from the rain. Miraculously, no one died during the collapse, but one individual did die from heart failure in the subsequent stampede that injured 50. May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (135th in leap years). ...
1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar). ...
On both of those catastrophic occasions, the Phils rented from the A's for awhile while repairs were being made to the old structure.
The fact that the Phillies rarely fielded competitive teams did not help either. During the 51 1/2 season the Phillies spent there, they only managed one league championship (1915). While they were occasionally at least respectable in the dead-ball era, once the lively ball was introduced the Phils nearly always finished in last place. During its last two decades, the ballpark became heaven for batters (both home and visiting), whereas having to play half their games there every year became hell for the Phillies' pitching staff. For a number of years, a huge advertising sign on the right field wall read "The Phillies Use Lifebuoy", a popular brand of soap. This led to the oft-reported quip that appended "... and they still stink!" Conventional wisdom ties their failures to Baker Bowl, but they remained cellar-dwellers in their new home as well, which indicates that Baker Bowl was only part of their problem.
For fans of hitting, the park was homer heaven, as well as witnessing a great many extra-base hits off the high wall in right. In a 1929 exhibition game against a Negro Leagues team, Babe Ruth hit not one but two that, according to Judy Johnson, landed about halfway into the rail yards across the street in right. Part of the History of baseball series. ...
For the eponymous band, see Babe Ruth (band). ...
William Julius Judy Johnson was born on October 26, 1899 in Snow Hill, Maryland, USA. Although his father wanted him to be a boxer, Johnson, who was 5 ft 11 in (1. ...
The ballpark was abandoned during the middle of the 1938 season, as the Phillies chose to move 5 blocks west on Lehigh, to rent the newer and more spacious Shibe Park from the A's rather than remain at the Baker Bowl. Subsequently, the upper deck was peeled off, and the stadium was used for sports ranging from midget auto racing to ice skating. Its old center field clubhouse served as a piano bar for awhile until it burned. By the late 1940s, all that stood was the four outer walls and a field choked with weeds. What remained of the ballpark was finally demolished in 1950, and the site now features a gas station/convenience store where the center field clubhouse once stood, along with garages and a car wash. Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Connie Mack Stadium, originally called Shibe Park, was a Major League Baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
Oakland Athletics American League AAA Sacramento River Cats AA Midland RockHounds A Stockton Ports Kane County Cougars Vancouver Canadians R Phoenix Athletics The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. ...
1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Legacy The Philadelphia ballparks in general, and Baker Bowl in particular, seem to be a good metaphor for the life cycle of structures, of the influence of the fortunes and misfortunes of their occupants, and of changes in public tastes and demographics:
When Baker Bowl was first opened, it was praised as the finest baseball palace in America. By the time it was abandoned, it had been a joke for years. The Chicago Tribune ran a series of articles on baseball parks during the summer of 1937, and the article about Baker Bowl was merciless in its ridicule of this park. Perhaps the writers would have been kinder if the Phillies themselves were not such a joke, as per the Lifebuoy sign. Front page of the Tribune incorrectly reporting that Dewey won the 1948 presidential election The Chicago Tribune, formerly self-styled as the Worlds Greatest Newspaper, remains the leading newspaper of the Midwest of the United States. ...
Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Similarly, when Shibe Park opened, it was regarded as state-of-the-art, and was still a lively and joyous place to watch ball games when the Phillies moved in. But over time, both the neighborhood and the teams deteriorated, and the joy went away. Like Baker Bowl, Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium was increasingly criticized in the media for a variety of reasons. At the close of its final game, there was a near-riot by the fans, who stole anything they could get their hands on. After that, the park sat vacant for five years, suffering various indignities including a devastating fire, before the wreckers' ball finally sent it to baseball heaven. Connie Mack Stadium, originally called Shibe Park, was a Major League Baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
And when Veterans Stadium opened, it was a gleaming new structure. Indeed, all was well while the teams were winning. But 30-plus years later, its occupants were quoted in the media as being all too happy to be rid of it. At least it went down in one big blast of TNT instead of lingering for years as its predecessors had. Philadelphia Veterans Stadium (informally called The Vet) was a professional sports facility located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
Baker Bowl and its successors may serve as a cautionary note to sociologists and sports fans alike. The consistent trend, as reported in the media, is that all of these places were highly praised when they opened, and had become laughingstocks by the time they closed. It remains to be seen whether, in another generation or so, the writers, fans and players will similarly turn on Citizens Bank Park, the new home of the Phillies, and also on the other currently highly-praised 1990s-early-2000s ballparks. Citizens Bank Park is a 43,500-seat baseball-only stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that opened on April 3, 2004 and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12. ...
Trivia - Until the mid-twenties, fieldcare cost were kept to a minimum with three sheep, who grazed on the grass on non-game days.
- Babe Ruth played his last major league baseball game in Baker Bowl on May 30, 1935. Coincidentally, Ruth made his first World Series appearance in Baker Bowl in 1915 playing for the Boston Red Sox.
For the eponymous band, see Babe Ruth (band). ...
Liberty Bell; public domain. ...
Sources - Green Cathedrals, by Phil Lowry
- Ballparks of North America, by Michael Benson
- Lost Ballparks, by Lawrence Ritter
- Philadelphia's Old Ballparks, by Rich Westcott
- Contemporary baseball annuals
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