Philadelphia's Old Ballparks (Baseball In America)

Temple University Press, 1996. First edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Fine, fresh copy in equally fine dust jacket. First printing. Hardcover. 206 pp. with index, bibliography. Profusely illustrated with photographs. Philadelphia baseball fans know Citizen's Bank Ballpark and Veteran's Stadium, and some may still remember the old Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium. This photographically illustrated book provides the stories not only of those (well, not Citizen's Bank since it was published before that one was built) but of all the old professional parks and the teams that played in them. The oldest Philly fields went back to the pre-professional 1860s when the Athletics played at 15th Street and Columbia Avenue. After the National League was founded in 1876, the Philadelphia entry played at Philadelphia Park on Broad Street. The then-considered major league `19th century teams from the Americasn Association, Players, League, Union Association had home fields as well. The "birthplace" and first real home of the National League Phillies was Recreation Park (1883), then in 1887 Philadelphia Base Ball Park, which later became Baker Bowl. Shibe Park was built for the American League Athletics in 1909 and in 1938 began to be shared with the National League Phillies; after the A's moved away to Kansas City in 1954, the ballpark was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953. The Phils played there until the new )cookie cutter" style modern Veteran's Stadium became their home through 1970.