Witnessed by representatives
of the A’s Society, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the
PA Historical & Museum Commission, the PA State Legislature,
and 20,000+ fans, the state historical marker for Baker Bowl
was formally dedicated at Veterans Stadium on August 16th.
The marker was dedicated in an on-the-field pre-game ceremony.
The high point of the occasion occurred when Bob Stevens,
a 93-year-old Phillies veteran who played for the team in
1931, and Randy Wolf, a 23-year-old hurler for the current
Phillies, unveiled the marker. Sustained applause sprang forth
from the fans when Stevens and Wolf, representing both the
Phillies past and future, lifted the cover off the marker
and revealed it to the assemblage in the stadium.
In interviews conducted both before and
after the ceremony, Stevens reminisced about his playing time
with the Phillies. He told many anecdotes about his meetings
with such luminaries as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig.
Stevens will be a guest of the A’s Society at its October
reunion weekend. Attendees will be able to meet this oldest
living Phillies player and hear first-hand his wonderful recollections
about playing for the Phillies nearly 70 years ago.
The Baker Bowl marker will remain on display
at Veterans Stadium in the 200-level concourse through the
end of the baseball season. It will then be permanently erected
at the former site of Baker Bowl—along Broad Street between
Lehigh Avenue and Huntingdon Street. The A’s Society sponsored
the Baker Bowl marker.
A Brief History of Baker Bowl
Informally known by various names including Philadelphia Base
Ball Park and the Huntingdon Street Grounds, National League
Park-as it was officially called-gradually came to be known
as Baker Bowl after William F. Baker, owner of the Phillies
between 1913 and 1930. Baker Bowl was located on a square
block in North Philadelphia. The right field line ran parallel
to Huntingdon Street; right field to center field parallel
to Broad Street; center field to left field parallel to Lehigh
Avenue; and the left field line parallel to 15th Street.
There were actually two Phillies ballparks
at this location. The first existed from 1887-1894. It was
built at a cost of $101,000 and had a seating capacity of
12,500. There were 5,000 seats in a pavilion behind home plate
and 7,500 seats in grandstands that extended down the left
and right field lines. This original ballpark was the first
to offer pavilion seating for customers and the first with
outside walls built entirely of brick instead of wood.
Virtually the entire ballpark burned to
the ground on August 6, 1894. Fans were seated in temporary
stands for home games during the rest of the 1894 season.
Only part of the exterior outfield wall remained and was incorporated
into the newly constructed stadium.
The second ballpark was built between 1894-95
and was dedicated on May 2, 1895. It seated 18,800 and is
judged by historians as the "first modern ballpark" built
for baseball. The expanded stadium was the first one constructed
with a cantilever design-at the time a radically new architectural
technique in stadium construction. Using cantilevered concrete
supports eliminated many of the support columns in the pavilion
that had made for so much "obstructed view seating" in the
original ballpark and other existing stadiums. Use of the
cantilever design, according to one baseball historian, was
" a defining moment for the future of ballparks."
In addition, Baker Bowl was the first ballpark
to be constructed primarily of steel and brick. The double-decked
grandstand was built of steel, brick and concrete to prevent
future fires. The ballpark featured outer brick walls on all
four sides, three wide steel stairways between decks, and
a series of fifteen 30-foot heavy iron girders supporting
the platforms and roof of the upper deck. The latter was made
possible by the use of the cantilever system.
Built on an oddly shaped parcel of land,
Baker Bowl had unusual dimensions. From home plate to the
bleachers down the left field line was a healthy 341 feet,
to dead center field a respectable 408 feet. However, many
a ball was rocketed off the right field wall because it was
only 280 feet from home plate down the right field line, a
neighborly 310-320 feet in the right center field power ally.
Because of the cozy right field wall, Baker Bowl was often
described as a "cigar box" and "band box."
Noteworthy Events & Achievements
Unfortunately for the Phillies, their record
for the years they played at Baker Bowl was primarily one
of failure. While a fairly competitive team at the turn of
the century and the early part of the 20th century, the Phillies
finished higher than 5th place only once between 1918 and
1938 (a 4th place finish in 1932), and the club usually could
be found in the National League's cellar during that period.
Still, the Phillies ballpark did have its
moments of glory and singular achievements. In 1915, one of
those moments took place when the Phillies hosted their only
World Series at Baker Bowl. The club played Boston in the
Series that year. In the first contest, Babe Ruth made his
initial World Series appearance, grounding out as a ninth-inning
pinch hitter for the Red Sox. Woodrow Wilson became the first
US President to see a World Series game when he attended the
second game of the 1915 World Series at Baker Bowl. Although
the Phillies lost the Series to Boston, they won the opening
game behind the pitching of Grover Cleveland Alexander. The
Phillies would not win another World Series game until 65
years later in 1980.
Babe Ruth's association with Baker Bowl would also be highlighted
at the end of his career. On May 30, 1935, Ruth, now a member
of the Boston Braves, took himself out of the lineup after
the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader at Baker
Bowl. He never again played in a major league game.
For Phillies fans, Ed Delahanty, Chuck Klein,
and Grover Cleveland Alexander mostly earned their Hall of
Fame credentials while playing with the team at Baker Bowl.
On October 2, 1916, Alexander pitched his sixteenth shutout
of the season-still a record. In 1932, Klein was selected
the National League's Most Valuable Player, leading the senior
circuit in hits (226), runs (152), home runs (38), stolen
bases (20), and hitting a remarkable .348 and driving in 137
RBIs.
Baker Bowl was also the sight of some highly
unusual events in baseball history. On Opening Day in 1938,
Brooklyn outfielder Ernie Koy homered in the first inning
in his first major league at bat. In the bottom half of the
same inning, Phillies second baseman Emmett Mueller homered
in his first big league time at bat!
Baker Bowl was also the site of many Negro
League baseball games. The Hilldale Daisies from Darby, PA
often played at the ballpark in the 1920s-1930s. Indeed, Negro
League World Series games were played at the ballpark in 1924-26.
In addition, between 1933-35, Baker Bowl
was the home field of the Philadelphia Eagles football club-the
team's first three years as a franchise in the National Football
League. Thus, Baker Bowl became the first dual-use stadium
for professional sports in Pennsylvania-an idea that would
be formally resurrected with the construction of Veterans
Stadium for both the Phillies and Eagles.
Years of Decline
Despite the revolutionary design and construction
methods Baker Bowl incorporated when built, the ballpark was
badly outmoded and in serious disrepair by the 1930s. With
mediocre teams, scant attendance, and poor finances, the Phillies
had no money to put into renovating-or even maintaining-the
stadium. The club finally abandoned Baker Bowl after the 1938
season was underway and moved down Lehigh Avenue to Shibe
Park-home of the Philadelphia Athletics-where the Phillies
would remain until after the 1970 season.
Baker Bowl was used for many activities
after the Phillies left including midget auto races. Finally,
in ramshackle condition and with parts of the old ballpark
falling down, Baker Bowl was razed in 1950.
Appreciation
Although unknown to most of today's baseball
fans, Baker Bowl represented a significant development in
the evolution of the modern baseball park. Because of the
important place it occupies in the history of baseball and
Philadelphia's baseball past, Baker Bowl unquestionably deserves
a historical marker that commemorates its history, the noteworthy
events that occurred there, and the players who fashioned
their Hall of Fame careers at the ballpark while toiling for
the Phillies. The historical marker reads:
Baker Bowl
National League Park
The Phillies baseball Park
from its opening in 1887 until 1938. Rebuilt 1895;
hailed as the nation's finest stadium. Site of first
World Series at- tended by U.S. President, 1915; Negro
League World Series, 1924-26; Babe Ruth's last major
league Game, 1935. Razed 1950. |
 |
This article was written by Robert D.
Warrington, Vice President of the Philadelphia Athletics
Historical Society. The Society sponsored the Baker Bowl
historical marker. For a more complete history of Baker
Bowl and other baseball stadiums from the city's past, read,
Rich Westcott, Philadelphia's Old Ballparks (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1996).
Photos of Baker Bowl are from the A's
Society Archives Collection.
|
