The Fight for Sunday Baseball in Philadelphia

by Bob Warrington

Introduction

The City of Philadelphia’s first legal baseball game between major league teams on a Sunday occurred on April 8, 1934. The hometown exhibition game between the Athletics and Phillies took place at Shibe Park, and 15,000 saw the Phillies win 8-1. George M. Mawhinney of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that, in spite of his team’s defeat, “the day, the crowd, the gate, the game and the law that last fall legalized Sunday sports were all declared a most signal success by no less a personage than the lank Cornelius McGillicuddy.”

Connie Mack was a vigorous and long-time proponent of Sunday baseball, and this 1934 game was the culmination of many years of campaigning by the Athletics to legalize baseball on the Sabbath in Philadelphia. But, it was a hard-won victory filled with many difficulties, frustrations and disappointments for supporters of Sunday baseball.

The Blue Laws and Baseball

The origins of the fight for Sunday baseball go back to 1794 when legislators in the Pennsylvania Assembly passed “an Act for the prevention of vice and immorality, and of unlawful gaming, and to restrain disorderly sports and dissipation” on the Lord’s Day. Popularly known as the “Sunday Blue Laws,” this Act and even more restrictive laws passed in the 19th century had a powerful influence on Pennsylvanians well into the 20th century.

Yet, dramatic changes were underway in American Society during the later decades of the 19th century, the pace of which accelerated as a new century dawned. Urbanization, industrialization and immigration brought a profound—albeit gradual—relaxation in the strict adherence to the Blue Laws. A new Sabbath concept that allowed recreation and games was reflected in the fact that Sunday professional baseball became increasingly common throughout the country as the 20th century progressed.

In 1902, Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati permitted Sunday baseball. By 1918, professional games on the Sabbath were allowed in Cleveland, Detroit and Washington. New York City joined the fold the next year, and Boston and Baltimore signed up for Sunday baseball in 1929 and 1932, respectively.

Sunday Baseball in Philadelphia

As early as 1911, Connie Mack had expressed support for Sunday baseball for his Athletics team. The reason, quite simply, was money. The A’s were never a rich ball club, and team officials were attracted to the moneymaking potential of Sunday games. John B. Shibe, the vice-president of the Athletics, estimated an average flow of $20,000 to the team for each Sunday baseball game it could play in Philadelphia. Mack was more blunt on the team’s need for the revenue that could be generated by Sunday crowds at Shibe Park. He declared, “We cannot meet our payrolls playing on seventy-seven weekdays at home.”

The pro-Blue Laws sentiment among politicians and religious groups in Pennsylvania, however, was very strong. Supporters of the Blue Laws argued that playing professional baseball on Sunday was a “breach of peace.” Games would be “a disturbance to persons in that neighborhood desirous of preserving the peace and quiet of Sunday so that they may in such peace and quiet pursue their religious worship and meditation.”

The Athletics made no headway in getting restrictive Sabbath legislation repealed or even liberalized through the mid-1920s. Sporting News columnist James C. Isaminger wrote, “Connie Mack and the Shibes always favored Sunday ball, but for many years had abandoned hope of attaining their end because it was ingrained in Pennsylvania politicians to give ministers a tight Sunday as a sop.”

The Athletics’ case was also undermined by the Phillies lack of interest in Sunday baseball. The team stayed on the sidelines during this period, taking no public position on the Sunday baseball debate. For a team that suffered severe financial hardship during the 1920s-1930s, the Phillies lack of support of the A’s efforts is difficult to comprehend.

“A Bolt From a Clear Sky”

Was how Isaminger described a major development in the “Closed Sunday” debate that occurred in 1926. That year, Philadelphia hosted the Sesquicentennial Exposition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of America’s independence. The Exposition was running a deficit, and the Board of Directors (who included prominent city politicians and businessmen) voted in August to open it on Sundays and charge an admission fee.

Within days, the Athletics announced that they would play a game at Shibe Park on Sunday, August 22, 1926 against the visiting Chicago White Sox. A’s officials saw no difference between opening the Exposition on Sundays and charging admission for people to enjoy diversified amusements, and charging people admission to attend Sunday baseball games.

Philadelphia Mayor Kendrick disagreed, however, and announced that he would use the police to keep the park closed. The A’s went to court to seek an injunction to restrain the mayor and the police, and Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Smith granted the A’s request. He ruled on Saturday, August 21, 1926 that those seeking to prohibit Sunday baseball could do so in court only if “their right to quiet and undisturbed religious worship is encroached upon as a result of the game.”

Based on Smith’s ruling, to prove that the game had created a “breach of peace” among residents in the neighborhood, it would first have to take place. Since the courts are closed on Sunday, the earliest action could be taken “in a court of equity for the abatement of the nuisance” would be the following day (Monday). So, the A’s could both play their Sunday game and be subject the next day to a fine ($4) or imprisonment (6 days) for having done so. Any appeal of Smith’s ruling by Mayor Kendrick would also have to wait until Monday.

The First Sunday Game

Despite a light rain that fell throughout the day, some 12,000 spectators saw the Athletics defeat the White Sox 3-2 behind Lefty Grove on Sunday, August 22, 1926. Connie Mack observed, “I am glad that we won, of course, but I am more than glad that nothing happened that could be construed as a breach of the peace… I wish all those who oppose Sunday baseball could have been here today. They would see that we are not causing a lessening in church attendance.”

The Evening Bulletin noted that Mack “made no effort to conceal his happiness over what proponents of Sunday ball claim is a victory over the Blue Laws.” But the fight for Sunday baseball was far from over for the A’s and Connie Mack.

Revenge of the Sabbatarians

The game played by the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park on Sunday, August 22, 1926 was criticized harshly by supporters of a ban on Sunday baseball. The Rev. William B. Forney, Secretary of the Philadelphia Sabbath Association, drove around the park several times during the game and denounced “the disgusting noise” that could be heard coming from the crowd. He added, “I was ashamed that such an exhibition could be held on the Sabbath.” The Association also announced that 72 property owners near Shibe Park had signed a petition against Sunday baseball.

The Methodist Men Committee of 100 passed a resolution which declared, in part, that “the Sunday Laws of Pennsylvania will be upheld at any cost, and that men who have heretofore been law-abiding, respected members of the community, like Connie Mack, will be branded as common law-breakers if they deliberately violate the law by Sunday professional ball-playing.”

Philadelphia Mayor Kendrick acknowledged that the crowd at the Sunday game had been “unusually subdued,” but he insisted that any Sunday professional baseball games constituted a breach of the peace and a violation of the law. He stated that the city would seek in a higher court to overturn Judge Smith’s temporary injunction that prevented the police from interfering with A’s games on Sunday.

Connie Mack, perhaps in response to the uproar, announced quickly that scheduling difficulties prevented any more Sunday baseball games in 1926. John Shibe was quoted as saying, “We are not going out of our way to play Sunday games… As there are no open Sundays left we shall probably leave things as they are until next season.”

Back to the Courts

The controversy moved to the Dauphin County Court where, in September 1926, the A’s were asked to show by what authority the August Sunday game was played. The club’s attorney, Charles G. Gartling, argued that the Blue Laws of 1794 did not apply to baseball because the game did not then exist. Gartling also attacked the constitutionality of the Blue Laws. The State of Pennsylvania filed a demurrer with the court to counter the A’s position. In October 1926, the court held Sunday baseball to be an unlawful “worldly employment.” The Athletics then announced they would appeal the decision to the State Supreme Court.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in September 1927 by a vote of 7 to 2 that Sunday commercialized baseball was “unholy” and a blatant form of “worldly employment.” The court also held that continued playing of Sunday baseball by the A’s would cause the club’s corporation franchise to be revoked. In response, attorney Gartling said that the team would drop its appeal altogether. But, they wouldn’t give up.

Changing Tactics & A New Forum

It was clear to A’s officials that any change to the ban on Sunday baseball would have to be achieved through the Pennsylvania State Legislature. A bill to liberalize the Blue Laws was unveiled by supporters in the State House in 1931.

In May, the bill passed the House 106-98. It legalized baseball on Sunday between the hours of 2 and 6 PM and allowed voters to decide by ballot at the local level whether Sunday baseball could be played in their communities. But, the Senate soundly defeated the bill. Connie Mack was an active force behind the well-organized effort to legalize Sunday baseball, and he helped ensure that the entire Philadelphia delegation in the House voted solidly for the Sunday baseball amendment.

In response to the defeat of the bill, A’s attorney Gartling announced plans to build a 50,000-seat stadium in Camden, New Jersey and move the team there if restrictions on Sunday baseball were not eliminated. The outcry that followed the announcement compelled John Shibe to hastily declare that the idea was visionary and not even in the embryonic stages. (It remains unclear how real the threat was to move the A’s to New Jersey. While John Shibe quickly dismissed the public gambit, it’s possible that Mack may have raised the prospect privately when lobbying state legislators to enact the Sunday baseball bill.)

The Effect of the Great Depression

Between 1931-33, several additional attempts were made to liberalize the Blue Laws, but each effort failed in the State Senate. Support for modifying the 1794 law mounted, however, and by February 1933, the bill was defeated in that Chamber by the razor-thin majority of 26 to 24.

The increasing attractiveness of the revenue-generating potential of Sunday sports was prompted partially by politicians’ anxiousness to dull the edge of the Great Depression. In 1933, Pennsylvania was deep in unemployment and financial difficulties. Philadelphia was $30,000,000 in debt, and one city official estimated that the city could obtain $1,250,000 in taxes for unemployment relief by permitting Sunday sports and other amusements.

Finally, in April 1933, the House and Senate passed a bill that allowed local jurisdictions to determine, by voter ballot, whether Sunday sports and other amusements could take place within their jurisdictions. Connie Mack made numerous visits to Harrisburg to lobby for the legislation, and his efforts paid off. Governor Pinchot signed the bill and promised that 10% of the taxes collected on Sunday admissions would go to unemployment relief.

Victory At Last…

Local referenda were held in every community in Pennsylvania in November 1933, and it passed easily in Philadelphia. Major League baseball was played legally in the city on Sunday beginning in April 1934. Baseball men hailed the end of the repressive Blue Laws and expected some financial relief for organized baseball from the worse effects of the depression.

…But A Dubious One

Facing desperate financial straits, the victory was already too late for the A’s. By the start of the 1934 season, stars from the 1929-31 championship clubs, such as Al Simmons, Mickey Cochran, and Lefty Grove (all future Hall of Famers), had already been sold by Mack to meet salary obligations and pay off a $700,000 loan the team had taken in the mid-1920s to renovate Shibe Park. The great Jimmie Foxx would soon follow to the auction block as the A’s tried to shore up their shaky finances, made all the worse by the effects of the Great Depression. Mack regretted the need to sell his stars and was ultimately unsuccessful in attempting to assemble “just one more winner.” In the end, the bill passed and the A’s stayed put; that is, until 1954 when the team left for Kansas City. Sunday baseball helped the A’s, but it couldn’t save them.

Sunday baseball also helped, but didn’t save the Phillies. The additional revenue generated by home games on Sunday did not remedy the club’s chronically poor finances and perpetually weak teams in the following years. The Phillies real salvation came in 1943 when Robert R.M. Carpenter, Jr., purchased the club. With the family fortune behind him, Carpenter spent lavishly on players and the farm system and invigorated the franchise, transforming it from a cellar-dweller into the National League Champions in just seven years (1950). Carpenter established the Phillies as a stable and competitive club, something the revenues from Sunday baseball alone could never do.