Memories of Shibe Park, the A’s & Phillies
Long before Citizens Bank Park or Veterans Stadium existed, there was a place called Shibe Park that many of us should remember. As a boy growing up in Philadelphia during the 1940s, I enjoyed going there to watch the Phillies and A’s games. One of the benefits of living in the city was that the ballpark was easy to reach, as most residents had easy access to public transportation.
The first Major League game I attended was a school safety patrol outing one afternoon during the 1944 season. It was a beautiful spring day, and as we took our seats close to the field along the third base line, I was stunned by the beauty of the park, the brilliant sunshine, the bright green grass, and the colorful players’ uniforms. At that moment I realized what I had been missing, and was immediately hooked on baseball.
As we had arrived in time for batting and fielding practice, we quickly began to appreciate how skilled the players were, both hitting and fielding. Wolfing hot dogs and chugging sodas, we watched as the game began. It was a classic pitcher’s duel. The Cleveland Indians scored a run in the seventh inning, and although we cheered long and loud urging the A’s to rally, they were unable to score and lost the game 1-0. Even so, it had been a wonderful experience, and I couldn’t wait for my next game.
With two Major League teams in town, one of them was always playing at home. My friends and I began to go to Sunday doubleheaders. We always arranged to be there by 11 a.m. when the gates opened. That enabled us to have our pick of General Admission seats, which were priced at $1.25. At that time, the first 10 rows in the upper deck were reserved seats. The remaining rows, from Row 11 on, were General Admission seats. We checked around the park and decided that Row 11, Section 14, on the first base side offered us the best vantage point. No one ever beat us to those seats on Sundays.
During those years when I saw so many A’s and Phillies games, both teams were league doormats, usually at the bottom of the league or close to it. But whether my team won or lost, I still got to see all of the great players from the other teams – Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Marty Marion and Red Schoendienst of the St. Louis Cardinals; Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Tommy Henrich, Allie Reynolds and Vic Raschi of the Yankees. How about those Boston Red Sox teams? They had some great players – Ted Williams,
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Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Vern Stephens. I saw all of the greats of that era, and managed to get many of their autographs. I got a lot of autographs waiting around the players’ entrance after games, where we would catch the players as they left the park. Some of them were very cooperative and would sign for everyone, no matter how long it took.
At that time, fans were allowed to run onto the field after the games, even before the players had departed. My all-time favorite player had to be Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox because of the way he treated a bunch of us kids one Sunday after a doubleheader with the A’s. Ted had hit well that day with a home run, several other hits, a bunch of RBI, and the Sox had won both games. When we approached him as he walked in from left field and asked for his autograph, he could newsroom@delcotimes.com
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not have been more gracious. He signed autographs for at least 15 minutes, smiling and talking baseball with us the entire time. We were very impressed with Ted. He could not have been nicer - a great player and a great guy.
It wasn’t entirely gloomy for our A’s and Phils during those years, as they both fielded competitive teams during the latter part of the decade. The A’s had a very good team in ’48, when they challenged for the league lead at midseason. The Cleveland Indians beat the Red Sox in a playoff for the American League pennant that year. The Indians’ manager, Lou Boudreau, hit two homers in that game and Lefty Gene Bearden was the winning pitcher. Remember?
The Phillies were coming on then, too. Richie Ashburn was Rookie of the year in ‘48. Eddie Sawyer had taken over as manager during the season and
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the team was finally on its way. They continued to improve in ’49, finishing in 3rd place, and then they won the pennant in 1950 in the final game of the season against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Richie Ashburn threw Cal Abrams out at the plate, and then Dick Sisler hit the gamewinning home run. Robin Roberts, a real workhorse, was the ace of the pitching staff. Del Ennis, Dick Sisler, Granny Hamner, Puddin’ Head Jones, Andy Seminick, Eddie Waitkus and Richie Ashburn were the key regulars, and Fireman Jim Konstanty was the closer. Curt Simmons, the #2 starter, was lost to the team when he was called to National Guard service in midseason.
Shibe Park, the A’s and the Phillies. How can we ever forget any of them, especially the Whiz kids and that thrilling 1950 season?
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