Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium

[Bazookadale]

Love Shibe and its rotunda. Very original ballpark at the time.

I remember my only visit to Shibe (Connie Mack Stadium) in the late '60s. Parked bumper to bumper, door to door in that tiny parking lot next to a run down building that I thought was a tenement apartment. Walked through the decrepid front gate and saw that manificent marble staircase! Thought it was so out of place in a ballpark. Does anyone have a picture of that?

[wvkeeper]

Amazing how much these old parks look like English Soccer stadiums.

[The Fonz]

it's weird looking at this...it's like a day at the baseball game and you would still wear your best suit...no fans wearing caps or anything...i def. would love to go back in time and watch a game in this kind of atmosphere

[philliesphhan]

I just found some Phillies yearbooks I have from early 90s and late 80s. The one from 1989 had this awesome picture of Connie Mack / Shibe from the morning of the last game in 1970.

[locke40]

I just found some Phillies yearbooks I have from early 90s and late 80s. The one from 1989 had this awesome picture of Connie Mack / Shibe from the morning of the last game in 1970.

There is just something special about old ballparks. This picture reminds me of Ebbets Field.

[zxasqw12]

The last 3 are of Shibe in the stages of demolition (sad).

Sad indeed. Looking at these pix makes me glad that there won't be lingering deaths for Shea and Yankee Stadium. It would be painful to watch these great old parks deteriorate like that.

At least when the end comes, it will be quick

[Lpeters199]

Connie Mack Stadium

She was a beauty.

[Lpeters199]

Connie Mack Stadium

The big scoreboard.

[Lpeters199]

The steep upper deck.

http://pro.corbis.com/popup/Enlargement.aspx?mediauids={49fd7db0-7c57-4250-83e1-c806ccb9ae80}|{ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff}&qsPageNo=1&fdid=&Area=Search&TotalCo unt=20&CurrentPos=11&WinID={49fd7db0-7c57-4250-83e1-c806ccb9ae80}

[Mario Mendoza...HOF Lock]

Great photos, Lpeters.

[Mario Mendoza...HOF Lock]

1934 A's vs Tigers


Rowhouses across street (kind of like Wrigley today)






More demolition




1930 World Series


1929


Cleaning up for '29 Series

[Astros4Life]

im interested to know whose idea it was to put up the tall wall so the people on the rooftops couldn't see the game...it looks like a nice stadium even with the wall but i think it would have looked better with the rooftop seating

[Gary Dunaier]

Rowhouses across street (kind of like Wrigley today)

I believe those rowhouses are still standing today.

im interested to know whose idea it was to put up the tall wall so the people on the rooftops couldn't see the game...it looks like a nice stadium even with the wall but i think it would have looked better with the rooftop seating

It was the Phils' idea. They didn't like the idea of so many people watching the games for free, so they erected what is commonly known as the "spite fence" in the 1930s specifically to block the view of the houses across the street.

I agree with you... being able to see those rowhouses would have added character to Shibe.

[Lpeters199]

Right field wall.

Did a ball have to carry over the high louvred wall to be a home run, or was there a home run line on top of the ads? Also, just how high was the wall?

[JWB13]

I believe those rowhouses are still standing today.



It was the Phils' idea. They didn't like the idea of so many people watching the games for free, so they erected what is commonly known as the "spite fence" in the 1930s specifically to block the view of the houses across the street.

I agree with you... being able to see those rowhouses would have added character to Shibe.

You're right about everything except it wasn't the Phillies who put up the spite fence, it was Connie Mack's idea in 1935, three years before the Phillies moved in. The people of 20th Street took the A's to court, but the A's won.

And those row houses still exist today:

http://www.ebaseballparks.com/shibe.html

Scroll down to see 20th Street today.