MUSIC - Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen

Connie Mack Stadium - demolished (1976) site is now deliverance church Baker Bowl - demolished (1950) site is now a gas station and a car wash

Location - Connie Mack Stadium, N. 21st St., W. Lehigh Ave., N 20th St., W. Somerset St.

Location - Baker Bowl, W. Lehigh Ave., N. Broad St., W. Huntingdon St., N. 15th St.

Connie Mack Stadium / Shibe Park was known as the "Church of baseball." The plot of land located at 21st Street and Lehigh Avenue in northwest Philadelphia was the home to both the Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies. Shibe park opened on April 12th, 1909 as the home park to the Philadelphia A's. For 61 seasons it housed countless baseball games, as well as Eagles football.

When it opened, Shibe park (named after A's owner Ben Shibe) was state of the art for the time. It was housed in a residential neighborhood, much like most of the parks were in that time. The A's played there from 1909 till 1954. The A's of Connie Mack won world series in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930. The A's had several hall of famers play at Connie Mack. From their owner / manager Connie Mack to Eddie Collins, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Jimmy Foxx, Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Rube Waddell, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove and Al Simmons. In the 1954 with money problems and Connie Mack's two sons feuding with each other, the A's were sold and moved to Kansas City.

In 1933, Connie Mack erected a "spite fence" along the right field wall. He was tired of people sitting on the roof's of houses across 20th Street and seeing the games for free.

Due to the decrepit conditions of nearby Baker Bowl, the Phillies moved in as CO-tenants with the A's at Shibe Park. When the A's finally moved, the Phillies took over and remained at the site until October 1, 1970. The Phillies paid homage to Connie Mack by renaming the park in his honor in 1953.

The Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL called Connie Mack home from 1938 till 1970, when they moved to Franklin field at the university of Pennsylvania.

The Phillies rewarded the long suffering Philadelphia fans by getting to the 1950 world series against the Yankees. The "whiz kids" were led by hall of famers Robin Roberts, Jim Konstanty, Richie Ashburn and team favorites "Granny" Hamner, "Puddin head" Jones, Eddie Waitkus, Del Ennis and Andy Semenick. Alas, the whiz kids were not able to bring the first world championship home for the Phillies. They lost 4 straight to New York. The Phillies had one more hurrah at the old park. In 1964, they had a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 to play. They collapsed, losing 10 straight and the pennant to the eventual world champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Finally in 1970 they played their last season at Connie Mack. The neighborhood had deteriorated badly, and crime was everywhere. Muggings and other attacks were common in the area. On October 1, 1970, the final major league baseball game was played here. The Phillies defeated the Montreal Expos 2-1 in 10 innings. Unfortunately, post game ceremonies were canceled due to fans literally ripping the old girl apart.

Connie Mack stadium sat vacant for 6 years. On August 21, 1971, arsonists started a fire that destroyed the upper deck. Finally in 1976, the old lady of the North side was demolished. The lot at 21st and Lehigh sat vacant for 15 years. In 1991 the trash was removed and the Deliverance church was built on the site. A marker on Lehigh Avenue was placed to let people know what once stood on the site.

Baker Bowl was home to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1887 thru the middle of the 1938 season. The bowl had a few nicknames, such as the hump, the cigar box and bandbox. It was located 6 blocks east of Shibe Park. The main entrance was at 15th and Huntington. The right field wall ran parallel to Broad Street. When it was built, Baker bowl was state of the art. But it quickly fell into disrepair. On August 6, 1894, fire destroyed the grandstands and bleachers. The park was rebuilt with the first cantilevered upper deck. Tragedy would strike again. During a game on August 8, 1903, a disturbance on 15th Street caught the attention of people sitting in the bleachers down the left field line. Others came to see what was going on and the added stress caused it to collapse, killing 12 people and injuring 232. Again, repairs had to be made to Baker bowl. On May 14, 1927, Baker bowl would suffer another catastrophe. This time rotted shoring timbers down the right field line collapsed. It was a miracle that no one died, however one person did pass away from heart failure in the stampede that followed. During both of those repairs, the Phillies had to rent Shibe park from the A's. Little did they realize they would share the same field for good in 1938.

The most notable feature of Baker bowl was the right field wall. It was a mere 280 feet from home plate. They used to have advertising on the right field wall. One was for lifebuoy soap. It said "the Phillies use lifebuoy" and the tag line was, they STILL stink. Prior to WWI, there was a swimming pool in the basement of the centerfield clubhouse. After the Phillies left, the clubhouse was converted into the Alpine music bar. Baker Bowl was also the site of Honus Wagner's 3000th hit.



Due to the fact that Baker bowl had no lights, and was literally falling apart, the Phillies took up the A's offer to share Shibe park. So on June 30th 1938, the Phillies played their final game at Baker bowl.

Baker bowl was the last park Babe Ruth would play in. On May 30, 1935, Ruth was playing for the old Boston Braves. The Braves and Phillies were scheduled to play a doubleheader that day. After the first inning of the first game, Ruth took himself out of the lineup and never played another game again.

The Eagles also played here from 1933-1938. They followed the Phillies over to Shibe park.

The old hump that was home to hall of famers, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Chuck Klein and Ed Delehanty, was demolished in 1950. A marker on Broad Street commemorates the site of Baker bowl.

Disclaimer.....The actual photos of the exteriors and interiors of both Connie Mack stadium and Baker bowl were not taken by me. I found these photos on the internet.