Baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Columbia Park
or
Columbia Avenue Grounds
was a
baseball park
in
Philadelphia
. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the
Philadelphia Athletics
, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the
1905 World Series
.
Columbia Park fell into disuse after the Athletics' move in 1909 to the larger
Shibe Park
, and was demolished in the 1910s.
Home of the Philadelphia Athletics
[
edit
]
A photograph of Columbia Park on opening day, April 26, 1901, which was printed in
The Philadelphia Inquirer
the following day.
The Remodeled Grandstand at Columbia Park, March 1903
During their tenure at Columbia Park, the Athletics won the
American League pennant
twice. The first time was in 1902, before the institution of the modern
World Series
.
Columbia Park was built in 1901 by the
Philadelphia Athletics
when the team was established, in the creation of the
American League
. The site was a vacant lot on which manager and part-owner
Connie Mack
obtained a ten-year lease.
[2]
It occupied the block bordered by 29th Street, Oxford Street, 30th Street, and Columbia Avenue (later renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue, in honor of
the civil rights leader
).
The park was built by contractor James B. Foster, at a cost of $35,000, equal to $1,281,840 today. In contrast to the Phillies'
Philadelphia Ball Park
built in 1887 and rebuilt in 1894 with non-union labor, the Athletics employed exclusively union labor in Columbia Park's 1901 construction. This drew the praise of Philadelphia's union leaders who declared in April 1901, "[we] welcome [the Athletics] amongst us as brother unionists, and promise them our support and assistance, and bespeak for them the hearty goodwill, favor and patronage of all self-respecting citizens of Philadelphia.
[3]
The stadium was small and originally had a
seating capacity
of only 9,500. This was increased to 13,600 by the addition of bleacher seating in the outfield. During some sold out games, unofficial additional seating could be found on top of the adjoining homes. There was only one dressing room, for the home team; visiting teams had to change at their hotels. Although the ballpark was in Philadelphia's
Brewerytown
section, beer sales were prohibited.
The A's practiced at the park for the first time on April 5, 1901, with 600 fans in attendance.
[4]
The first game at the ballpark was on April 8, 1901; the A's defeated Frank Moss' Professionals 8?1 in front of 1,000 fans on a cold and bleak day.
Bill Bernhard
started for the Athletics and his first pitch to
Arlie Latham
was a strike.
[5]
The first official game in Columbia Park was held on April 26,
1901
, after the first two games were rained out. The Athletics played the
Washington Senators
in front of a crowd of 10,524, with some fans standing on the outfield walls and the roofs of nearby houses. The Athletics lost 5?1, despite three hits by
second baseman
Nap Lajoie
.
[6]
Following their successful 1902 season, the Athletics built a narrow upper deck on the rooftop of the ballpark.
[7]
The Phillies'
Philadelphia Ball Park
had suffered a fatal collapse of its left field bleachers in 1903. Prior to the 1905 season, the Athletics reinforced Columbia Park's seating and grandstands with heavy yellow pine joists which received the approval of the City of Philadelphia's Chief of the Bureau of Building Inspections.
[8]
Conference on the field during a
1905 World Series
game at Columbia Park. During this meeting, the Philadelphia captain would hand a "White Elephant" model to McGraw as a funny gift.
The Athletics won their second pennant in 1905, and faced the
New York Giants
in the
1905 World Series
. The Giants won the series 4 games to 1. Games 1 and 3 were held at Columbia Park. Both were shutout victories for Giants future
hall of famer
Christy Mathewson
.
[9]
The Athletics reconstructed the left and right bleachers prior to the 1906 season. The bleachers had previously run straight from the grandstand along 30th Street to Columbia Avenue. They were angled in such way that spectators at the Columbia Avenue end were unable to see the infield over fans in front of them. The club rebuilt the bleachers in a semi-circle, the seats reaching to the left field foul line and facing the infield and home plate, using heavy Florida yellow pine timber.
[10]
Other teams
[
edit
]
The
Philadelphia Phillies
temporarily called Columbia Park home in
1903
while
Baker Bowl
was repaired after a balcony collapse on August 8, 1903.
[11]
The Phillies played sixteen games at Columbia Park in August and September 1903.
[12]
The stadium also briefly served as the home of the
Philadelphia Athletics football club
, before the team folded in 1902.
The Athletics leased the ballpark to the independent
Negro league
club the
Philadelphia Giants
. The Giants played at the ballpark while the Athletics were on the road. The Giants were the first club to play night baseball in Philadelphia when they played under portable lights on June 4, 1902.
Disuse and demolition
[
edit
]
The final game played at the park took place on October 3,
1908
; the visiting
Boston Americans
defeated the Athletics 5?0 in the second game of a doubleheader. The lack of seating at Columbia Park was the main reason the Athletics left for Shibe Park. The sod from Columbia Park was transplanted to
Shibe Park
after the 1908 season.
[13]
After the Athletics left, the park was almost entirely abandoned. Columbia Park was eventually demolished in the 1910s to make way for new homes.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
1634?1699:
McCusker, J. J.
(1997).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1700?1799:
McCusker, J. J.
(1992).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1800?present:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800?"
. Retrieved
February 29,
2024
.
- ^
Selter, Ronald M. (2008).
Ballparks of the Deadball Era: A Comprehensive Study of their Dimensions, Configurations, and Effects on Batting, 1901 ? 1919
. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company. p. 133.
ISBN
978-0-7864-3561-6
.
- ^
"Labor League on Base Ball".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 15, 1901. p. 7.
- ^
"For Third Time, Sheckard Jumps His Contract".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 6, 1901. p. 6.
- ^
"The Athletics Were Given the Glad Hand".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 9, 1901. p. 10.
- ^
"Carrick, All to the Good, Fools The Athletic Hitters".
The Philadelphia Inquirer
. 27 April 1901.
- ^
"The Remodeled Grandstand at Columbia Park".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 29, 1903. p. 13.
- ^
"Grounds Ready; Play Ball".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 30, 1905. p. 10.
- ^
Ritter, Lawrence (1992).
Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields
. New York: Viking Studio Books. p.
178
.
ISBN
0140234225
.
- ^
"Ready To Play Ball".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p. 10.
- ^
Macht, Norman L.; Connie Mack III (2007).
Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball
.
University of Nebraska Press
. p. 316.
ISBN
978-0-8032-3263-1
. Retrieved
2009-05-22
.
- ^
"Alternate Site Games Since 1901"
.
Retrosheet
. Retrieved
2009-05-22
.
- ^
Frommer, Harvey (2008).
Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball
.
University of Nebraska Press
. p. 23.
ISBN
978-0-8032-1862-8
. Retrieved
2009-05-22
.
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39°58′52″N
75°10′58″W
/
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