April 10, 1971: Veterans Stadium Opens In Philadelphia

April 10, 1971: Veterans Stadium opens at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Initial reviews, mostly comparing it to the abandoned Connie Mack Stadium in the North Philadelphia ghetto, describe it with terms like "clean" and "palace." Those descriptions will not last.

The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated with an unusual first ball ceremony: The ball was dropped out of a helicopter hovering over the stadium, and catcher Mike Ryan ran around, trying to put himself in the right position to catch the ball. He did. 

The opponent was the same one from the last game at Connie Mack Stadium, the Montreal Expos. The game was scoreless until the Expos brought a run home in the top of the 6th inning. But Don Money led off the bottom of the 6th with a home run off Bill Stoneman. The Phillies scored 2 more runs in the inning, and Money drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the 7th. Jim Bunning got into the 8th inning, and the Phillies won, 4-1.

It was also the 1st game as a Phillies broadcaster for Harry Kalas, who came over from the Houston Astros, teaming with former Phillies center fielder Richie Ashburn. Until Ashburn's death in 1997, they formed a legendary team, which later also included Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler.

The Phillies played there until 2003, before moving to the new Citizens Bank Park, a block to the east. They played the World Series there in 1980 (beating the Kansas City Royals), 1983 (losing to the Baltimore Orioles) and 1993 (losing to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Eagles played there from 1971 to 2002, before moving to the new Lincoln Financial Field, across the parking lot. This included NFC Championship Games for the seasons of 1980 (they beat the Dallas Cowboys) and 2002. By the 1990s, while Eagle fans had made the uppermost sections, the 700 Level, one of the hardest places in the country for visiting sports fans to visit, everyone was complaining that The Vet's turf was the worst to play on in the NFL.

Football setup

The 1st team to win a Championship at The Vet was the Philadelphia Atoms: In their 1st season, 1973, they won the North American Soccer League title. But they only lasted 2 more seasons. The Philadelphia Fury also lasted only 3 seasons at The Vet, 1978 to 1980. The USFL's Philadelphia Stars played there in 1983, losing the league's Championship Game; and in 1984, winning it. Temple University played home games there from 1978 to 2002, before moving to The Linc.

In 1995, the Phillies celebrated the 25th season of The Vet. Mike Ryan was now a Phillies coach, specializing in throwing batting practice. The Phillie Phanatic, who debuted in 1978, 7 years after the stadium's opening, dropped the Opening Night first ball out of a helicopter. This time, despite being 53 years old, Ryan had considerably less trouble making the catch.

That year, in anticipation of the 1996 All-Star Game being held there, the Phillies changed their seating color scheme. Out were the dark red seats of the lower deck, the 100, 200 and 300 Levels. The luxury boxes were the 400 Level. The closest part of the upper deck, the 500 Level had seats that were a lighter shade of red. The 600 Level had orange seats. And the 700 Level, home to the most notorious Eagles fans, had yellow seats. By the time the Eagles kicked off the 1995 season, all the seats were blue.

But The Vet, which opened 9 months after Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, and 10 months after Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, was, like all the multipurpose stadiums built in the 1960s and '70s, a bad compromise. Sure, it saved money on having to build 2 stadiums, 1 for each sport, the way Kansas City was doing at the time. But it wasn't that good for football, and it was worse for baseball. And that turf! While it never looked as bad as the carpets in Pittsburgh, Houston, Seattle or Toronto, it was the least-maintained.

Speaking of maintenance, there were always leaks, of various liquids. And the cats. Before becoming a head coach in Oakland and Tampa Bay, Jon Gruden was the Eagles' offensive coordinator. One day, he found a cat in his office, and chased it out, then discovered that the cat had urinated all over his desk, including his playbook.

So Gruden went to the head of stadium maintenance, who asked him, "What do you want: Cats or rats? The cats eat the rats." Gruden didn't know there were rats in the stadium. Which means the cats were doing their job.

The Eagles' last game at Veterans Stadium was on January 19, 2003, an NFC Championship Game, a devastating 27-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Phillies' last game there was on September 28, 2003, a 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The closing ceremony, hosted by broadcaster Harry Kalas in a tuxedo, had players from all 33 baseball seasons, wearing the uniforms of the time, either the stylized P logo of 1970-1991, or the script Phillies that the team has worn since 1992.

When that parade of players ended, Steve Carlton took the mound for the miming of one more strikeout, Mike Schmidt stepped to the plate for one more home run trot, and the stadium's last moment was a recreation of its greatest: Tug McGraw pretending to pitch to Bob Boone, striking out Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series on October 21, 1980.

Veterans Stadium was imploded by dynamite on March 21, 2004. Additional parking for the South Philadelphia Sports Complex's new facilities -- the Phils' Citizens Bank Park, the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field, and the 76ers' and Flyers' Wells Fargo Center -- is on the site, with the location of home plate, the bases, and the pitcher's mound marked, and the stadium's dedication plaque preserved.

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April 10, 1971 was a Saturday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Mel Stottlemyre pitched a 3-hit shutout. Thurman Munson went 0-for-5, but Horace Clarke, Danny Cater, Ron Woods and Roy White each got 2 hits, and Bobby Murcer went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Donn Clendenon went 3-for-5, and scored the winning run when Jerry Grote singled him home in the bottom of the 11th inning. This made Danny Frisella a winning pitcher, after Jerry Koosman pitched 10 innings. Pete Rose and Johnny Bench each went 1-for-5.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Jim Palmer outpitched Mickey Lolich. Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson each went 2-for-4. Tiger star Al Kaline, playing in his hometown, went 1-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Willie Stargell drove in all the Bucs' runs with 3 home runs, and Roberto Clemente got a hit as a pinch-hitter. But it wasn't enough, as Hank Aaron hit his 594th career home run, Ralph Garr went 4-for-5 with a walk, and Hal King singled Garr home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Oddly, the only home runs hit in this game were by men not known for power: Luis Aparicio for Boston, and Ray Fosse for Cleveland.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Tony Oliva hit a home run. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Rod Carew went 2-for-3.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Willie Mays hit his 632nd career home run. At this point, he still seemed likelier to catch Babe Ruth at 714 than Aaron was, but he began to slow down, and Aaron passed him in 1972. For the Cardinals, Joe Torre hit a home run, beginning a season where he would win the National League's batting title and Most Valuable Player award. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Fergie Jenkins went the distance, but dropped a pop fly by Roger Metzger in the bottom of the 9th, allowing the winning run to score.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 9-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Tommy Davis doubled Steve Hovley home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.

The NBA Playoffs were underway, but no games were played on this day. In the American Basketball Association Playoffs, the Virginia Squires eliminated the New York Nets in Game 6, 118-114 at Madison Square Garden -- not in the main arena, but at the much smaller Felt Forum. Charlie Scott scored 38 points for the Squires, while Rick Barry scored 45 in defeat for the Nets.

And in Game 5 of another series, the Kentucky Colonels beat the Miami Floridians, 118-101 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, and 4 games were played:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to Hampshire, and beat Southampton, 2-1 at The Dell. Over the next month, Arsenal would win both the Football League Division One and the FA Cup, known as "The Double."