October 1, 1970: Twenty years to the day after the greatest day in Phillies history thus far (and it would remain such for another 10 years), perhaps the darkest day in Phillies history takes place -- and this was in a win.
The Phils play the final game at Connie Mack Stadium, formerly Shibe Park, and the irony of playing the Montreal Expos, a team that only began in 1969, at a stadium that opened in 1909 is felt. The Phillies gave out commemorative seat slats, made of wood, which became not souvenirs, but clubs to hit people over the head.
A surviving slat. That P logo was in use from 1970 to 1991.
The game goes to 10 innings, and Oscar Gamble singles home Tim McCarver with the winning run, as the Phils win, 2-1. Before McCarver can cross the plate, fans are already storming the field, and they tear the stadium apart. The grass is torn up. The scoreboard and the advertising signs are ripped out. Seats are unscrewed. According to a story I read, a man described as "one muscular miscreant" went into the men's room, ripped out a toilet bowl, carried it out of the park, and toted it down Lehigh Avenue and into the Broad Street subway.
Somehow, home plate was saved from the crowd, and was installed the next year before Veterans Stadium opened.
Built in 1909 as Shibe Park, by Ben Shibe, owner of the American League's Philadelphia Athletics, the A's played there until 1954, after which they moved to Kansas City. The National League's Philadelphia Phillies, unable to maintain their nearby ballpark, Baker Bowl, anymore, moved into Shibe Park in the middle of the 1938 season. In 1953, in honor of the man who still owned the A's (at least, for another year) and managed them for 50 years (1901-50), it was renamed Connie Mack Stadium.
Phillies Hall-of-Famer Richie Ashburn once said, "It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a ballpark. It had a feeling and a heartbeat, a personality that was all baseball." But as North Philadelphia incurred white flight, urban decay, and the 1964 race riot, the demand for a new ballpark intensified. The Vet was supposed to open in 1968, but delays pushed it back to 1971. It lasted until 2003. The following season, the Phillies moved into Citizens Bank Park.
A fire gutted the old ballpark on August 20, 1971, and it sat derelict, as a homeless encampment and a site for drug deals, largely because the responsibility for tearing it down belonged to whoever owned it -- and, with the Phillies having sold it, no one was sure who owned it.
Phillies player Tony Taylor,
surveying what was left of his former home park, 1974.
Incredibly, the scoreboard clock still worked to the end.
Finally, Mayor Frank Rizzo, in his usual bombastic style, hired the Geppert Brothers demolition company, and told them, "Tear the fucking thing down!" They did.
including Connie Mack's old office, was the last part to go.
When I first visited the Shibe site in 1987, it was an empty lot, and the only evidence that baseball had been played there for 62 seasons was a strip mall across 21st Street, with a store called The Phillies Pharmacy. In 1992, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church was built on the site. A historical marker now stands on Lehigh Avenue, telling of the glory days of the A's and the Phils.
Deliverance Evangelistic Church
The Phillies played at Veterans Stadium until 2003. Once again, home plate was moved to the new park, Citizens Bank Park. So it is possible that, in the 2022 season, the Philadelphia Phillies are using the same home plate that the Philadelphia Athletics were using in 1909.
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October 1, 1970 was a Thursday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Shea Stadium. Ken Singleton hit 2 doubles for the Mets, but those were the only hits that Fergie Jenkins allowed, as he outpitched Jim McAndrew. Ernie Banks did not play. Thus ended the Mets' defense of their World Championship, a far cry from revenge for the Cubs, whom they victimized for the National League Eastern Division title the season before.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with a home run. Brooks Robinson also went 1-for-3. Davey Johnson singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning, to make a winning pitcher of Jim Hardin, in relief of Jim Palmer.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 0-for-4. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk. Hank Aaron hit his 592th career home run.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. John Hiller pitched a 2-hit shutout. Al Kaline did not play.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Jim Kaat pitched 7 innings and hit a home run, while Stan Williams and Ron Perranoski completed the 3-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-2 before leaving the game. Rod Carew did not play.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Roberto Clemente did not play. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3. Lou Brock only appeared as a pinch-hitter, but got a hit. Joe Torre went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Willie Mays went 2-for-4 with a walk.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Bill Melton hit a home run for the White Sox in the top of the 13th inning, but un the bottom of the 13th, the Angels got a walk from Mickey Rivers, a game-tying double from Billy Cowan, a walk from Chico Ruiz, and a game-winning single from Mel Queen.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Bobby Brooks won it with a home run in the bottom of the 9th. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox had ended their seasons against each other the day before, with the Yankees winning, 4-3 at Fenway Park. The Yankees won 93 games, their highest total between 1964 and 1976, but they finished 15 games behind the eventual World Champion Baltimore Orioles.
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