Well, let me tell ya ’bout Shibe Park, ya know, that old baseball place. It ain’t around no more, but it sure was somethin’ back in the day.
Shibe Park, A Real Ballpark
They called it Shibe Park at first, named after some fella, Ben Shibe, who was part of the Athletics team and made baseball stuff. It was the first of its kind, ya know, built with all that concrete and steel. Opened up way back in 1909, April 12th to be exact, right there on 21st Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia. Folks say it was like a church for baseball, a real special place.
Connie Mack, he was the manager and owner of them Athletics, and Shibe Park was their home. That man, he knew baseball, let me tell ya. He was around for a long, long time, and that park, well, it saw a lot of history with him and the A’s.
The Golden Age and All That
Now, they talk about the “golden age of baseball,” and Shibe Park was right smack in the middle of it. That’s when baseball was real big, ya know, with fellas like Babe Ruth hittin’ them balls outta the park. It was after that dead-ball era, where nobody could hit nothin’, and before things got all modern. Some folks say it was from the 1920s to after that big war, World War II. Shibe Park, it saw it all.
- Built in 1909
- First concrete and steel stadium
- Home of the Philadelphia Athletics
- Witnessed the “golden age of baseball”
Changes and Troubles
Later on, they started callin’ it Connie Mack Stadium, after the old manager. But things changed, ya know. They messed with the park, made the right field fence real high, 50 feet they say, back in ’35. And then, them Athletics, they got into money troubles. Seems they sold off the food and drink sales, which was a big mistake. Ended up sellin’ the whole team in 1954 to some fella named Arnold Johnson, who up and moved them to Kansas City. Folks tried to buy the team and keep ’em in Philly, but the American League wouldn’t let ’em.
The End of an Era
After the A’s left, the Phillies played there for a while, but it just wasn’t the same. The park got old, run down. They say it sat there for four years, just fallin’ apart, ’til a judge said, “Tear it down!” in 1975. They finally knocked it all down in ’76, the last bit bein’ that tower with the dome on top. It was sad, real sad.
A Church Now, Can Ya Believe It?
And you know what they got there now? A church! Deliverance Evangelistic Church, they call it. Built it in 1991, right where Shibe Park used to be. It’s kinda strange to think about, all them baseball games and now folks singin’ hymns.
More Than Just a Park
But that Shibe Park, it was somethin’ special. Folks who went there, they said it felt alive. One fella, Richie Ashburn, he played centerfield for the Phillies and talked on the radio, he said it had a heartbeat. Said it looked like a ballpark, smelled like a ballpark, felt like a ballpark. And he was right. It wasn’t just bricks and steel, it was somethin’ more. It was where memories were made, where folks cheered and booed, where history happened.
Shibe Park History, Philadelphia Athletics, Connie Mack, and Golden Age of Baseball, those are words you gotta remember if you’re lookin’ up stuff about that old place. It’s a shame it’s gone, but it ain’t forgotten, not by the folks who remember it. It was a real ballpark, a place where baseball lived and breathed, and that’s somethin’ you don’t see much anymore.
