Shibe Park

TO EVERY TIME A SEASON: SHIBE PARK AND URBAN PHILADELPHIA, 1909-1976 By Bruce Kuklick Princeton University Press. $19.95 Here's a delightful Philadelphia book that, in an odd way, is also an indictment of how nostalgia distorts memory. Despite the warm memories in Bruce Kuklick's ancedote-packed history of Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, the author never forgets the old North Philadelphia ballpark also was a dump. Most of the A's and Phillie teams that played at 21st and Lehigh were an embarrassment.

Despite two years of intensive research, University of Pennsylvania history professor Dr. Bruce Kuklick still has a lot of "important" questions to answer. For instance: Did Joe DiMaggio ask a cop named Frank Rizzo to hold his cigarette while he went to bat during a 1950 World Series game? Did a pregnant woman, residing on 20th Street near Lehigh Avenue, go into labor after a Willie Mays home run came crashing through her bedroom window? Was Shibe Park the only baseball stadium where Abbott and Costello performed their famous "Who's On First" routine?

Andy Kessler never saw a game in Shibe Park. But he's paid his respects at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. He even named his dog Wrigley. At just 31, Kessler has got an old-timer's heart when it comes to the soul of baseball - especially classic ballparks. So when he heard that money was holding up the effort to put up a historical marker for Shibe Park in North Philadelphia, he reached for his checkbook. "We don't have ballparks like that anymore," said Kessler, a Center City lawyer.

Even after the grand old ballpark was abandoned in 1970, even when it was destroyed by fire in 1971 and its charred shell became a breeding ground for crime and drugs, and even when it was razed in 1976 and would never again wear the noble and ancient dust of ball games, still the fans returned to the site each year to restoke their warm memories of Connie Mack Stadium, nee Shibe Park. Built in 1909, the ballpark was home to the Philadelphia Athletics (1909-1954), the Phillies (1927; 1948-1970)

1. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. 2. a. 1943, in Shibe Park. 3. c. 1996, in Veterans Stadium. 4. d. Johnny Callison, in 1964. 5. b. Jimmy Rollins, in 2001. 6. c. Richie Ashburn. 7. c. Pete Rose, in 1985, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, was 44 years, 3 months, and 2 days old. 8. d. Bobby Abreu. 9. a. Charlie Manuel, in 2009 and '10. 10. Mack, 1933; Sawyer, '51; Mauch, '65; Green, '81; Owens, '84; Fregosi, '94; Manuel, 2009 and '10.

One of Philadelphia's best-known shrines sat on Lehigh Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets. But Shibe Park and its beloved Philadelphia A's have been replaced by a different kind of worship, at Deliverance Evangelistic Church. For many in the city and the church's 6,700-member congregation, Veterans Stadium across town in South Philadelphia evokes stronger images of local baseball history. Even Connie Mack's statue is there. Where, and how, people remember Shibe Park - later renamed Connie Mack Stadium, after the legendary A's manager - presents a prickly dilemma for Celeste Morello, a historian whose pet project is finding local people and places worthy of the state's regal blue plaques denoting historical significance.

Mark O'Donnell had an interesting childhood. He grew up at Shibe Park. In fact, in the years between 1943 and 1954, O'Donnell claims that he never missed a game there played by Connie Mack's A's. Think about that. How did that happen? Was he a lucky kid or what? Actually, the story had a sad beginning. When Mark was 6, his mother, Florence, passed away. His dad, also Mark, served on the Shibe Park grounds crew and had no choice but to bring his son to work with him. There was no day care back then.

Everything from coach Jake Pitler's 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers world championship ring to a rare, 1888 "Sketches of the New York and Brooklyn Baseball Clubs" booklet will be available in the first 64 lots of David Hunt's 1,205-lot live auction this weekend at the Best Western Conference Center in Exton, Pa. Previews start tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., and bidding on the first 499 lots starts at 5:30. Action resumes Saturday with previews at 8 a.m., bidding at 10 a.m. The Pitler ring comes directly from his family, is 14-karat gold and expected to be sold in the $20,000-to-$30,000 range.

Lessie Travis's fondest memories of the Phillies go back to Jim Bunning, Richie Ashburn and Shibe Park. Although she still claims to be a Phillies fan, she doesn't follow the team as closely as she used to. But all that might change now. Last night, Travis became the third person in the last nine days to win $1,000 in the Daily News Home Run Payoff Contest. Phillies first baseman Rico Brogna hit his eighth homer of the season off Reds rookie Brett Tomko in the fourth inning of the Phils' 2-1 win over Cincinnati.

Game 1 Wednesday, Oct. 4, 1950/At Shibe Park New York: 000 100 000 - 1 5 0 Phillies: 000 000 000 - 0 2 1 WP: Vic Raschi. LP: Jim Konstanty. HR: None. RECAP: The Yankees had two on with no out in the top of the first, but Jim Konstanty got Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Mize (future Hall of Famers all) to get out of the inning. Bobby Brown opened the fourth inning with a double, went to second on a fly ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jerry Coleman . Vic Raschi, who allowed just three base-runners, retired the first 13 batters of the game, as well as the last 11. Game 2 Thursday, Oct. 5, 1950/At Shibe Park New York: 010 000 000 1 - 2 10 0 Phillies: 000 010 000 0 - 1 7 0 WP: Allie Reynolds.

1. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. 2. a. 1943, in Shibe Park. 3. c. 1996, in Veterans Stadium. 4. d. Johnny Callison, in 1964. 5. b. Jimmy Rollins, in 2001. 6. c. Richie Ashburn. 7. c. Pete Rose, in 1985, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, was 44 years, 3 months, and 2 days old. 8. d. Bobby Abreu. 9. a. Charlie Manuel, in 2009 and '10. 10. Mack, 1933; Sawyer, '51; Mauch, '65; Green, '81; Owens, '84; Fregosi, '94; Manuel, 2009 and '10.

By Rich Westcott The Philadelphia Athletics are long gone and mostly forgotten. But thanks to interleague play, the Oakland Athletics are in town for a three-game series against the Phillies starting tonight. The unusual visit serves as a nostalgic reminder of a team that once held a special place among the city's professional sports franchises. In the distant past, Philadelphia had two major-league baseball teams. One, of course, was the Phillies, now a fixture in the city for 128 years.

Killers have lived 24 years too many I can recall the first time I read about the slaying of Anthony Milano ("Execution in gay hate murder is on hold," May 5). It was in the late 1980s. As a gay man myself, I was certainly aware of the depth of anti-gay hatred in our society and had had my own painful experiences, but Milano's incomprehensibly brutal murder raised the horrifying reality of homophobia to a whole new level. I can't begin to imagine the terror that young man endured that night, or the pain and suffering his family and friends have endured since.

NO MATTER what next occupies the southeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, it will always be remembered as the place where the Spectrum stood. Although the Spectrum's footprint will eventually be filled by Philly Live! - a proposed retail and entertainment complex - the landmark arena will be lost to time like so many other iconic sports venues that once drew thousands of fans. As the wrecking ball starts to tear down the Spectrum today at noon, the Daily News takes a look at other stadiums and arenas that have been razed in the city over the last 60 years, and what has become of the once-hallowed grounds on which they stood.

In eight days, when a four-ton wrecking ball begins to pummel it like a Broad Street Bully, the Spectrum, a landmark arena that launched a sporting renaissance in Philadelphia, will crumble into oblivion after months of pre-demolition ballyhoo but almost no opposition. Its impending demise points out something contradictory about this sports-mad city: No matter how rich their history, Philadelphia venues such as Convention Hall, Connie Mack Stadium, Municipal Stadium, the old Arena, and now the Spectrum seem to be expendable in a way that more historically authentic or architecturally appealing structures often are not. While threats to old and ornate buildings or to prized works of art (remember the battles that kept Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic and Maxfield Parrish's Dream Garden in Philadelphia?

ON THE shelf in my office next to my Jimmy Rollins bobblehead stands a picture of one of my favorite teams, the 1930 Philadelphia A's. In October, 80 years ago, they'd won their second pennant in a row, with 102 wins and only 52 losses, and were looking forward to winning their second straight World Series. I'd rooted for them all year from my house across the street from Shibe Park. As I look at the photo, I pick out the three ace pitchers who led them to the championship: lefties Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (28-5)

SURROUNDED BY friends in the Lincoln Financial Field parking lot, a bottle of champagne in his hands and a midnight-green McNabb jersey on his back, 72-year-old Burrell Massey, of West Philadelphia, had a lot to enjoy. Yesterday, Massey celebrated the 60th anniversary of his first Eagles game at Shibe Park - not to mention 50 years since he attended the Eagles championship game of 1960, and also the 30th year that his group has been tailgating together. "I have a lot to be thankful for," said Massey, who's also celebrating that his grandson is entering his senior year at Malvern Prep as an Interacademic All-American.

THE PHILLIES are supposed to be the class of the National League. At the moment, however, they're puttering along in third place. Somebody pulled the plug on the offense. Key pieces to the puzzle are missing. They've lost roughly twice as many games as they've won in the last month. Seeking solace, some have gone to the archives and found similar stretches of futility in the last three seasons. Each time, the ship was righted and the club went on to make the playoffs, winning two pennants and a World Series in the process.

Yankee Stadium is virtually synonymous with the World Series. Thirty-seven of them have been played in the fabled Bronx ballpark, including one that Phillies Hall of Famer Robin Roberts remembers well. "I think if we were at full strength, it might have been a different story," Roberts said recently. The Whiz Kids, as the 1950 Phillies were known, brought the National League pennant to Philadelphia for the first time since 1915, but their trip to the World Series did not last long.

In 1950 I sold hot dogs at the World Series between the Phillies and the Yankees. Selling hot dogs was just about the best thing you could sell at a baseball game. Why? Because they were easy to carry and easy to fix. It wasn't always that way. I started out selling soft drinks, the lowest form of life for vendors. You had to carry two buckets, one in each hand. The buckets were heavy, full of soda bottles and big chunks of ice; and sloppy, the water from the melting ice always sloshing over your blue jeans; and dangerous, because if you accidentally broke off the bottle's neck when you opened it, you could gash your thumb to the bone.