| The NL
East Philadelphia Phillies:
The Philadelphia Phillies were created in
1883. They are the oldest, one name, and one-city team in all of
professional sports, although they were nicknamed the Quakers from
1883-1889 and the Blue Jays from 1944-1945. The team was founded by the
first professional baseball player ever, Al Reach, who later had a very
lucrative sporting goods company. Along with his partner John Rodgers
they decided to name the new team “ The Phillies” since Philadelphia’s
shortened nickname is Philly. The team began their inaugural season at
Recreation Park on May 1, 1883. They had a slow start; however, they
finally delivered the club's first no-hitter in 1885 and began making
baseball history.
The Phillies originally played at Recreation Park before moving to
Hunting Avenue Grounds where they played from 1887-1894. The park cost
$100,000 to build and had a seating capacity of only 12,000. The stadium
was not large enough to house all the fans, so in 1895 they moved again
to Philadelphia Park. At that time it was hailed “The finest baseball
park in the nation.” Then in 1894 a fire tragically destroyed
Philadelphia Park, forcing the Phillies to finish the rest of their
season in The Baker Bowl at the University of Pennsylvania. The team
played in the larger Baker Bowl (capacity of approximately 18,800) from
1895-1938. Hitting home runs was far too easy at The Baker Bowl; the
right field wall stood just 272 feet down the line. Due to the short
wall, in 1921 the Phillies set a Major League team record with 88 home
runs. They led the National League in homers for five straight years
between 1919-1923. The Phillies were fast becoming one of the most
prestigious and popular franchises in Major League baseball. Their
rapidly growing fan base forced them to relocate the team again to Shibe
Park/Connie Mack Stadium, which had a larger capacity of 33,000. They
played in Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium from 1938-1970. However, it was
not an unfamiliar ballpark for the Phillies because they played most of
their 1927 season there when Philadelphia Park was being renovated. The
next move for the ball club was to their most recent location--Veterans
Stadium (capacity of approximately 60,000) -- playing there from
1971-2003. It took more than three years to build the stadium at a cost
of about $52 million. The stadium became very outdated so the team
finally built an up-to-date park to house the classic team, and Veterans
Stadium was demolished. About 3,000 pounds of explosives collapsed the
concrete structure that served as home field to the Philadelphia
Phillies and Eagles for more than three decades. It fell, section by
section, in a clockwise direction as thunderous booms rang out. Team
announcer Dan Baker told the cheering crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, you
just witnessed history." One observer played taps on a silver trumpet to
mark the epic occasion. The city was now ready to begin a new era of
baseball and create new memories in the contemporary Citizens Bank
Stadium. The stadium cost was roughly $450 million and has a capacity of
about 43,000. The baseball- only park features a natural Kentucky blue
grass field, multi-angled "bowl-style" seating, and spectacular views of
the city, alluring amenities, and an incredible assortment of special
crowd-pleasing features. Citizens Bank Stadium marks a new age in
baseball parks everywhere.
See more at the Philadelphia Phillies Official Site
Click Here
Team
Stadium
2004
Team Schedule |
Buy
Tickets Here |
Philadelphia Phillies Accomplishments:
World Series Champions 1 - 1980
League Champions 5 - 1915(NL), 1950(NL), 1980(NL), 1983(NL), 1993(NL)
Division Champions 6 - 1976(NL East), 1977(NL East), 1978(NL East),
1980(NL East), 1983(NL East), 1993(NL East)
Wild-Card None
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