Tenants: Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 1909 to 1954; Philadelphia Phillies (NL), part of 1927, 1938 to 1970.
Opened: April 12, 1909
First night game: May 16, 1939
Last game: October 1, 1970
Demolished: June 1976
Capacity: 20,000 (1909); 33,000 (1925).

Architects: William Steele and Sons
Construction: William Steele and Sons
Owner: Athletic Grounds Co. (owned by Shibe, Mack et al)
Cost: $457,167.61 ($141,918.92 for the land, $315,248.69 for the stadium)

Philadelphia Phillies & Oakland Athletics tickets:

• Viewpoint Tickets - Best prices on Phillies tickets, Athletics tickets, MLB tickets and MLB All Star tickets.

Location: Left field (N), West Somerset Street; third base (W), North 21st Street; first base (S), West Lehigh Avenue; right field (E), North 20th Street.

Dimensions: Left field: 360 (1909), 378 (late, 1909), 380 (1921), 334 (1922), 312 (1926), 334 (1930); center field: 515 (early, 1909), 502 (late, 1909), 468 (1922), 448 (1950), 440 (1951), 460 (1953), 468 (1954), 447 (1956), 410 (1969); right-center: 393 (1909), 390 (1969); right-center, left of scoreboard: 400 (1942); right field: 360 (early, 1909), 340 (late, 1909), 380 (1921), 307 (1926), 331 (1931), 331 (to lower, 1934), 329 (to upper iron fence, 1934); backstop: 90 (1942), 86 (1943), 78 (1956), 64 (1960).

Fences: Left field to left-center: 12 (4 screen above 8 concrete, 1949); center field, small section: 20 (1955), 8 (wood, 1956), 3 (canvas, 1969); right-center scoreboard: 50 (top of black scoreboard, 1956), 60 (top of Ballantine Beer Sign, 1956); right field: 12 (concrete, 1909), 34 (22 corrugated iron above 12 concrete, 1935), 30 (1943), 50 (1949), 40 (1953), 30 (1954), 40 (1955), 32 (1956).

Shibe Park Facts:

• The first concrete-and-steel stadium in the majors, it was completed in less than one year.
• City block on which the ballpark was built measured 520 feet along 21st and 20th Streets; 481 feet, 3 inches along Lehigh Avenue and Somerset Street.
• Named for Ben Shibe, an Athletics stockholder and baseball manufacturer.
• Renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953.
• Upper-deck and left field stands added in 1925.
• Mezzanine added in 1929.
• Before 1935, 20th Street residents could see games for free over the 12-foot right-field fence & fans could see the laundry lines on the roofs of 20th Street houses. Connie Mack lost a lawsuit to prevent this, so he built the high right-field 'spite' fence.
• Site of the 1952 and 1943 All-Star games.
• Old Yankee Stadium scoreboard installed in front of the right-center wall in 1956.
• In 1956 the normal backstop screen was replaced with see-through Plexiglas.
• The last game was played on October 1, 1970.
• Home plate was moved to Veterans Stadium in 1971.
• Damaged by fire on August 20, 1971.
• Torn down in June 1976, while the All-star game was being played at Veterans Stadium.
• Now the site of the Deliverance Evangelistic Church.

More on Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium:

• Photos

Recommended Reading (bibliography):

• To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia, 1909-1976 by Bruce Kuklick.
• Philadelphia's Old Ballparks by Rich Westcott.
• Take Me Out to the Ballpark: An Illustrated Tour of Baseball Parks Past and Present by Josh Leventhal and Jessica Macmurray.
• The Ballpark Book: A Journey Through the Fields of Baseball Magic (Revised Edition) by Ron Smith and Kevin Belford.
• City Baseball Magic: Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense about Cities and Baseball Parks by Philip Bess.
• Diamonds: The Evolution of the Ballpark by Michael Gershman.
• Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks by Philip J. Lowry.
• Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields by Lawrence S. Ritter.
• Roadside Baseball: A Guide to Baseball Shrines Across America by Chris Epting.
• The Story of America's Classic Ballparks (VHS).