page_title: Shibe Park
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Shibe Park / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Fans on rooftop bleachers on 20th Street (i.e. in the background) watching the opening game at Shibe Park in 1909 (as per Take Me Out to the Ball Park, published by Sporting News, 1987 edition, p.211). Rooftop bleachers eventually inspired the raising of the right field fence in 1932.
context_page_description: Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a baseball park located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. When it opened April 12, 1909, it became baseball's first steel-and-concrete stadium. In different eras it was home to "The $100,000 Infield", "The Whiz Kids", and "The 1964 Phold". The venue's two home teams won both the first and last games at the stadium: the Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox 8–1 on opening day 1909, while the Phillies beat the Montreal Expos 2–1 on October 1, 1970, in the park's final contest.
  Shibe Park stood on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street. It was five blocks west, corner-to-corner, from the Baker Bowl, the Phillies' home from 1887 to 1938. The stadium hosted eight World Series and two MLB All-Star Games, in 1943 and 1952, with the latter game holding the distinction of being the only All-Star contest shortened by rain. In May 1939, it was the site of the first night game played in the American League.
caption: Fans watching the inaugural game, April 12, 1909. Somerset St. at left; 20th St homes at right. The A's prevailed over Boston, 8–1
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