The Phillies haven’t always been residents of South Philly. In fact, they haven’t always been residents. For the majority of their early history, they were tenants of the more popular Philadelphia A’s. Other times, they have been lesser lights when compared to the city’s Negro League offerings. How they came to be the only baseball team in town is a complicated history that speaks to the city’s complicated economics over time.
The Phillies are the oldest team still playing in Philadelphia, having been founded in 1883 as part of the early days of the National League. They were a strong success, speaking to the growing industrial might of the the city, but in particular its northern, immigrant neighborhoods. The Phillies, after shifting between different temporary stadiums, built the Baker Bowl in 1894. This spoke to the ambitions of the Phillies, but it instead became a testament to their shortcomings. Within the first decade, the Baker Bowl had to rebuilt twice due to fires. Even worse, the Philadelphia A’s started play in 1903 and quickly became the bigger draw in town. By 1938, the Phillies were moving out of the Baker Bowl mid-season to become the tenants of the A’s at Shibe Park, their more modern North Philly stadium.
They would remain there until 1970. Although there play was generally terrible, outside a surprise World Series trip in 1950, they had the benefit of the A’s eventually leaving town to move to Kansas City. Now the sole occupants of Shibe Park (by that point renamed to Connie Mack Stadium), the Phillies fortunes grew. However, their neighborhood’s did not. Philadelphia was no stranger to the redlining that followed World War II. The North Philly neighborhoods around Connie Mack Stadium started changing over, from immigrants to African-Americans. Unfortunately, the racism of the time meant this corresponded with a drop in economic fortunes.
Soon, the Phillies were looking for a new home, further from neighborhoods that had been labelled as “troubled” and close to highways that could be accessed by families that had camped out to the suburbs. They would get their wish in 1971, with the opening of Veterans Stadium in Southern Philadelphia.
