Columbia Park
- David Hegler
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
When Ben Shibe and Connie Mack were granted a team in Philadelphia for the inaugural season of the American League, they stumbled upon a simple, vacant rectangular block in the heart of what locals affectionately referred to as "Brewerytown". Led by local contractor James B. Foster, crews worked 'round the clock to ensure that the newly established Athletics had a ballpark of their own. On Opening Day 1901, Columbia Park opened to the public.
It was a simple structure that didn't even have dugouts, the players having to make do with benches on the side with their backs facing towards the crowd. With the exception of a small part of the entrance that was made of brick, every other part of the new ballpark was made entirely of wood. For just $35,000 Ben Shibe had erected a single tier grandstand that stretched from third base around home plate and all the way to first base with a press box perched on top of its roof that looked out at the field that. stretched as far as 440 feet in deep center field and all across the bleachers that lined the foul lines. In total, Columbia Park could squeeze in 9,500 on a good day, making it one of the smallest ballparks in the pros.
The A's began play on April 26, 1901 with a 5-1 loss to the Washington Senators in front of a throng of 10,547. They got their first win three days later beating Boston 8-5 behind the competent pitching of Bill Benhard. The A's finished their inaugural season 74-62-1, good for fourth place in the infant league.
After averaging just 3,126 fans in Columbia Park's inaugural season, the A's doubled down in 1902, averaging 5,754 fans a game while winning their first pennant just a year before the first World Series.
The National League took notice of the simple structure the following year when the Phillies finished the year at Columbia Park after some of the stands at their ballpark, National League Park, collapsed.
Two years later, the A's hosted the largest crowd ever to gather at Columbia Park. Late in the year, they were in the thick of a tense pennant race with Chicago when more than 25,000 crammed into the now 13,600 capacity ballpark to watch their Athletics take on the Chicago White Sox. While the A's lost to Chicago 4-3 that late September afternoon, they claimed their second American League Pennant days later at Boston.
On October 9, 1905, that humble little ballpark on the corner of Columbia Avenue and Oxford Street hosted the second ever World Series. A massive crowd just shy of 18,000 pushed the ballpark's capacity to the limit and could only groan as their A's lost to the New York Giants 3-0. The A's went on to lose to the Giants in five games, having never once won a World Series game at Columbia Park.
The A's spent the next three years at their tiny ballpark as massive cathedrals popped all over the major leagues. After seeing how luxurious National League Park was, Ben Shibe knew that it was about time that he move his team to a more suitable home. The A's last played at their first home on October 3, 1908, losing to Boston 5-0 before moving to their shiny new home: Shibe Park.
Columbia Park stood for several more years, hosting the circus at times while providing an eye sore the rest of the time. When it was demolished in 1911 to make room for commercial and residential properties, it was one of the few wooden ballparks to have never burned down. Perhaps that is its greatest achievement.
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