Veterans Stadium

2 days ago7 min read

Visiting teams were loath to come there but isn't that the entire point of having a home-field advantage? For 33 years, Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium stood as a mighty fortress as opponents gingerly picked themselves off the rock hard surface as loyal Philadelphians jeered them on, taunting them with a vile spew as heartless as a human soul can take its vocabulary. "The Vet", as it was commonly called, had a heart as hard as stone that only grew colder as Philadelphia's beloved Eagles and Phillies tried again and again and again to win their first championship. It was in the midst of their struggle that Philadelphians fell in love with their mighty fortress.

The Conception

The design was a simple octorad. Nothing fancy. Just four arcs of a large circle. Not even a dome (although it was discussed). Built on the foundation of a former illegal pig farm, Veterans Stadium had been discussed and planned since as early as 1952 when both the Phillies and Eagles began to feel restless in the aging confines of Connie Mack Stadium and Franklin Field.

Ground broke on October 2, 1967 and construction was quickly underway under the guidance of the noted architectural firm Hugh Stubbins & Associates, with a scheduled opening year of 1970. However, as most construction projects of this magnitude go, Philadelphia's massive project hit several snags in the forms of weather and labor strikes as the Phillies and Eagles waited restlessly in their old homes, both toiling in the lower echelon of their sports.

The Vet

Finally, the fourth and final cookie cutter stadium opened its doors to the public on April 10, 1971. With St. Louis's Busch Stadium, Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium and Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium all performing well at the gate, expectations were high for the stadium named after the fallen veterans of past wars.

With 55,352 eager fans walking up the ramps and into Veterans Stadium, the Montreal Expos Bob Baily got his team on the scoreboard first by driving in a double off of Jim Bunning as Ron Hunt managed to score the first run in the Vet. After that, it was all Phillies as Phillies Bunning rebounded to lead his team to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Expos in the first event ever held at the Vet.

As the Phillies stumbled their way through a disastrous 67-95 season, their fans grew enamored by the subtle beauty of Veterans Stadium, particularly the two scoreboards in the outfield. Between the two scoreboards hanged Philadelphia Phil, a replica of the Liberty Bell and Philadelphia Phyllis. After home runs, the hanging robotic mascot would bash a home run past the Liberty Bell and into the awaiting glove of Philadelphia Phyllis. While it may have been corny, it proved to lighten the mood on other wise dreary summer days as the Phillies spent the first half of the 1970s struggling just to get above .500.

Meanwhile the Eagles began their stay disastrously, getting pummeled by the Dallas Cowboys on September 26, 1971 42-7. In fact, the Eagles were shut out until late in the fourth quarter when Al Nelson returned a failed field goal 102 yards for Philadelphia's only points of the day. Even though the Eagles struggled mightily in those early years, they knew that eventually they would enjoy one of the best home field advantages in all of the NFL. Their fans were always loud and passionate, their stadium was one of the largest in the league (65,352 capacity for football) and the AstroTurf was always too thin to properly shield players from the concrete below.

Soon enough, both teams began to really win. After finishing 1975 with 86 wins, the Eagles won 101 games in both 1976 and 1977 as they went to the NLCS in three straight years. While invigorating at the time, they came away empty handed each year. It wasn't until 1980 when they finally made it back to the World Series for the first time since 1950.

The Phillies were unstoppable at home in the Fall Classic, refusing to lose in each of their three home games. After beating Kansas city at Kauffman Field in game 5, the Phillies returned home to exorcize their demons. On October 21, 1980 in front of a packed house of 65,838, the Phillies gave the Royals no quarter as Lonnie Smith scored twice, Pete Rose hit thrice and revered second baseman Mike Schmidt drove in two runs to give the Phillies a 4-1 victory. Finally, after 97 long years, the Philadelphia Phillies were world champions. The Vet rocked in exuberance that magical Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were relevant again, having spent a decade and a half toiling in despair, coach Dick Vermeil built the team in his likeness. As a group of grinders, they pounded their way through their schedule, finally reaching the playoffs in 1978 and again in 1979. Still, they had yet to slay their biggest nemesis: the Dallas Cowboys.

From the moment he was hired in 1976, Vermeil constantly preached to his team just how great the Cowboys were and how their main goal of the season was to beat them any chance they got.

In 1980, the Eagles earned the top seed in the playoffs and hosted the NFC Championship Game where they met the Cowboys for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The crowd was abuzz that day and the Vet roared its approval when Wilbert Montgomery rumbled for a 42-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. Even though the Cowboys tied the game in the second quarter, the momentum never left the Eagles as they stifled America's Team that day, winning 20-7 to stamp their ticket to the Super Bowl where they would lose to the Oakland Raiders two weeks later.

In 1983, the USFL opened for business. While the spring league football establishment vied to compete with the NFL, the Philadelphia Stars became the preeminent franchise in the short-lived league, playing in Veterans Stadium on days that the Phillies were not using the building. Led by future NFL stars Sam Mills, Sean Landeta and Bart Oates as well as longtime NFL coach Jim Mora, the Stars won each of the USFL's championships in 1983 and 1984 before the league went out of business in 1985.

One of the USFL's brightest stars was defensive lineman Reggie White. Known as "the Minister of Defense", the ordained minister made the Vet his cathedral from 1985 through 1992. During that stretch, he led one of the NFL's stingiest defenses as he twice led the league in sacks, was named First-Team All-Pro five times and named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 after registering an incredible 21 sacks in a 12 game strike-shortened season.

While the Eagles were led by Reggie White and his counterpart Jerome Brown on defense, on offense they were led by the multi-talented quarterback Randall Cunningham. As one of the most naturally gifted quarterbacks in NFL history, Cunningham stunned audiences all over the league with his natural arm strength and smooth running style, his long legs turning faster and faster the farther he got from the defense.

But despite all of this incredible talent, the Eagles could only win a single playoff game in the Reggie White era. When Jerome Brown died in a car crash in 1992, Reggie White left for Green Bay in free agency in 1993 and Randall Cunningham briefly retired after 1995, it became clear to all that the Eagles' luck was as hard as their playing surface.

Throughout its lifetime, Veterans Stadium endured very few changes. In 1985 and 1987 luxury suites were added atop the stadium. Just before the start of the 1996 baseball season, all multicolored seats were replaced by newer blue ones to give the stadium a less retro look.

Over the years, the stadium's operators had tried again and again in vain to come up with a solution for their notorious turf problem. It didn't matter that they replaced it six different times, nothing worked as players were constantly brutalized the moment they hit the rock-hard surface. The crowd didn't seem to mind though. They even cheered when Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin suffered a career ending neck injury. That level of cruelty only added to the Vet's mystique.

In the summer of 2001, it all came to a boiling point when Ravens coach Brian Billick stepped on a gap in the surface. Noting how dangerous that would be for his team, the preseason game was cancelled. Some of the 45,000 in attendance took their frustrations out on the will-call windows outside the stadium and chaos soon erupted.

At day's end, six had been arrested. To make matters worse, the press elevator got stuck between the fist and second levels during a press conference. While no one was hurt, 18 people were forced to wait in cramped quarters for 41 minutes until they were rescued. It was the last straw and it was clear to all that the Vet's days were numbered.

The Final Countdown

The Eagles had their shot and they blew it. Down by 10 with less than four minutes to go, quarterback Donovan McNabb threw a pass to Antonio Freeman that was picked off by Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber. As the great defensive back dashed 92 yards towards the end zone, the crowd at the Vet grew deathly quiet. They had had the NFC championship within their grasp in the last game the Eagles would ever play in their old home before moving to Lincoln Financial Field the following fall, only to see all their hopes and dreams vanish into thin air. You didn't have to listen too closely to hear Barber's footsteps prancing on the hard surface of the Vet that night.

All through the spring and into the summer, bands such as Metallica, Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones and NYSYNC made sure to pay their respects to the old fortress before it came tumbling down after the 2003 baseball season.

The Phillies played their last game at Veterans Stadium on September 28, 2003, losing to Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves 5-2 in front of 58,554 bleary-eyed fans. Veterans Stadium was demolished on March 21, 2004. Today, it serves as a parking lot for the nearby Phillies, Eagles and 76ers arenas, stadiums and ballparks in the vast Philadelphia sports complex.

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Veterans Stadium

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