The City Series was the name of a series of intracity baseball games played between Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Athletics of the American League and its predecessors, and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League that ran from 1883 through 1954. While the games were officially exhibitions, they were a matter of prestige in Philadelphia and a long rivalry existed between the players, management, and fans.
The Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955 which ended the Philadelphia City Series rivalry. Contemporary fans, along with the Phillies and Athletics franchises, have recognized and celebrated their shared history in different commemorations.
1883–1890
As early as 1887, the preseason series between the "Athletic and Philadelphia Clubs" had been recognized as an annual institution dating to 1875.[1]
The Phillies and Eastern LeaguePhiladelphia Athletics met for the local championship in 1892 at Philadelphia Ball Park where both teams played their home games.[3]
1903–1938
The American League was established in 1901 and the Philadelphia Athletics were founding member and immediately rivaled the Phillies for city fans. The two teams did not play each other in 1901 and 1902 due to legal warring between the National League and American League.
The rivalry between the Phillies and American League Athletics started with the establishment of the American League in 1901. Superstar Nap Lajoie had played for several years on the Phillies, but was displeased with the salary cap of $2,400 placed by the National League. When the Athletics were established, Lajoie quit the Phillies and signed with the A's. In response, the Phillies filed an injunction lawsuit preventing Lajoie from playing on any other team. The case was ruled that Lajoie was barred from playing in Pennsylvania and Lajoie was sent to the Cleveland Bluebirds due to the financial assistance Cleveland had provided for the A's early on. In 1903, the injunction was dropped when the NL and AL made peace. Lajoie went on to have an outstanding Hall of Fame career. Eventually, he did return to the A's at the twilight of his career.
April 1906 "Local Champion Series" games at Philadelphia Athletics' Columbia Park
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted, "For the first time in thirteen years two local teams, representing rival base ball organizations, will come together in a friendly struggle for supremacy of the Quaker City." The Athletics had won the 1902 American League pennant, the Phillies had been newly acquired by John Rogers in February 1903, and interest was high.[4]
Prior to the start of the series, the Athletics players threatened not to play unless they were paid a percentage of the gate receipts. Connie Mack refused his players on the grounds that while their contracts stipulated they receive gate receipts from mid-season exhibition games, the games against the Phillies would be prior to the start of the official season and unpaid exhibition games as much as any preseason contest.[5]
The first City Series game between the American League Athletics and Phillies was played on Monday, April 6, 1903 at Columbia Park. The Phillies' Fred Mitchell beat the Athletics' Rube Waddell 2 to 0 in 10-innings in front of 6,543 fans.[6]
The Phillies and A's would play both a spring and fall series in 1903. The Phillies took four of five games in the spring.
With Baker Bowl in disrepair following the collapse of a section of bleachers on August 8, 1903, all of the post-season games were played at Columbia Park. The A's won four of the seven games.[7]
In 1905, the A's and Phillies only played the spring series as the A's were in the 1905 World Series against the New York Giants. The two teams played eight games between April 1 and April 12, 1905, alternating games between the A's Columbia Park and the Phillies' Philadelphia Park. The teams split the 1905 series four games to four.[8]
Seven games were scheduled for April 1909. Shibe Park was being completed for its grand-opening so the Phils and A's played the entire series at the Phillies' Baker Bowl. The teams played six games with the Phillies winning five.[9]
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 1911
Phillies Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander made his Philadelphia debut during the pre-season 1911 Series. Alexander pitched five-innings of no-hit no-run baseball. He would make his official Major League debut on April 15, 1911.[10]
The relationship between the Athletics and Phillies was severed in 1915, and the teams chose not to meet in 1916 or 1917. They agreed to play one game in April 1918 at National League Park as a benefit to the family of respected sportswriter Billy Weart who had died at age 46 in December 1917.[11] Wert had grown up in Philadelphia, and risen to be secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The game was postponed by weather to July 18, 1918, with the gate receipts benefiting Weart's family.[12] The Phillie and Athletic would return to play a five game series in April 1919.
William Baker, Phillies owner from 1913 until 1930, had declared that only games played in Philadelphia counted in the City Series, and would not include spring training meetings in the standings which he considered practice games. This practice continued even after Baker's death in 1930.[13]
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 1932[14] and in 1937 that the winner of the City Series was awarded the Harry A. Mackey cup, named for Harry Mackey, mayor of Philadelphia from 1928 to 1931, and a former college athlete.[15]
1938–1954
In 1939, the Series was played for the Judge Harry S. McDevitt trophy, named for a Philadelphia common pleas court judge active in Philadelphia sports.[16]
From 1948 through 1954, the Athletics and Phillies played a mid-season exhibition game for the benefit of the Junior Baseball Federation of Philadelphia. The proceeds from the game were distributed for the benefit of amateur baseball to the city's Police Athletic League, Department of Recreation, Fairmount Park, American Legion, and the Sandlot Sports Association.[17]
The winner of the Series in 1949, the Athletics, were awarded the Ellis A. Gimbel Trophy, named for a member of the Gimbel family.[18]
The 1950 series was planned for three games prior to Opening Day. Snow flurries and cold weather caused the cancellation of the first game. The Athletics beat the Phillies 7–4 in the first game and the Phillies won the following game 11–2.[19]
The Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics played their final game against each other on June 28, 1954 at their shared ballpark renamed Connie Mack Stadium before the 1953 season.[20] The Phillies beat the Athletics 3–2 in front of 15,993 fans.[21]
1955–1967
The Athletics moved to Kansas City prior to the 1955 season. The A's, now based in Kansas City, traveled to Philadelphia at the end of spring training to play pre-season exhibitions against the Phillies. The A's beat the Phillies in the second game, 10–2, at Wilmington Park, home of the original Wilmington Blue Rocks.[22]
The Athletics continued to hold spring training in Florida through 1968 in West Palm Beach and then Bradenton which meant the franchises continued to face each other in Florida in spring training. The Athletics moved to Oakland after the 1967 season and two teams played each other in spring training for the last time in 1968.[23]
Contemporary Legacy
The Phillies continued to play at Connie Mack Stadium through 1970 and moved to Veterans Stadium in 1971. In 1978 the Phillies created the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame through which they honored a great Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics player on an annual basis at Veterans Stadium.[24]
Veterans Stadium closed after the 2003 season and the Phillies moved only the Phillies wall plaques to Citizens Bank Park[25] In March 2004, the Athletics' plaques were relocated to the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, and a single plaque listing all of the A's inductees was attached to the statue of Connie Mack located across the street from Citizens Bank Park.[26]
The Athletics played the Phillies for the first time in interleague play in June 2003 at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies invited former A's Eddie Joost and Gus Zernial to the games. Connie Mack's daughter Ruth Mack Clark attended the first game. Former Florida U.S. Senator Connie Mack III, Mack's grandson, threw out the first ball.[27]
The Phillies played the Athletics in Oakland in June 2005. The A's invited Eddie Joost to throw out the first pitch before the series opening game on June 17, 2005.[28]
In 2011 the Athletics visited the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park for an interleague series in which the Phillies took two out of three games.
The Phillies and Athletics were scheduled to have played a three game series at Citizens Bank Park June 12–14, 2020 and the Phillies planned a "1920s City Series Retro Night" for June 12.[29] The series was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic that shortened the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
The Athletics visited the Phillies for both teams opening series in 2022, with the Phillies winning two out of three games. Due to a rules change before the start of the 2023 season, the Athletics will come to Philadelphia every other year.
The Athletics are an American professional baseball team based in West Sacramento, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team will play its home games at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the 2025–2027 seasons before its permanent move to Las Vegas. While in West Sacramento, the team is being referred to as simply the "Athletics" and "A's", with no city name attached. The franchise's nine World Series championships, fifteen pennants, and seventeen division titles are the second-most in the AL after the New York Yankees.
Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). 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.
Napoléon"Nap"Lajoie, also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "the Frenchman", he represented both Philadelphia franchises and the Cleveland Naps, the latter of which he became the namesake of, and from 1905 through 1909, the player-manager.
National League Park, commonly referred to as the Baker Bowl after 1923, was a baseball stadium home to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1887 until 1938, and the first home field of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1933 to 1935. It opened in 1887 with a capacity of 12,500. It burned down in 1894 and was rebuilt in 1895 as the first ballpark constructed primarily of steel and brick and with a cantilevered upper deck.
Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball park in Philadelphia. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the Philadelphia Athletics, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the 1905 World Series.
The Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame, officially known as the Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame for sponsorship reasons, is an exhibit located at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The exhibit is a collection of plaques that honor players and personnel who made significant contributions to the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Each person inducted into the Wall of Fame is honored with a metal plaque showing the person's face, their position with and years of service to the team, along with a summary of the person's notable accolades and contributions during their career. As of 2023, the Phillies have inducted 47 people into the Wall of Fame.
The 1905 Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the American League with a record of 92 wins and 56 losses, winning their second pennant. They went on to face the New York Giants in the 1905 World Series, losing 4 games to 1.
The 1904 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the Athletics finishing fifth in the American League with a record of 81 wins and 70 losses.
The 1903 Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 75 wins and 60 losses, 14½ games behind the Boston Americans.
The 1901 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing fourth in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 62 losses. The franchise that would become the modern Athletics originated in 1901 as a new franchise in the American League.
The 1902 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished seventh in the National League with a record of 56–81, 46 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1903 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished seventh in the National League with a record of 49–86, 39+1⁄2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1905 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in Major League Baseball. The Phillies finished fourth in the National League with a record of 83 wins and 69 losses.
In the 1906 Major League Baseball season, the Philadelphia Phillies finished fourth in the National League with a record of 71 wins and 82 losses.
The 1908 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in Major League Baseball. The Phillies finished fourth in the National League with a record of 83 wins and 71 losses.
The 1929 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1929. The regular season ended on October 6, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 26th World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 5 on October 14. The Athletics defeated the Cubs, four games to one.
Stanwood Fulton Baumgartner was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who became a longtime sportswriter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in Houston and raised in Chicago, Baumgartner played for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1914 to 1916 and from 1921 through early 1922. Then he played for Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1924 to 1926. In all, he worked in 143 major league games and won 26 of 47 decisions, for a winning percentage of .553.
The Philadelphia Athletics was a professional American football team based in Philadelphia in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection to the National Football League of today. The "league" comprised a mixture of curious baseball and football players. During the league's only year in existence, two of the three teams were financed by the owners of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies baseball clubs, hence the names Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies. The Pittsburgh Stars made up the third team and were suspected of being financed by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
The first National Football League (NFL) was the first attempt at forming a national professional American football league in 1902. This league has no ties with the modern National Football League. In fact the league was only composed of teams from Pennsylvania, which meant it was actually regional, despite having locations in the two largest cities in Pennsylvania. Two of the teams were based in Philadelphia, while the third was based in Pittsburgh. This NFL was a curious mixture of football players and baseball players who adapted to playing football. Future Baseball Hall of Famer Rube Waddell was with the Philadelphia Athletics, and pitcher Christy Mathewson a fullback for Pittsburgh. Two of the three teams were owned by the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics, with the third team suspected of being owned by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The league folded after the 1902 season.
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland Athletics. Beginning in 2025 they will temporarily play in Sacramento, California, and plan to relocate to Las Vegas permanently in 2028.
References
↑ "The National Game: Opening of the Athletic-Philadelphia Series To-Day". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Inquirer. April 4, 1887. p.2.
↑ "Meet in Benefit Game; Phillies and Athletics to Play Heart Memorial Contest". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 11, 1918. p.12.
↑ Nasium, Jim (July 19, 1918). "Athletics Win City Championship By Defeating Phillies 1 to 0". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p.12.
↑ "Mackian Facts". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 18, 1932. p.14.
↑ Isaminger, James C. (April 8, 1932). "Series' Shots". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p.20.
↑ Isaminger, James C. (April 15, 1937). "A's Top Phils 4-2; Take City Title". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p.21.
↑ Baumgartner, Stan (April 17, 1939). "A's Take Title, Beat Phils, 6-2; 5-Run Spurt in 1st Nets Macks Victory". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p.21.
↑ "Phillies, Twins Benefit Game Set Here Aug. 1". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 28, 1961. p.32.
↑ Baumbartner, Stan (April 18, 1949). "A's Defeat Phils, 5-2, Capture City Series". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p.25.
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