On June 28, 1939, Yankees captain Lou Gehrig brought the lineup card out to the umpires for the second game of a double header at Shibe Park and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Gehrig’s last game had been on April 30th of that year. Making a rare journey out of the dugout, A’s manager Connie Mack joined the group a home plate to shake Gehrig’s hand.
After winning a record-tying (at that time) 16 consecutive games on the mound, Lynwood Thomas “Schoolboy” Rowe finally lost to the Athletics, 13-5, at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park on August 29, 1934. The Tigers’ right-hander’s mark tied the American League record for consecutive wins shared by Smoky Joe Wood, Walter Johnson, and Lefty Grove.
On May 12, 1910, Athletics right-hander Chief Bender threw a 4-0 no-hitter at Shibe Park against the Cleveland Naps (Indians). Bender issued just one walk, spoiling his shot at a perfect game.
The home plate umpire for the game was Bill Dinneen, who tossed a no-hit game of his own against the White Sox while playing with the Pilgrims (Red Sox) on September 27, 1905. This performance by Chief Bender made Dinneen the only person in big league history to both throw a no-hitter and call one as an umpire. Dinneen served as home plate umpire for five total no-hitters in his career as an umpire.
On February 13, 1953, the Philadelphia Athletics renamed their stadium from Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium, in honor of the legendary manager. During his fifty-year career as manager for the A’s, Mack led the team to nine American League pennants, appearing in eight World Series and winning five World Championships.
In a game against the Indians on June 15, 1925, the Philadelphia A’s found themselves trailing 15-4 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. That inning, the Athletics posted an astonishing 13 runs to take the lead. They held onto that lead in the top of the ninth and won the game, 17-15.
Full box score can be found here.
In his first-ever Major League start, Hank Gornicki of the Cardinals threw a one-hitter to defeat Philadelphia at Shibe Park, 6-1 on May 3, 1941. The thirty-year-old rookie gave up the lone hit to rookie outfielder Stanley Benjamin. Unfortunately, in spite of his impressive beginning, Gornicki would only go on to win fifteen games in his career.
The first legal, professional Sunday baseball game in Philadelphia featured a matchup between the Phillies and the A’s on April 8, 1934. 15,000 fans looked on as the Phillies won 8-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Up until this point, blue laws in Pennsylvania deemed Sunday games illegal, as Sunday was intended as a day of worship and rest.
On September 8, 1916, the smallest crowd in American League history, a whopping twenty-three fans, watched the Yankees take on the A’s at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. During the game, A’s switch-hitter Wally Schang became the first player in Major League history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game.
