|
The Baker Bowl (also known as the Huntington Street Grounds, National League Park, The Hump, The Cigar Box, The Band Box and Philadelphia Park) was a baseball stadium that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the corner of W. Huntington and N. 15th St. The stadium was named after one-time Phillies owner William F. Baker.
The stadium, shoehorned into the Philadelphia city grid, acquired a number of nicknames over the years. The Hump referred to a hill in center field covering a partially submerged railroad tunnel in the street beyond right field that extended through into center field. The Cigar Box and The Band Box referred to the tiny size of the stadium. The right field wall was only 280 feet from home plate, and right-center only 300 feet away, but the fence was 60 feet high (by comparison, The Green Monster at Fenway Park is 37 feet tall), a rather difficult task to surmount.
Initially built in 1887, the stadium was renovated for the beginning of the 1904 season, but soon became prematurely decrepit, and often unsafe. A section of the balcony collapsed during a 1903 game, killing 12 and injuring 232. This led to the renovation of the stadium and forced the ownership to sell the team. During a May, 1927 game, 10 rows of the upper deck along the right field line collapsed onto the lower deck. Miraculously, no one died in the fall, but one individual did die in the subsequent stampede.
The fact that the Phillies rarely fielded competitive teams during the early 20th century did not help either. For many years, a huge advertising sign on the right field wall read "The Phillies Use Lifebuoy", which was a popular brand of soap. This, however, lead to the popular quip that "The Phillies use Lifebuoy, and they still stink."
The stadium was abandoned during the middle of the 1938 season, as the Phillies chose to share Shibe Park with the A's rather than remain at the Baker Bowl. The stadium was demolished in 1950, and a parking lot now stands on the site.
|
