Closing down Baker Bowl

The final game at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Phillies play their final game at antiquated Baker Bowl 86 years ago today and, as the Phillies often do back then, lose 14-1 to the New York Giants on a Thursday afternoon in North Philly.

Approximately 1,500 fans – and 17,300 empty seats – watch the final game before the Phillies permanently move seven blocks away to the Philadelphia Athletics’ home at Shibe Park.

The last hit at Baker Bowl comes on a double by the Phillies’ Pinky Whitney with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Naturally, the 16-41 and last-place Phillies strand Whitney on base when New York pitcher Slick Castleman retires Cap Clark to end the game and, with it, Baker Bowl’s baseball history.

Baker Bowl, above, and Shibe Park

The Phillies then share Shibe Park – later renamed Connie Mack Stadium – with the Athletics until the A’s move to Kansas City following the 1954 season.

After the A’s bolt town, the Phillies become exclusive tenants of the 33,000-seat ballpark at the North Philly corner of 21st and Lehigh through the 1970 season before they move 10 miles to the South Philly corner of Broad and Pattison.

By then, the since-demolished Baker Bowl is a distant memory in Philadelphia, where the ballpark reopens in 1895 after a devastating fire in 1894.

The second incarnation of Baker Bowl is the first ballpark in the major leagues put together with brick, concrete and steel.