Where have you gone...Connie Mack???
By: C.G. Morelli
Connie Mack said a lot of things during his career. Of course, it’s easy to say a lot when your career as a manager spans half a century. He once said, “Humanity is the keystone that holds nations and men together. When that collapses, the whole structure crumbles. This is as true of baseball teams as any other pursuit in life.” This perhaps recalls the image of the “Tall Tactician,” a man whose impeccable values and fatherly overtones produced much veneration for him from his arrival in Philadelphia in 1900, to his departure in 1950.
When all was said and done, Mack had compiled 3,731 wins with the Athletics, the most for a manager in baseball history, besting John McGraw by over 1,000 wins. His teams won the World Series five times in that stretch, and the AL title nine times. Ironically, Mack also racked up 3,948 losses during his tenure as the A’s manager. This total is also, far and away, the worst in baseball history. Mack’s teams actually finished in last place 17 times with him at the helm. I guess it’s fitting that the most successful losing manager of all time would also coin the phrase, “You can’t win them all.”
In fact, even with his staggering total of victories and irreplaceable impact on the game, Mack would be the first to tell you that he wasn’t the quintessential baseball skipper. For that title, he’d have to tab one of his contemporaries during the early part of the century. “There has only been one manager,” he said, “And his name is John McGraw.”
But, in Philly, he was more than quintessential. He WAS the Philadelphia Athletics. Even after a dismal final season in 1950, where his team finished an embarrassing 52-102 to claim last place for the 10th time in 16 seasons, he was still the man. His departure, in the eyes of many, spelled the beginning of the end for his A’s in Philly. Even with the loveable Jimmy Dykes taking Mack’s role, and with the team improving to a 6th place finish in 1951, attendance plummeted and continued to do so for the next few years until the A’s were sent packing to Kansas City in 1954. Mack passed away two years later, after spending 66 years in baseball as a player and manager.
“Any minute, any day, some player may break a long standing record,” he said, “That’s one of the fascinations about the game, the unexpected surprises.”
Only problem was that the Philadelphia A’s were never prepared, no matter how inevitable it was, for the surprise of Mack’s departure. And they would never recover.
At the Gate: Declining Attendance at Shibe Park
In the late 40’s and early 50’s, some of the two-team cities in the league began to see a steep drop off in attendance. This was the case in Philadelphia, where the American League Athletics shared Shibe Park with their National League counterparts, the Phillies. Their problems were compounded in 1951.
The Phillies, who had just won the NL crown at 91-63 and lost to the Yankees in the World Series a season before, dropped to 5th place and a disappointing 73-81. Attendance fell from 1,217,035 (for the Phillies first 1st place finish since 1915 and their last until 1976) to just 937,658, fifth among NL clubs (and a spot they seemed more comfortable in over the years).
The Athletics did not fare any better. Despite finishing 70-84, they landed way back in 6th place in the talented American League. Lack of interest in the A’s after the departure of Connie Mack led to a mere 465,469 fans at the gate.
In total, the two Philadelphia franchises welcomed 1,403,127 fans through the gates at Shibe Park in 1951. That very same year, the Yankees pulled in 1,950,107 screaming fans alone. It’s hard to doubt that Philadelphia’s attendance problem spelled the beginning of the end for the Athletics, who were sent packing to Kansas City only a few years later.
Richie Ashburn: Breakout Season #2?
By: C.G. Morelli
Twenty-nine home runs in a 14-year career? Is that it? Well, no. Not by a long shot. If there was one thing Richie Ashburn didn’t do too much (hit a lot of homers), there were a million things he did quite often (steal bases relentlessly, hit for average, drive in runs, range-rove the outfield, snap a witty one-liner).
Legendary Phillies announcer, Harry Kalas, once said of him, “Anybody who ever saw him play loves him because he was a bust tail player who hated to lose.” This was true of Ashburn right out of the chute, as he busted tail in his rookie campaign of 1948 to the tune of a .333 batting average with 154 hits, 17 doubles, and a whopping 32 stolen bases. He was the only rookie elected to the NL All-Star team that season.
Many point to this rookie campaign as Ashburn’s breakout season, so to speak. And who could argue with that logic? Certainly not me. Whitey had put together a truly remarkable season as a rookie, and his passion for winning definitely shined through over the next two seasons as the Phillies found themselves in the series in 1950. But let me introduce you to breakout season number two…Richie’s 1951 campaign.
After a two year absence from the NL All-Star team, the young veteran went back into “bust-tail” mode and put together a season that solidified his hero status in a very tough sports town. Whitey provided, perhaps, the only spark to an otherwise dismal Phillies’ season. He smacked a career-high 221 hits, while batting .344 (second in all of baseball, only to Stan Musial’s .351), and he had 31 doubles, many of them created by sheer hustle. Added to that were his 29 stolen bases and 63 RBI as a leadoff man. He only hit four home runs, but the Phils were more than willing to look past that. It was clear, after the ’51 season, that Whitey would be keeping his Philadelphia address for quite some time to come.
Hometown Ballparks: Reading Municipal Stadium
By: C.G. Morelli
If you hop on the PA Turnpike in Philadelphia, and head north for about an hour, you’ll probably run right into what I’d consider a quaint, Pennsylvania Dutch city known as Reading. Of course, if you’ve ever played Monopoly, you may have also tried to build your fortunes by buying the Reading Railroad. Yep, same place.
I’ll admit that there aren’t too many attractions in Reading, so don’t pack up the family and put in for vacation time just yet. But, the one thing this city does have is a gem of a ballpark and a great atmosphere, amidst a backdrop of lazy foothills, for minor league baseball.
It was in 1951, that the last few bricks were mortared into place in the façade of Reading Municipal Stadium. It was originally used for conventions, fairs, and municipal celebrations, but in 1964, the Phillies moved their AA affiliate team, the Reading Phillies, into its bricked walls. The natives of Reading took to their team immediately, charging the ballpark with an electricity that you’d normally find in major league surroundings.
If you’re a minor league baseball enthusiast, Reading Municipal Stadium is a must-see…kind of a Mecca in the middle of the Pennsylvania cornfields. Now called First Energy Park, there have been a few modifications to the original structure but with the same charm. You still couldn’t find a bad seat in that place if you tried (I dare you to look), and you still might find yourself out in the parking lot with a throng of Phillies fans waiting for a 37-car train from the original Reading Railroad to pass before you can cross the street and enter the park (I’m serious about this). Or, you might park the kids in the swimming pool that literally borders the back of the right field fence and has become somewhat of a magnet for waterlogged home run balls.
The park was actually named one of the best places in the country to watch a minor league game. One thing’s for sure, Old Reading Municipal (First Energy Park), offers a charm that you can’t find at just any ballpark these days. If you see a game there, you’ll know what I mean.
Who Said That??
"A good leadoff hitter is a pain in the ass to pitchers."
--Richie Ashburn
"Connie entered professional baseball when it was a game for roughnecks. He saw it become respectable, he lived to be a symbol of its integrity, and he enjoyed every minute of it."
--Red Smith
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