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The Philadelphia Phillies planned to open the 1970 season at the new Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia but site delays forced the club to open its home schedule at the oldest ballpark in the major leagues, 61-year-old Connie Mack Stadium, on April 6, 1970. A crowd of 15,918 attended the home opener between the Phillies […]

The Philadelphia Phillies could not have picked a better day for a batting-helmet giveaway than Sunday, August 3, 1969. The 13,181 in attendance at Connie Mack Stadium witnessed one of the highest-scoring games in the ballpark’s fabled history and, unbeknownst to them, the birth of the Cincinnati Reds’ fabled Big Red Machine. The 1968 season […]

George Culver was feeling sick. “I had an upset stomach,” said the 25-year-old right-hander in his first season with the Cincinnati Reds. “I felt lousy, real weak and listless.”1 Not only bothered by nausea and a loss of appetite, the converted reliever suffered from a terribly ingrown toenail. I had to get a shot of […]

The names Ed Spiezio, Steve Huntz, Dave Ricketts, and Eddie Bressoud dotting manager Red Schoendienst’s lineup on September 20, 1967, at Connie Mack Stadium were not typical ones for the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, the men whom the strange platoon was replacing – Brock, Javier, McCarver, Maxvill, and others – had already completed their work. […]

Cincinnati arrived in Philadelphia on a five-game winning streak. After losing the first game of their four-game series with the Phillies, the Reds had won the next two and were hoping to continue their winning streak in the final game of the series. The Phillies were already 9½ games behind the Reds and were struggling […]

“This was the best I’ve put all my pitches together this season,” said Jim Bunning of his overpowering victory over the Cincinnati Reds.1 In what Philadelphia Phillies beat writer Allen Lewis described as a “dandy display of power pitching,” Bunning matched his personal high with 14 strikeouts to win his eighth straight decision, equaling his […]

It had been a terrible week for the Philadelphia Phillies. On Sunday, September 20, after beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3-2, the Phillies had a 6½-game lead over their closest pursuers for the National League pennant, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. After that win, the Phillies returned to Philadelphia and Connie […]

Arm’s length. The Philadelphia Phillies had held the rest of the NL at arm’s length for the better part of two months, maintaining a cushion over their rivals that made clinching the 1964 pennant seem only a matter of time. It wasn’t. On Wednesday, September 9, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for five runs in […]

Part of the beauty of baseball is just how unpredictable the national pastime really is. No matter what the standings show, or what the prospects for a particular team are, on any given day at the ballpark, there is a chance that you might see something you’ve never seen before. That was certainly the case […]

The Philadelphia Phillies were finally mounting a rally against Mike McCormick and the San Francisco Giants. Trailing 4-0, they had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the sixth with the heart of their order due to bat. Then the rain came. It was a “torrential downpour,” accompanied by thunder and lightning, […]