Clearwater Athletic Field – The Phillies First Clearwater Home

Clearwater Athletic Field was located near the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seminole Street in Clearwater, Florida. It hosted major league spring training for over 30 years, from 1923 to 1954. The Brooklyn Dodgers first occupied the ballpark from 1923 to 1932, having previously trained at J.P. Small Memorial Park in Jacksonville, Florida. The Dodgers departed Clearwater…

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Jack Russell Stadium – The Phillies’ Second Clearwater Home

Jack Russell Stadium is located at 800 Phillies Drive in Clearwater, Florida. For almost 50 years it was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Constructed in 1954, the ballpark opened in 1955 when the Phillies moved their spring training home two blocks west from Clearwater Athletic Field. The Phillies had held their spring training…

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Waterfront Park/Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, Florida

Professional baseball first came to St. Petersburg, Florida, as early as 1908 when the then- independent St. Paul Saints played an exhibition game against the National League Cincinnati Reds. In 1914, businessman and future mayor Al Lang convinced the St. Louis Browns to come to St. Petersburg and train at Sunshine Park – also known…

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D.C. Stadium – RFK Stadium

RFK Stadium is located at 2400 East Capitol Street in southeast Washington, D.C. The stadium was home to the American League Washington Senators starting in 1962. Known then as D.C. Stadium, in 1969 the ballpark was renamed in memory of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Senators played at RFK through the 1971 season, when the franchise…

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The Vet – Veterans Stadium

Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia was home to the National League Phillies from 1971 until 2003. The stadium was part of a larger sports complex located south of downtown Philadelphia adjacent to Interstate 95 at Broad Street. The only sports venue still standing in the postcard pictured above is the Spectrum, which was once home to…

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Shibe Park and the Church of Baseball

Shibe Park (later known as Connie Mack Stadium) was home to both the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics and was located three miles north of Center City Philadephia and only five blocks west of the Baker Bowl. Although the ballpark was demolished decades ago, a state historical marker now marks the spot. The Deliverance Evangelistic…

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Baker Bowl

The Philadelphia Phillies called the Baker Bowl their home from 1887 to 1938. Demolished a decade later, nothing now remains of the ballpark, although a state historical marker notes its former location. Some of the buildings surrounding the site from that era do help provide perspective of how the ballpark once fit into the neighborhood.…

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