I must start today’s (or yesterday’s rather) post with an apology. Due to my parental responsibilities, the fact that place I was had no WiFi connections available, and the fact that my cell has very limited internet capabilities, I could not do yesterday’s post. I hope to atleast remedy the cell phone issue so that I can atleast make updates on the fly in the future. So with out further delay, a belated CtOD: 40 Days edition.
With 40 Days until the big day, let’s do some time traveling. So jump in your AMC DeLorean equipped with Brown Industries patented flux capacitor. 40 years ago, Phillies fans were excited for the season. Obviously not for the same reason that we are today, but because it marked the beginning of an era. On April 4th, 1971, Veterans Stadium opened.
Veterans Stadium, or The Vet, was a cookie cutter multi-use stadium as we all know. Many stadiums around the league were very similar in design and usage. Cincinatti and Pittsburgh are both prime examples of this. The architect behind the Vet was Hugh Stubbins & Associates. It was built by McCloskey & Co. and it was owned by the City of Philadelphia. For 32 seasons, the Vet housed both are beloved Phillies and the Eagles. It roughly held 3,000 less fans for the Phillies (62,382) than it did for the Birds (65,356). The total cost of building the Vet was 50 million dollars, which at the time was the most expensively built ballparks to date.
The Vet replaced Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium after 62 years of loyal service to both the Phillies and the A’s. It had the largest seating capacity in the National League until the expansion Rockies used Mile High Stadium in Denver temporarily until Coors Field was completed. In 1994, the Phillies took over managment control of the Vet from the City, which led to the Vet suffering from mismanagement and disrepair outside the replacement of seats and and a new out of town scoreboard.
The Vet saw 3 season where the Phillies had won the National League pennant (1980, 1983, and 1993) and 2 All Star Game venues (1976 and 1996) and one World Championship (1980). Most impressively would have been the fact that one man called the play by play for every game in the existence of Veterans Stadium. We all know and love and cherish the memory of Harry Kalas, as he was the soundtrack for our summers through good times and bad.
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