BAKER BOWL (1895-1938) ********************** HOME OF THE: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES This home-made ball park has been created for use with Diamond Mind Baseball v8. The dimensions and image are to depict the stadium as it looked in 1924. LFL L LFG C RFG R RFL *** *** *** *** *** *** *** DISTANCE: 341 360 380 408 340 315 280 HEIGHT: 5 5 5 40 40 40 40 1924 PARK FACTORS ***************** LEFT HANDED BATTERS RIGHT HANDED BATTERS ******************* ******************** S D T HR S D T HR *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 100 110 110 226 102 104 104 214 SURFACE: Natural Grass FOUL TERRITORY: Small An imposing wall and screen 40 feet high (raised to 60 feet in 1929), ran from the center-field clubhouse to the right-field foul line, comparable to Fenway's Green Monster. Anything hit off the wall or screen remained in play. Because of the cozy right-field wall and the inviting right-center power alley, Baker Bowl was often described as "tiny" and was frequently laughed at as a "cigar box" or "band box." Indeed, the first game ever played here gave a preview of what was to come, as 29 runs were scored as the Phillies clobbered the visting New York Giants, 19-10. Because of the Baker Bowl's small confines some of the hitting achievements that took place here were never fully appreciated. Longtime Philly, left-handed hitting outfielder Chuck Klein, for instance, batted an extraordinary .359 during his six prime years with the Phillies (1928-1933), during which time he lead the league in hits and doubles twice, and in home runs 4 times. Nevertheless, because Klein played half his games at Baker Bowl, skepticism over the significance of his numbers kept him from election to the Hall of Fame until 1980. However small the park was, it's cozy confines didn't seem to affect, Grover Cleveland Alexander. Old "Pete" as he was commonly known, was a right-hander who toiled for years, in a ball park that was designed for the pleasure of left-handed hitters. In a stellar 20 year career Alexander won 373 games. He was at his most dominant from 1915 to 1917, winning 31, 33, and 30 games respectfully. In 1916 Alexander tossed 16 shutouts, an amazing total which still remains as a record to this day, and 9 of those shutouts came at Baker Bowl. It was on May the 30th, 1935, that Babe Ruth, now a Boston Brave, grounded out to first base in the first inning of the first game of a Memorial Day doubleheader against the Phillies. The forty-year-old Bambino then removed himself from the lineup and never graced the playing fields again. The above comments are from the book: "Lost Ballparks - A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields," by Lawrence S. Ritter. *************************************** THE BAKER BOWL IS FROM THE CREATORS OF: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Baseball's Analytical Search Engine +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tdmilne Ron Gudykunst - ronlg@aol.com Tom Milne - tdmilne@compuserve.com