The following is from Ocean City Public Relations Director Mark Soifer:
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Phillies winning their first National League pennant. I know this is true because Bob Warrington told me so. Bob is a nationally recognized historian, author and long-time collector of artifacts related to the Phillies and former Philadelphia Athletics baseball teams.
He has been published in many national baseball periodicals. His most recent article about the Phillies appeared in the Society for American Baseball Research Magazine. Yep, baseball is a well-documented sport.
Bob saw the notice about the Old Year’s celebration we are currently organizing with the Ocean City Historical Museum and Ocean City Free Public Library. And because he visits Ocean City and admires our interest in preserving the past, he has made us an offer we cannot refuse. And that’s to come here on February 21 to talk about the Phillies’ spring training program of 1915, the year they won the pennant.
Bob recently presented displays on this subject at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Banquet and the Baseball Research Association’s Connie Mack Chapter meeting. Both were very well received.
Warrington will describe how the Phillies 1915 spring training experience in St. Petersburg, Fla. differed sharply from spring training today, on the baseball diamond and off. Some colorful events included confrontation with a British war ship (the team traveled to Florida by boat), hiding Phillies players from a lynch mob, members almost drowning in a major storm, player holdouts, terrible food, leisure-time “high jinks” and the strict discipline imposed by new manager Pat Moran.
A series of photos taken during spring training in St. Petersburg a century ago will be shown. And you are invited to have your photo taken holding a bat used by the Phillies 1915 first baseman Fred Luderus. Other Phillies artifacts from that season will be displayed.
The star pitcher of the pennant winning team was the legendary Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander, affectionately known as “Old Pete.” His record was 30 wins and 10 losses that year. This was in an era before relief pitchers and ninth-inning closers became common. Old Pete won an astonishing 373 games during his playing days, exactly the same number as the great Christy Mathewson.
Warrington’s presentation is set for 1 p.m. at the Community Center’s Christopher Maloney Auditorium on Feb. 21. Admission is free.
I have some special memories of the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics games played in the late ’40s and early ’50s when both teams shared Shibe Park. I was brought up in Chester, Pa. 20 miles from Philadelphia. A bunch of us kids would take the train to Philly, the subway to Lehigh Ave. and then walk to Shibe Park past the boarded up Baker Bowl, the original home of the Phillies. We would never go to a single game, it had to be a doubleheader.
We saw Connie Mack direct his team in a business suit from the dugout, Hank Greenberg hit a home run that banged off the left field roof and Joe DiMaggio line one into the leftfield bleachers. It was a lifetime thrill to meet Joe DiMaggio when he was grand marshal of the Ocean City Baby Parade in 1983.
