MLB Power Rankings: Top 30 stadiums of all time

19. Shibe Park

• Year Opened: 1909
• Year Demolished: 1976
• Capacity: 33,000
• Defining Features: French Renaissance design, A’s cartouches, terra cotta sculptures, copper roof,

The home of the great Connie Mack and the Philadelphia A’s, Shibe Park had some of the more unique adornments ever seen on a baseball stadium, and perhaps will never be equaled in terms of creativity and design. It was the first stadium to be constructed out of reinforced concrete, and was built by the same company that designed Philadelphia’s first skyscraper.

The backstory to the construction of Shibe Park is quite interesting. Athletics owner Ben Shibe had to buy up undeveloped land in a primitive area of Philadelphia, where few public streets had been constructed. He was able to learn that a hospital that had been used for smallpox patients was about to close, which would bring development to that part of town. Shibe began sneakily buying up parcels of cheap land, keeping his intentions to build a stadium hidden so as to keep the price down.

When Shibe Park was eventually constructed, it was a spectacle of Renaissance architecture, with arches, vaultings, and pillars making up the facade. The grandstand was built out of brick, and was adorned with terra cotta sculptures with baseball themes. Above each entrance, the Athletics logo was elaborately attached in a cartouche. Giant busts of Shibe and Mack looked over the main entrances.

The Shibe and Mack families would continuously attempt to expand the stadium and increase capacity. Different additions were made almost every few years, and the original look of the stadium was not preserved. Bad business dealings put the A’s franchise into financial difficulties, and they eventually left for Kansas City after Mack’s death. The Phillies played at Shibe Park for several years, but eventually left for their own park. Shibe Park did not age as gracefully as it could have, but it started off with a bang.