Baker Bowl
| The Cigar Box The Band Box |
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| Former names | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds (1887–1895) National League Park (1895–1913, officially thereafter) |
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| Location | Home plate: N 15th St & W Huntingdon St, Philadelphia, PA 19132 United States |
| Coordinates | 39°59′35″N 75°9′21″W / 39.99306°N 75.15583°WCoordinates: 39°59′35″N 75°9′21″W / 39.99306°N 75.15583°W |
| Owner | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Operator | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Capacity | 12,500 (1887–1894) 18,000 (1895–1928) 20,000 (1929) 18,800 (1930–1938) |
| Field size |
Left Field – 341 ft (104 m) Center Field – 408 ft (124 m) Right-Center – 300 ft (91 m) Right Field – 280 ft (85 m) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | April 30, 1887 |
| Closed | June 30, 1938 |
| Demolished | 1950 |
| Construction cost | US$80,000 ($2.13 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | John D. Allen |
| Tenants | |
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Philadelphia Phillies (NL) (1887–1938) Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) (1933–1935) |
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| Designated | August 16, 2000 |
Baker Bowl is the best-known popular name of a baseball park that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its formal name, painted on its outer wall, was National League Park. It was also initially known as Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds / Park.
It was on a small city block bounded by N. Broad St., W. Huntingdon St., N. 15th St. and W. Lehigh Avenue.
The ballpark was initially built in 1887. It was constructed by Phillies owners AJ Reach and John Rogers. The ballpark cost $80,000 and had a capacity of 12,500. At that time the media praised it as state-of-the-art. In that dead-ball era, the outfield was enclosed by a relatively low wall all around. Center field was fairly close, with the railroad tracks running behind it. Later, the tracks were lowered and the field was extended over top of them. Bleachers were built in left field, and over time various extensions were added to the originally low right field wall, resulting in the famous 60-foot (18 m) fence.
The ballpark's second incarnation opened in 1895. It was notable for having the first cantilevered upper deck in a sports stadium, and was the first ballpark to use steel and brick for the majority of its construction. It also took the rule book literally, as the sweeping curve behind the plate was about 60 feet (18 m), and instead of angling back toward the foul lines, the 60-foot (18 m) wide foul ground extended all the way to the wall in right, and well down the left field line also. The spacious foul ground, while not fan-friendly, would have resulted in more foul-fly outs than in most parks, and thus was probably the park's one saving grace in the minds of otherwise-frustrated pitchers.
The most notable and talked-about feature of Baker Bowl was the right field wall, which was only some 280 feet (85 m) from home plate, with right-center only 300 feet (91.5 m) away, and with a wall-and-screen barrier that in its final form was 60 feet (18 m) high. By comparison, the Green Monster at Fenway Park is 37 feet (11 m) high and 310 feet (94 m) away. The Baker wall was a rather difficult task to surmount. The wall was an amalgam of different materials. It was originally a relatively normal-height masonry structure. When it became clear that it was too soft a home run touch, the barrier was extended upward using more masonry, wood, and a metal pipe-and-wire screen. The masonry in the lower part of the wall was extremely rough (writer Michael Benson termed it "the sort of surface that efficiently removes an outfielder's skin upon contact") and eventually a layer of tin was laid over the entire structure except for the upper part of the screen. The wall dominated the stadium in much the same way as the Green Monster does, only some 30 feet (9.1 m) closer to the diamond; and because of its material, it made a distinctive sound when balls ricocheted off it, as happened frequently. The clubhouse was located above and behind the center field wall. No batter ever hit a ball over the clubhouse, but Rogers Hornsby once hit a ball through a window.
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