Columbia Park

Columbia Park

Columbia Park in 1907.
Location	2900 Cecil B. Moore Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19121
Owner	Philadelphia Athletics
Capacity	9,500 (1901) 13,600 (1905)
Field size	Left Field – 340 ft Left Center – 392 ft Deep Left Center – 440 ft Center Field – 396 ft Right Center – 323 ft Right Field – 280 ft
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	1900
Opened	April 26, 1901
Closed	October 3, 1908
Demolished	1912
Construction cost	US$35,000 ($1.01 million in 2016 dollars)
Tenants
Philadelphia Athletics (MLB) (1901–1908) Philadelphia Giants (Independent) (1902–1908) Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) (August 20-September 10, 1903) Philadelphia Athletics (NFL) (1902)

Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball park in Philadelphia. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the Philadelphia Athletics, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the 1905 World Series.

Columbia Park fell into disuse after the Athletics' move in 1909 to the larger Shibe Park, and was demolished in the 1910s.

Columbia Park was built in 1901 by the Philadelphia Athletics when the team was established, in the creation of the American League. The site was a vacant lot on which manager and part-owner Connie Mack obtained a ten-year lease. It occupied the block bordered by 29th Street, Oxford Street, 30th Street, and Columbia Avenue (since renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue, in honor of the civil rights leader). The cost of construction was $35,000.

The stadium was very small, and originally had a seating capacity of only 9,500. This was eventually increased to 13,600 by the addition of bleacher seating in the outfield. During some sold out games, unofficial additional seating could be found on top of the adjoining homes. There was only one dressing room, for the home team; visiting teams had to change at their hotels. Although the ballpark was in Philadelphia's Brewerytown section, beer sales were prohibited.

The opening game in Columbia Park was held on April 26, 1901, after the first two games were rained out. The Athletics played the Washington Senators in front of an overflow crowd of 10,524, with some fans standing on the outfield walls and the roofs of nearby houses. The Athletics lost 5-1, despite three hits by second baseman Nap Lajoie.

During their tenure at Columbia Park, the Athletics won the American League pennant twice. The first time was in 1902, before the institution of the modern World Series. Three years later the Athletics won again and faced the New York Giants in the 1905 World Series.