Jefferson Street Ballparks

This historic field was situated where 25th Street met Jefferson Street [5]. The first ever baseball game was played in 1846. It was an immediate hit and rapidly grew in popularity. By the 1860's many teams were scrambling to find a field to play on to compete in the growing sport. Four of those teams were Philadelphia based, the Mercantiles, Athletics, Olympians, and the Keystones. These 4 teams found the Jefferson St. grounds to be a suitable playing field. The Olympics were responsible for the initial maintenance and erection of the field and stands, yet the field still lacked basic necessities such as a fence. The first game being played on May 24, 1864 between residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, attracting many fans [2].

In 1869, history was made at the Jefferson St. Ballpark. The very first interracial baseball game was played, the two teams being the entirely African American Pythian's and the all white Olympics [3]. With the civil war ending only 4 years prior, this pivotal game challenged the prejudice that was so prevalent in society, presenting both African Americans and Caucasians as equal in a simple game of baseball. The Pythians suffered a defeat, however even playing the game was a monumental victory towards racial equality. A man by the name of Octavius V Catto served as the captain for the Pythians. Octavius V Catto was described as "a vehicle for social change", [3] displaying both leadership and bravery whilst captaining a team in such prejudice times. Initially attempting to join and subsequently declined by white baseball clubs, Catto formed his own team, the Pythians. Establishing his own team and then playing in an interracial game truly challenged the social dynamics of the time. This fight did not come without resistance, as it took Catto numerous years to bring the contest between the Pythian's and Olympics to approval and fruition. In Catto last act as a social activist, he was shot and killed in 1871 while exercising his newly won right to vote [4].

In 1866, the Athletics became fond of the growing popular field, and paid to install a fence around the perimeter of the field, new seating, and a new infield. The new stadium could hold upwards of 5000 fans in attendance [2]. With new renovations, the field became significantly became the only Philadelphia field to be fully enclosed in its time [6]. and served as the setting for the first National League game in 1876. In this game, the Philadelphia Athletics hosted the Boston Redcaps in a 6-5 loss [1]. Despite the new beginnings with the National League, the Jefferson St. Ballparks was suffering. Drug use, alcohol consumption, gambling, and a low income region kept fans away from the field. In turn, the Jefferson St. Ballpark financially suffered. The Athletics decided to abandon the ballpark and turn it over to residential property.

By 1883, the Athletics were financially suffering as a ball club and were in search of a large field to support large crowds given their new joining of the National League. This landed the newly formed American Association Athletics back at the Jefferson St. Ballpark [8]. The Jefferson St. grounds, however, was only half of what it use to be given the new residences [2]. Thus, a new field was constructed along with adequate grandstands to support immense crowds, where the grounds team made the field "as level as a billiards table." [7]. With the Jefferson St. Ballpark as the teams home-field, the Philadelphia Athletics won the pennant in that same 1883 season. The Athletics continued to use the Jefferson St. grounds with the large grandstands to pay for previous debts until 1890 [6].

In 1890, the Athletics faced a player strike that had overtaken the entire league, this coupled with previous financial issues forced the Athletics to abandon the Jefferson St. grounds. The newly vacant facility then fell victim to a criminal act of arson in 1891 [2]. With little left of the stadium and field, the facility was converted to a neighborhood park. Today, the grounds still stand and house the Daniel Boone Public School as well as the Athletic Recreation Center [8]. There are ball fields within the Athletic Recreation Center, thus allowing the Jefferson St. grounds to continue to give the sport of baseball to the surrounding community.

[1] Casey, Matt J. Site of the Jefferson Street Ballpark, Atlas Obscura. Accessed May 18th 2021. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/site-of-the-jefferson-street-ballpark.

[2] Casway, Jerrold. The Jefferson Street Ball Parks (1864–91) , Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed May 18th 2021. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-jefferson-street-ball-parks-1864-91/.

[3] Shaw, Julie. "Honoring field that drew races together." The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia) October 1st 2017. , B3 sec.

[4] Rothenberg, Matt. FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY ON THE BASEBALL GROUNDS, National Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed May 18th 2021. https://baseballhall.org/discover/octavius-catto-philadelphia-Black-baseball.

[5] "Wandering base paths of Philly's fields." The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia) July 28th 1996. .157.

[6] Westcott, Rich. Philadelphia's Old Ballparks. Philadelphia, PA. Temple University Press, 1996.

[7] Benson, Michael. Ballparks of North America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia of Baseball Grounds, Yards and Stadiums, 1845 to 1988. McFarland, 1989.

[8] Epting, Chris. Buck, Joe. Roadside Baseball: The Locations of America's Baseball Landmarks. Solana Beach, CA. Santa Monica Press, 2019.