Charlie Manuel in Philadelphia

Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1911

I think you have to give Charlie Manuel a great deal of the credit for the Phillies' success over the past few years. Yes, they have a great core of players in Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley, along with some rising stars like Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. But Manuel has managed each year to get the team to the end of the season healthy and strong. It really paid off last year. While it's unrealistic to expect the Phillies to repeat as World Series champs this year, it looks pretty good for the division championship (but Phillies fans can never count their chickens, not after 1964). Thank Charlie Manuel for handling the team with great skill and a good sense of pace over a long season.

The photograph is from the Library of Congress photostream on Flickr.  It shows people waiting to get tickets to the 1911 World Series between the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Giants.  The A's ended up repeating as series champs in six games. Phillies fans can always hope.

Jet Lowe in Houston

Astrodome ceiling, Houston, Texas. (Jet Lowe photograph)

Baseball season again. Though the Astrodome no longer hosts either baseball or football, the Astros played here for more than 30 years. And in 2005, many people from New Orleans found temporary shelter here as they fled Hurricane Katrina. There are more than 9 acres under this roof. Jet Lowe took this picture in 2004 for the HABS/HAER project.

Triathlon With Kids

The kids were all fired up tonight to play another game of One Ol' Cat (the snow is only about eight inches deep now, so it's easier to retrieve fly balls). Then we repaired to the kitchen table for a game of Clue. Finally, we descended to the basement to play a round of Guitar Hero. I suck, but it's fun anyway.

Jack Boucher on Connie Mack Stadium

Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium

Jack Boucher took this picture of Connie Mack Stadium in downtown Philadelphia in September of 1973. The Phillies and the Eagles moved out to Veterans Stadium in 1971, and Connie Mack was torn down in 1976. The Phillies have a nice new ballpark (currently called Citizens Bank Park), and I don't think there are too many tears shed over Veterans Stadium. Except that that Phillies did win their World Series there in 1980.

When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, we used to drive in to the city, have dinner in Chinatown and go see the Phillies. My mom reminded me the other day that often some kids would offer to "watch our car" for a dollar. Connie Mack Stadium was not in a great neighborhood, which I guess was one reason the Phillies opted to move to the Vet.

There's a great history of Shibe Park (Connie Mack) with some nice pictures at Billy Mupp on Connie Mack Stadium. Wikipedia article at Wikipedia on Connie Mack.

One Old Cat

Even though there is still a foot of snow here in our yard, my kids insisted that we go out and play our "traditional" opening game of one ol' cat, or shorthanded baseball. My dad used to play with us when I was a kid. I always heard it as "one-a-cat," but have discovered recently that it's really "one old cat." We played modified rules tonight: balls that went off the road and into the snow were foul. The field was quite narrow since the snowbanks are still taking up all of the shoulder and a bit of the road itself. We had a special field hazard as well when one hit ball struck our dog, who was wandering around in the infield.

Baseball Season

Amherst, New Hampshire, photo by Ed Bacher

Since baseball season is starting, this seemed like an appropriate image to start off this blog.