1895 Philadelphia Phillies Opening Day Invitation Program For New Stadium FIND!

[Mac927]

I wanted to share with the board and also get help for more information regarding this Historically Significant Baseball program that was recently discovered from an estate in Pennsylvania, near Philly.

In my research I can find information regarding this May 2nd 1895 GRAND OPENING of the new Baker Bowl Stadium that got burned to the ground in 1894. The previous stadium was built from all wood and hence why it burnt to the ground. This new structure which was built by team owner and sporting goods mogul AJ REACH wanted the most elaborate and fireproof baseball field in existence! The Cantilever system was a first of it's kind and this was the very first steel and brick baseball stadium in the world! This paved the way for ALL baseball stadiums moving forward.

On the day of May 2nd 1895 a Philadelphia City Record crowd of 20,000 people attended the game against the New York Giants. There were 5 Hall of Fame players in the game: Ed Delahanty, Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson, Amos Rusie & George Davis.

I can't Find another one of these invitations anywhere in my research and I can't imagine many of these survived as they were most likely thrown away or lost over time.

This item will eventually be available for sale but coming up with a price on possibly the only known example is a completely different animal. Thanks for reading and hopefully you enjoyed the photos! Again, any help is appreciated regarding any information on this! Thanks!

[milkit1]

very cool!

[Jay Wolt]

That's awesome, great find

[Mac927]

Thanks to everyone who looked at this post. I was hoping someone could help me with more information or had another one of these for comparison. I will keep digging! Thanks