Memory Stream Dipping into Philadelphia's illustrated past

We all remember the Phillies' 2008 World Series victory, but 100 years ago, Philadelphia was celebrating another winning team. The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series in 1910.

The Athletics were formed in 1901 as one of the American League's charter franchises. In 1910, the Athletics made their second World Series appearance (having lost to the New York Giants in 1905). During its five-plus decades in Philadelphia, the team won five World Series: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930. The Athletics moved to Kansas City, Mo., in 1955, and then to Oakland, Calif., in 1968.

In Philadelphia, the team was primarily managed by Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, or Connie Mack, as he was better known. Mack played professional baseball for 11 years, the last three as a player-manager. In 1901, he became the manager, general manager, and part-owner of the Athletics, and he managed the team for 50 years.

The Athletics' home in Philadelphia was Shibe Park, at Lehigh Avenue and 20th Street. It was the league's first steel-and-concrete park and was just a few blocks away from the Baker Bowl, where the Philadelphia Phillies played. Shibe was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953, three years after Mack retired. Fire damaged the stadium in 1971, and it was demolished in 1976.