Philadelphia Baseball History

Niagara Falls.  Tourist from across the globe have been attracted to the majestic beauty of the falls for more than two centuries. But the deceptive beauty of the Falls is also a call to danger.  Attention seekers have courted that danger, daring to plunge over the Falls in homemade barrels.  Others have dared a tightrope walk over the soaring heights.   Since 1850, about 5,000 bodies have been found at the foot of the Falls.  An estimated 20 to 30 people use the Falls each year to commit suicide. The Falls have even been used in an attempt to cover up a gruesome murder.  The tranquility of the tourist attraction was shattered on July 9, 1903.  That day, William LaBlond, operator of the popular tour boat, the Maid of the Mist, found a mangled, bloated body in the Niagara Gorge, a natural pool just upstream from the Falls.  The man’s leg had born shorn off, likely due to the boat’s propellers. The only clothing left on the body was his tie and hi...

In 1954, the Athletics were the only baseball team in Philadelphia that had brought a World Championship to the city.  In fact, the team won five!  Arguably, the team was more popular than the Phillies.   But 1954 was the last season that the American League had a team in Philadelphia.  In the off season, the A's stunned the City of Philadelphia by announcing that they had found a new buyer for the team, and that they were moving to Kansas City.   While the A’s fortunes hand dwindled in the past two decades, the Athletics still had a loyal following.   Indeed, to this day, some Philadelphia baseball fans say the wrong team left. So what happened?   How did Philadelphia lose the A’s? Cornelius McGillicuddy, known as Connie Mack for short, guided the Philadelphia Athletics since the inception of the American League as a rival major league in 1901. Charles Somers, who had made his money in the coal industry, invested the money to help seed five ...