Veterans Stadium

From 1971 to 2003, the Phillies played at Veterans Stadium, reached the postseason seven times, won National League pennants in 1980, 1983, and 1993, and achieved their greatest moment there by defeating the Kansas City Royals in the World Series on October 21, 1980, before 65,838 fans. The Phillies also hosted the All-Star Game there twice, in 1976 and 1996, with the National League winning both times. After the final out of the 2003 season, Veterans Stadium closed with an emotional ceremony featuring a parade of alumni and the 2003 team, and Tug McGraw, who recorded the final out in the 1980 World Series victory, threw the simulated last pitch on September 28, 11,859 days after the first game on April 10, 1971. The stadium also served hundreds of local youth through baseball programs including the Carpenter Cup for high school players, the Liberty Bell Classic and Bill Giles Cup for colleges, and Philadelphia Recreation Department games, and it hosted the Home Run Derby championships annually. South Philadelphia native and Temple University graduate Joe Brown, a member of the Philadelphia Art Commission and a professor and sculptor at Princeton University, was chosen by the Art Commission in 1970 to create four statues that stood at Veterans Stadium from 1976 through 2003; the Phillies removed them before the Vet was demolished, then restored and relocated them in March 2005 as a lasting tribute to Brown (1909-1985).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States