In 1927 the New York Yankees overwhelmed the American League, winning the pennant by 19 games, and then swept Pittsburgh in the World Series. Led by the formidable duo of Ruth and Gehrig, the Yankees also boasted a stellar supporting cast including future Hall of Famers Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, and Stan Coveleski. Many around the league expected more of the same in 1928, but there was a new kid on the block who was beginning to flex his muscles.

The Athletics, runners-up the previous year, were developing an awesome club of their own. To an already solid line-up, Connie Mack added outfielders Tris Speaker, Bing Miller, Mule Haas, pitcher “Big George” Earnshaw, and pitcher-first baseman Ossie Orwoll. Speaker was then 40 years old and had slowed considerably, but each of the others made their presence known. In addition, Jimmie Foxx (Throughout his playing days, Foxx signed his name as both “Jimmy” and “Jimmie.” Newspapers ususally used Jimmy, although baseball reference works use Jimmie), not yet old enough to vote, was getting more and more playing time.

The 1928 season quickly developed into a two-team race. By the morning of May 24, here’s how the American League stacked up:

		W	L	Pct.	G.B.
New York	26	 6	.813	 ...
Philadelphia	21	 8	.742	 3.5
Cleveland	21	15	.583	 7.5
Boston		14	18	.437	12
St. Louis	15	20	.429	12.5
Chicago		13	22	.371	14.5
Detroit		14	24	.368	15
Washington	11	22	.333	15.5

Earlier in the season, the Yankees and the Athletics had each won two games on the other’s turf. Philadelphians were excited about their pennant chances, so when New York invaded the Quaker City for a May 24 doubleheader, fans from far and wide flocked to Shibe Park. The first pitch was not scheduled until 1:30 p.m., but when the ticket windows were opened at 10:45 a.m., there were already thousands in line, some of whom had been there since daybreak. By noon, the “parking field” at 21st and Lehigh was jammed to capacity with 500 “motor cars” bearing identification from such places as New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington DC. Even had there been additional parking space, it would have been inaccessible, as newspaper photos attest to the mass of humanity that sealed off surrounding streets. There was an air of feverish expectancy throughout the neighborhood. The Yankees also arrived about noon and had to fight their way through the hostile partisans. Ruth especially was verbally confronted.

With the throng completely beyond police control, the entrance gates finally opened around 12:30. Ballpark reference sources put 1928 Shibe Park seating capacity between 27,500 and 33,600, and “largest attendance” figures around 38,000. Philadelphia newspapers of the next day, however, belie those claims. The Philadelphia Public Ledger reported paid attendance at nearly 42,000 and unpaid attendance inside the park-pass holders, wall scalers, etc.-adding at least another 2,000. Other newspaper estimates were similar. Despite the park’s ample capacity, still another 15,000-20,000 disappointed patrons (many holding scalped tickets) “retreated from the barricaded portals or lingered outside the concrete horseshoe to listen to the noises of the long and rapid-turning battletide.”* (*Bill Brandt, “75,000 Storm Park as Athletics Win and Lose to N.Y.,” Philadelphia Public Ledger, 25 May 1928, front page, col. 1.) It was the largest crowd to date in Philadelphia baseball history.

Inside the arena, the onrushing tide of spectators fought for every available vantage point. They clambered for positions in the aisles, atop the scoreboard, and perches on the steel girders. Some of the more athletic (The Philadelphia Inquirer said 3,000) patrons even risked a spider-like climb to the top of the sloping left-field roof. (Two days later it was reported that several wire cutters and sledgehammers had been left in the park by owners seeking entrance to their seating accommodations.) Remarkably, despite all lack of crowd control and caution, there were no injuries nor deaths reported.

To afford the reader a greater appreciation of the atmosphere within and around the ballpark as well as the flavorful 1928 style of baseball reporting, the following is excerpted from The Philadelphia Inquirer account of the game:

“Over the low [12'] wall in right field, rabid rooters scaled the barbed wire walls like doughboys in France when the word was given ‘over the top.’ Despite the efforts of the police, several ladders were smuggled into the vast throng of ten thousand which banked itself on Twentieth street. As if by prearranged signal, four of them were placed against the walls and the fans surged over them like Greeks over the Trojan battlements. Many, once they reached the top, were caught on the barbed wire, and their antics in extricating themselves kept the fans in riotous good humor.

“One rooter in jumping to the ground had his coat sleeve caught on a barb. As he slipped to earth the coat remained in the wire, much to the delight of the vast throng who followed the progress of the invasion with as much interest as they did the batting practice of the Yanks.

“Another less fortunate wall climber caught his trouser leg in a steel prong and dangled in the air as the thousands roared. His belt, however, did not give way and companions pulled him back to safety.

“Even the white pole along the right field foul line, served as a practice ground for embryonic steeplejacks, and several of them, instead of dropping to earth [from] atop the wall, “shinnied” up to the top pavilion. Each successive climb was met with a vast cheer from the crowd until so many accomplished the goal that it became monotonous.

“The new score boards did double work, serving as a parking place for a hundred or more fans as well as flashing the progress of the game.

“The porch and top roofs of the houses on Twentieth street held five thousand more baseball bugs [fans], despite feeble efforts by the police to keep them off. On roofs two blocks away, fifty or more [fans] were sighted viewing the battle through field glasses. They must have had a good view of the tilt for in the sixth inning of the first game when a doubtful strike was called on Cobb, one threw his hat on the roof, stamped on it, shook his fist at [umpire] Van Graflan and then disappeared from sight over the sidewall.”

The first game of the doubleheader was a landmark in baseball history, but not because of the pennant race. In the Philadelphia half of the boxscore were listed no fewer than seven future Hall of Famers-Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Eddie Collins, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove. The Yankees sported their own cast of demigods-Earle Combs, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Waite Hoyt, and Leo Durocher (who gained fame as a manager). All totaled, Shibe Park fans were treated to a view of 13 future Hall of Fame players in one game. In addition, both managers-Miller Huggins and Connie Mack, as well as umpires Tommy Connolly and Bill McGowan, are honored guests in Cooperstown.

The Athletics were on a five-game win streak, but the Yankees were not very gracious guests in the first game. Lefty Grove himself had won six straight but was mauled by the Bronx Bombers behind Tony Lazzeri’s three hits and six RBIs. Grove was not in the game in the ninth when Lazzeri tripled with the bases loaded to clinch it. The A’s stayed close the entire game, but a ninth-inning rally was extinguished when, with two outs and the tying runs at second and third, Ty Cobb sizzled a line drive seemingly headed toward center field. Reliever Hoyt was able to knock it down and beat Cobb with a toss to first, ending the thriller. Rookie Al Shealy was the winner, sporting a 6-0 record. Al faded quickly, however, and pitched only one more season, finishing with an 8-6 career log.

The second contest was more befitting hometown expectations. Rookie left-hander Ossie Orwoll stymied Babe Ruth and company on only six hits en route to a 5-2 payback leaving the two clubs in the same relative positions as when the day began. Both Cobb and Speaker, 41 and 40 years of age respectively, played well in both ends of the twin-bill.

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