Connie Mack's Athletics
First
Visit my web Site
www.1939baseball.com
The Philadelphia Athletics set the standard on how to celebrate the Baseball Centennial for Major League Baseball Teams with their many first's.
December 1938
First to order new uniforms for the Athletics from Spalding Sporting Goods Company featuring the new Centennial Emblem witch was later rejected because emblem contained one major flaw. The batter depicted was Joe DiMaggio. Major League Baseball objected to the singling out of one player and the original design was altered by inserting a caricature of a batter. The altered design was accepted and uniform patches were manufactured for professional baseball. The Philadelphia Athletics however used the original design and were the only Major League Team to where the original patch. This is an rare example of the patch worn by the Philadelphia Athletics for the entire 1939 season.
Twill Patch 1- Athletics and Orioles.jpg
Rare Patch from Spalding Sporting Goods
January 5, 1939
First to invite past and present Athletics players to view the American League film "The First Century of Baseball" . This film highlighted the 1938 season and a prospective of the origin of baseball. All the American League teams were represented in this annual film and featured special comments from Connie Mack. The event took place at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel this is a conformation to attend and the dinner menu from that celebration of the Centennial of Baseball.
2a- American League Motion Picture menu.jpg2- 1939 Centennial Movie invitation.jpg
Event Menu and Jimmy Walsh's Invitation
July 24, 1939
The Athletics were the first Major League Baseball team to play at Doubleday Field. The Athletics played the Pennsylvania Athletic Club and A's won 13 to 6.
A special day for Harry O'Neill, a young rookie singed by Connie Mack Athletics' June 5th 1939 soon after his graduation from Gettysburg College. He showed special promise as a catcher for the A's and served as a third string catcher to back-up Frankie Hayes and serve as a bullpen catcher. Until, in Detroit, he was inserted into the line up in the ninth inning for his only appearance as a Major League ball player on July 23rd 1939. The next day O'Neill started as the A's catcher in Cooperstown, New York to celebrate Connie Mack Day as part of the Centennial of Baseball festivities'. The Athletics released O'Neill in September 1939. In 1942 Harry O'Neill joined the Marines and served as a Lieutenant with the Fourth Division's Twenty-fifth Marines. He was wounded in the amphibious landing of Saipan and returned to his unit in February for the assault on Iwo Jima. On March 6, 1945 he was killed there by a Japanese sniper he was 27 years old.
Harry O'Neill.jpg Harry O'Neill (2).jpg
Harry O'Neill's Cooperstown Ball