It’s Been 95 Years Since Connie Mack’s Athletics Were World Champions.
On a hot July Sunday in South Philadelphia — an old Philly baseball team annihilated its opponent 18–3 with eight home runs and eighteen RBI’s. Too bad it wasn’t the Phillies.
This year marks 95 years since the 1929 Athletics began yet another three-year run of near baseball perfection in Philadelphia in 1929–1931. That team, featured in the 1996 Sports Illustrated Magazine featured them as “The Greatest MLB Team That History Forgot” was 104–46 complete with All-Stars like pitcher Lefty Grove, and the combination of Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx who hit 77 home runs between them.
That Athletics Team would go on a run of World Series victories from 1929 until 1931, which was their second of two sets of dynasty’s — the only two ever in Philadelphia (1910–1913.)
Across town, the Phillies who had already been in existence for 46 years had only one World Series appearance to show for it — a 1915 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The draw in Philadelphia for baseball was the Athletics.
One day later on Monday, the Phillies added talent in the MLB Draft including Dante Nori, Northville High School (MI), Griffin Burkholder, OF, Freedom High School (VA), John Spikerman, Oklahoma (OK), Carson DeMartini, Virginia Tech (VA), Carter Mathison, Indiana (IN), Kodey Shojinaga, Kansas (KS) — Joel Dragoo, Presbyterian College (SC), Camron Hill, Georgia Tech (GA) — Marcus Morgan, Iowa (IA), Brady Day, Kansas State (KS), Titan Hayes, Austin Peay (TN), A.J. Wilson, UNC Charlotte (NC), Tegan Cain, Kansas (KS), Jared Spencer, Indiana State (IN), Luke Gabrysh, Saint Joseph’s (PA), Eli Trop, Pennsylvania (PA), Ryan Degges, UNC Charlotte (NC), Kevin Warunek, Longwood University (VA), Erik Ritchie, East Carolina (NC),Kyler Carmack, Ole Miss (MS.)
The Athletics added Nick Kurtz Wake Forest, Tommy White BLSU, Gage Jump LHPLSU, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer Rutgers, Rodney Green California, Sam Stuhr University of Portland, Josiah Romeo Mayfield Florida State, Dylan Fien UCLA, Davis Diaz Vanderbilt, Jared Sprague Arkansas, Cameron Leary Boston College, Kyle Robinson Texas Tech, Camarillo Texas A&M, Riley Huge Winthrop, Ryan Magdic Missouri, Blake Hammond Santa Clara, Connor Spencer Ole Miss, Aidan Layton Seton Hill University, Tucker Novotny Minnesota, Gunner Gouldsmith Sacramento State, Dylan Volantis Westlake HS (CA)USC.
It’s doubtful that any of these 2024 MLB Draft Picks with a mean age of 24 have any knowledge of the historical significance of the oldest, continuous, sports franchise in the US vs. a former two-time Philadelphia dynasty. What made the outcome so striking (no pun intended) was that it’s now the Phillies who at the top of MLB baseball with a record of 62–34 and the Athletics are at the bottom of the American League West with a record of 37–61.
Oh, and the game last Sunday? It was The Athletics who won in Philadelphia.
Imagine that.
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