Philadelphia Athletics/Philadelphia Phillies, Shibe Park: For much of the early 20th century, the Phillies played in celebrated hitters bandbox, the Baker Bowl. Players put up freakishly good numbers there, but the park was decrepit and roundly lambasted by the 1930s, and so in the middle of the 1938 season, the Phils moved in with their American League counterpart. The A’s left for Kansas City in the 1950s, though the Phillies stayed in what later became known as Connie Mack Stadium up to the end of the 1970 season.
New York Giants/New York Yankees, Polo Grounds: Old Yankee Stadium was known as the House that Ruth Built mainly because the popularity of their Herculean slugger was enough to get the Bronx Bombers out of a 10-year cohabitation that lasted from 1913 until 1922 with the Giants. In fact, prior to Ruth coming on the scene, the Yankees were something of a poor step child, subletting at the Polo Grounds after the lease ended at their original home, Hilltop Park. Hard to believe one of the richest sports franchises in the world was once like the derelict friend living out of a suitcase on a couch.
St. Louis Cardinals/St. Louis Browns, Sportsman’s Park: Another one that’s a little hard to believe in current times, the Cardinals were the poor tenant of the Browns when they moved in with them in 1920. Course, the Cardinals would be a World Series team by the end of the decade, and the Browns meanwhile would explore new depths of futility. But it wasn’t until 1953 that Browns owner Bill Veeck finally sold the park to the Cardinals for $800,000 and prepared to take his team to Baltimore where it became the Orioles.
New York Mets/New York Yankees, Shea Stadium: This one lasted for two years, 1974 and 1975, as old Yankee Stadium underwent a gutting and major series of modernizing renovations. It didn’t come easily for the Yankees, as the Mets had refused to sign off on the cohabitation for years but reneged after the city of New York agreed to renovate the Yankees home.
Don’t forget the Dodgers and their tenants, the LA Angeles. Poor Gene Autry. The Dodgers stuck it to him good on concession, parking and even including removing the toilet paper from the toilets when the Angels played at home.
You reminded me of something I heard a long time ago that in the 1920’s, there was this phrase… “real New Yorkers root for McGraw’s Giants”. Don’t know if that’s true or an urban legend… always meant to look that up but just never got around to it.
Although, I remember seeing a chart showing the attendance for the Giants & Dodgers started falling after WW2 but was still very healthy up ’til then. So, maybe there’s a lot of truth in it. Maybe the Yanks weren’t NY’s team ’til the late 40’s or so. Which sounds weird… it’d be like the Mets suddenly becoming NY’s team and 60 years later nobody knew the Mets were ever viewed as anything less.