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Benjamin Franklin Shibe (January 23, 1838 – January 14, 1922) was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who was owner and president of the Biography of John Shibe from the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
He took on manager Connie Mack and two sportswriters as part-owners. In 1913, Shibe made Mack a full partner, ceding him complete authority over the baseball side of the operation. When Shibe died in 1922, his sons Tom and John became president and vice-president of the A's, respectively. However, Mack was now the operating head of the franchise. Tom died in 1936, with John following in 1937. Their heirs would retain a minority stake in the team until 1950.
Shibe Park information
from Retrosheet *Ben Shibe a
SABR
(Baseball Biography Project)
Photograph of Benjamin Shibe, Connie Mack, and others at the groundbreaking of Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium), in 1908
courtesy Temple University Libraries 1838 births 1922 deaths Sportspeople from Philadelphia 19th-century American businesspeople Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball owners Philadelphia Athletics owners Philadelphia Athletics executives Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery {{baseball-business-bio-stub
Benjamin Franklin Shibe (January 23, 1838 – January 14, 1922) was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who was owner and president of the Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with the invention of the automated stitching machinery to make standardized baseballs
A baseball is a ball used in the sport of the same name. The ball consists of a rubber or cork center wrapped in yarn and covered with white natural horsehide or cowhide, or a synthetic composite leather. A regulation baseball is 9 to 9¼ inche ...
. Shibe Park was named in his honor from 1909 to 1954. Shibe died in 1922, and is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Shibe was a leader of the local baseball fraternity no later than the 1870s. According to Neil Lanctot, the Shibe club was the most notable nonprofessional club in operation 1877 to 1881, when there was no professional league team based in Philadelphia after the demise of the original Athletics.
Prior to purchasing the Athletics, Shibe and his sons worked for A. J. Reach
Alfred James Reach (May 25, 1840 – January 14, 1928) was an Anglo-American sportsman who, after becoming one of the early stars of baseball in the National Association, went on to become an influential executive, publisher, sporting goods manuf ...
& co., a Philadelphia sporting goods manufacturer. Shibe and his sons bought 50 percent of the Athletics from Charles Somers in . At that time, he was named club president, a title he would retain until his death.He took on manager Connie Mack and two sportswriters as part-owners. In 1913, Shibe made Mack a full partner, ceding him complete authority over the baseball side of the operation. When Shibe died in 1922, his sons Tom and John became president and vice-president of the A's, respectively. However, Mack was now the operating head of the franchise. Tom died in 1936, with John following in 1937. Their heirs would retain a minority stake in the team until 1950.
References
External links
Shibe Park information
from Retrosheet *Ben Shibe a
SABR
(Baseball Biography Project)
Photograph of Benjamin Shibe, Connie Mack, and others at the groundbreaking of Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium), in 1908
courtesy Temple University Libraries 1838 births 1922 deaths Sportspeople from Philadelphia 19th-century American businesspeople Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball owners Philadelphia Athletics owners Philadelphia Athletics executives Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery {{baseball-business-bio-stub