The City Series was the name of a series of intracity baseball games played annually between the Phillies and the Philadelphia Athletics. Played sometimes before, sometimes after, and sometimes during the season, the contests were very popular and attracted big crowds. Interest in the series reflected not only the rivalry that existed between the Phillies’ and Athletics’ teams, but also their fans. The series began in 1883 when the Phillies joined the National League and ran until 1954 when the Athletics’ club was sold and relocated to Kansas City.

• Phillies alumni

While the games were officially exhibition contests, players and management took the competition seriously and games were played in earnest. The winning team had bragging rights each year as the “City Champion of Philadelphia.” Although the title was informal, possessing it was a matter of prestige to the clubs and their fans. Philadelphia sportswriter and Hall of Fame inductee Allen Lewis once noted, “The teams took it very seriously. One year [1912] Pete Alexander had won 19 games going into the last week of the season, but the Phillies didn’t pitch him all week because they were saving him for the City Series.” Alexander had made his pitching debut in Philadelphia in a 1911 series game, pitching five innings of no-run, no-hit ball against the A’s.

The first City Series game ever played took place on April 14, 1883 when the newly-formed Phillies played the Athletics of the American Association at the Phils’ Recreation Park. The home team won 6-1. It was the first game the Phillies ever played against another major league team. The contests continued every year between the clubs until the Association folded after the 1891 season.

The City Series resumed in 1903 after the American League was established and placed a team called the Athletics in Philadelphia. The series continued with only a few interruptions along the way until 1954. The games would alternate between the Phillies’ and Athletics’ ballparks until 1938 when the Phillies left Baker Bowl and moved to Shibe Park to become tenants of the A’s. The Phils had won the first City Series game at Baker Bowl in April, 1903, and also the last 9-7 in April, 1937. Overall, the Phillies’ City Series record at the ballpark was 30-38-1.

The number of games played each year varied from as many as nine to as few as one. In 1905, for example, the two teams played eight games from April 1-12, with each side winning four of them. In 1918, by contrast, the teams scheduled only one City Series game in April and it was rained out.

The City Series was the site of historically important games in Philadelphia’s baseball history. In November, 1933, city voters approved a referendum allowing professional sports to be played on Sundays. The first legal Sunday baseball game ever played in Philadelphia took place on April 4, 1934 as part of the City Series. The Phillies won 8-1 in front of 15,000 fans.

From 1948 through 1954, the Athletics and Phillies played a mid-season exhibition game for the benefit of the Junior Baseball Federation of Philadelphia. The proceeds from the game were distributed for the benefit of amateur baseball to the city's Police Athletic League, Department of Recreation, Fairmount Park, American Legion, and the Sandlot Sports Association. Because these games were so popular, prices charged to attend them were the same as for regular season games--$1.30 for General Admission and $2.00 for Lower Reserved tickets.

The Phillies and Athletics faced each other a final time on June 28, 1954 -- a Junior Baseball Federation Charity game -- held at Connie Mack Stadium. The Phils beat the A’s 3–2 in front of 15,993 fans.

The two teams did not play each other for the next 49 years. The tradition of the City Series was reborn when MLB started interleague play during the regular season in 1997. It was only a matter of time before the Oakland Athletics and Phillies opposed each other, and the two teams met for the first time at Veterans Stadium in June, 2003. The Phillies reciprocated the visit by playing the Athletics in Oakland in June, 2005. The A’s returned to Philadelphia in June, 2011 to play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The hometown team took two out of three games.

The rivalry was set to begin again in June 2020 with a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Festivities included a "1920s City Series Retro Night" on June 12. The series, however, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The legacy of the City Series will resume on April 8-10, 2022, when the Oakland Athletics return to Citizens Bank Park to take on the Phillies.

May the tradition live on forever.

Bob Warrington is a native Philadelphian who writes about the city’s baseball history.