This Day in Phillies History: November 3

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Phillies
By Declan Harris | Last updated 11/3/21

This day in Philadelphia Phillies history features events that helped their home field from 1971-2003 come to fruition and the front office of the team.

First, let's go back to 1964, where Philadelphia voters played an integral part in the future of the city's sports landscape.

Voters passed a $25 bond that would go towards a new stadium to host the Phillies as well as the Philadelphia Eagles. Fast forward seven years and another bond later, Veterans Stadium opened its doors to the public.

The "Vet" as it became known by the Philly faithful, was a state-of-the-art stadium located on the corner of Broad Street and Pattinson Avenue. It featured seven seating levels, combining for a max capacity of 61,831 people for MLB games and 65,352 people for NFL games.

More importantly, Veterans Stadium hosted some big moments in Phillies history, such as Game 6 of the 1980 World Series, where Philadelphia would win its first championship, and the 1996 MLB All-Star Game.

Veterans Stadium hosted the Phillies for 32 seasons before its closure in 2003, and its demolition on March 21, 2004.

For the second piece of Phillies history, let's jump to 2008 following Philadelphia's second World Series title.

Then assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. officially became the general manager of the Phillies, taking the reins from Pat Gillick who had been managing the team for two years at that point.

Amaro Jr. was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, and during his playing career, was a member of the Phillies for five seasons. Following his retirement with Philadelphia in 1998, Amaro Jr. became assistant general manager where'd he stay for the next 10 seasons before his promotion.

During Amaro Jr.'s tenure, the Phillies remained contenders, winning a National League pennant in 2009 and three division titles. Following this, Philadelphia started to underperform, and in 2015, Amaro Jr. and the Phillies would part ways after seven years in the position.