June 24: The Longest Marriage in Baseball

The Main Event

• June 24, 1972 – Double-A Reading, temporarily homeless due to the effects of Hurricane Agnes, host the first of five Eastern League games at Veterans’ Stadium. Luckily, the Phillies were on an extended road trip.

Few relationships in professional sports have proven as durable as the one between the Philadelphia Phillies and their Double-A affiliate in Reading, Pennsylvania. While front offices around the sport have shuffled their farm system partners every few years chasing better facilities or shorter bus rides, the Phillies and the city of Reading have stuck together since 1967, an uninterrupted run that now stands as the longest continuous affiliation between a major league club and a single minor league franchise in the sport’s history. Understanding how that bond formed, and why it has survived nearly six decades of minor league realignments, ownership changes, and even a flood, tells a story that’s as much about civic identity as it is about player development.

A revolving door before the Phillies arrived

Reading had been home to professional baseball for the better part of a century before the Phillies ever showed up, but stability was hard to come by. The city had cycled through affiliations with the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox, and the Indians again, with stretches of having no team at all in between. The Wilkes-Barre Indians relocated to Reading in 1952 and became the Reading Indians, a Cleveland farm club that produced future big-league stars Rocky Colavito and Roger Maris before bolting for Charleston, West Virginia, after the 1961 season. The Williamsport Grays then moved in for two years as a Red Sox affiliate before relocating to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, after which the Charleston Indians briefly returned to Reading for one more season. By 1966, the city was without a team again, and Municipal Stadium sat empty.

Why the Phillies finally settled in Reading

The answer has as much to do with geography and territorial rights as it does with baseball strategy. Reading sits within the Phillies’ protected operating territory, making it a natural fit once the franchise decided to plant a permanent flag there. After the 1966 vacancy, the Phillies agreed to affiliate with a new Eastern League expansion franchise in Reading for the 1967 season, and the Reading Phillies were born, debuting at Municipal Stadium on April 22, 1967, against the York White Roses, under first manager Frank Lucchesi. What began as a fairly ordinary expansion arrangement turned into something the Phillies never walked away from. By the time the Baltimore Orioles ended their 53-year relationship with their rookie-level affiliate in Bluefield, West Virginia, following the 2010 season, the Reading-Philadelphia partnership had become the longest active affiliation in all of Minor League Baseball, a distinction it still holds today.

For decades, the Reading Phillies operated as an independently owned franchise that simply held a player development contract with Philadelphia, the standard arrangement throughout the minors. That changed in 2008, when the Phillies purchased the Reading Phillies outright, eliminating any uncertainty about future affiliation switches and cementing the partnership at the ownership level. It was a quiet but significant move, transforming a long handshake agreement into permanent, formal ownership and signaling that Reading would remain a cornerstone of the Phillies’ player pipeline for the foreseeable future.

A flood, an empty ballpark, and a Veterans Stadium rescue

Of all the strange chapters in the Reading-Phillies relationship, none is quite as memorable as the summer of 1972. Hurricane Agnes tore through the Mid-Atlantic region that June, dumping catastrophic rainfall on the region and sending the Schuylkill River well past its banks in Berks County. The flooding left Reading’s Municipal Stadium unplayable, displacing the Double-A club from its own home field. Rather than cancel games outright, the Eastern League and the Phillies organization arranged for Reading to play a short series of “home” games at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. As fate would have it, the timing worked out almost perfectly: the parent club Phillies were away on an extended road trip, leaving the Vet open for Reading to host the first of five Eastern League contests there while their own ballpark dried out. It remains one of the more delightfully strange footnotes in franchise history, a Double-A team setting up shop, however briefly, in a stadium built for the big leagues.

A ballpark that grew up without losing its character

FirstEnergy Stadium, originally dedicated in 1951 as Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium to honor the county’s World War II dead, is now the oldest active ballpark in the Eastern League, and the renovation history reads almost like a timeline of minor league baseball’s evolution. The transformation began in earnest after Craig Stein purchased the team in 1987 and immediately began upgrading the facility. Between October 1987 and January 1989, the stadium saw its first major overhaul in 36 years, replacing wooden bench seating with individual seats, adding a roof over 1,500 of them, and expanding the press box, a project that topped $500,000. The improvements kept coming through the 1990s: a third-base picnic area in 1990, a right-field food court in 1991-92, a rebuilt left-field grandstand that doubled seating capacity after the 1992 season, a left-field “home run” deck with its own bar following the 1993 campaign, and hundreds of additional seats and luxury boxes by 1996.

The ballpark picked up a new name along the way too, becoming GPU Stadium in 1999 before settling on FirstEnergy Stadium in 2002. A $1.4 million pool pavilion beyond the right-field fence arrived in 2000, complete with a heated pool where fans can watch games from the water. The most ambitious overhaul came before the 2011 season, when a $10 million renovation added the Tompkins VIST Bank Plaza, a climate-controlled team store, new clubhouses, and a dramatically expanded concourse. More recently, the Fightin Phils broke ground in the winter of 2022 on the $45 million Redner’s Event Center, the largest expansion in the ballpark’s history, built in part to meet updated Major League Baseball facility standards for player development. Altogether, the franchise has poured more than $17 million into the stadium since 1988 alone, all while preserving the 1951 seating bowl, dugouts, and brick exterior that give the park its old-school charm.

“Broadway” Charlie Wagner and the press box that bears his name

No figure looms larger over the human side of the Reading-Phillies story than Charlie Wagner, even though he spent his entire professional life with a different organization. Born in Reading in 1912 and signed by the Boston Red Sox at the city’s Lauer’s Park in 1935, Wagner pitched parts of six big-league seasons for Boston before transitioning into a scouting and front-office career that stretched an astonishing 70-plus years with the same franchise.

Ted Williams‘ roommate during their playing days, Wagner picked up his nickname “Broadway Charlie” from a Boston sportswriter who teased him about his sharp, dapper style of dress, a reputation that later earned him a spot on Esquire’s list of best-dressed men in America. Even while scouting for the Red Sox into his 90s, Wagner became a fixture at Reading Phillies games in his hometown, showing up at FirstEnergy Stadium almost daily during the season. On August 17, 2000, the club honored him by naming the stadium press box in his honor, and the team still presents the “Broadway” Charlie Wagner Unsung Hero Award each season to the Reading player who best embodies selfless, team-first baseball.

Wagner died in 2006 at age 93, fittingly, shortly after attending a Reading Phillies game; he was found in his car in the FirstEnergy Stadium parking lot after watching the team he’d come to love almost as much as his beloved Red Sox.

A franchise that has produced a remarkable list of names

Beyond the flood story and Wagner’s legacy, Reading’s roster of alumni reads like a Phillies history book in miniature. Robin Roberts played his final professional game in a Reading uniform in 1967, the franchise’s inaugural season, while Mike Schmidt made his professional debut there in 1971 before Jim Bunning managed the club in 1972. Future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg played shortstop for Reading in 1980, and Eastern League honors have gone to Phillies greats like Greg Luzinski, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, and Rhys Hoskins over the decades. With the team having won Eastern League championships in 1968, 1973, and 1995, and the 1983 club recognized among the 100 greatest minor league teams ever assembled, Reading’s place in Phillies lore extends well beyond simply being a convenient stop on the way to the majors. It has become, in its own right, a vital piece of how the organization develops talent and builds its identity, season after season, for going on six decades now.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for June 24

• June 24, 1926 – Pitcher Jack Knight hit two home runs in a 12-7 loss to New York — his only career home runs. Knight is the first Phillie pitcher with a two home run game and was also the first Phillie to hit his first two home runs in the same game.
• June 24, 1969 – Manager Bob Skinner suspends Dick Allen indefinitely for failing to show up for a twi-night doubleheader in New York. It was the third time in two years that Allen failed to appear on time for a game. He was also seen the night before in a New York bar owned by Joe Namath that was off-limits to ballplayers.
• June 24, 1974 – Claimed Ollie Brown on waivers from Houston. “Downtown” Ollie Brown finished his 13-year MLB career with three-plus seasons with the Phillies. In his time in Philadelphia, Brown hit .264/.334/.428/.762.
• June 24, 1986 – The Phils give Steve Carlton his unconditional release after he refuses to retire. Carlton went 4-8 with a 6.18 ERA in his final season with the team. The Phillies brought up Bruce Ruffin to take his place in the rotation.
• June 24, 1987 – Traded Dan Schatzeder and cash to Minnesota Danny Clay and Tom Schwarz. Schatzeder, a left-hander, had joined the Phillies just 11 months earlier in a trade with Montreal.
• June 24, 1994 – Signed free agent Fernando Valenzuela. After being released by the Dodgers in 1991, the hefty lefty bounced around from the Angels to Detroit, the Mexican League, and then played for Baltimore. He became a free agent after the ’93 season and signed with the Phillies. Had a 1-3 ERA with a 3.00 ERA in eight games with the Phils in ’94.
• June 24, 1998 – Released Rex Hudler. A first round pick of the Yankees in 1978, Hudler was primarily a utility player during his 13 seasons. His final two seasons were in Philadelphia and he hit .196/.247/.319/.566 with the Phillies.
• June 24, 2011 – Released pitcher J.C. Romero, who had signed with the Phillies as a free agent following his release by Boston four seasons earlier.
• June 24, 2012 – After activating B.J. Rosenberg, the Phillies’ active roster is at 26 players. It was the first time the Phillies took advantage of a new rule that allows a 26th player for doubleheaders resulting from a postponement.
• June 24, 2014 – Signed free agent Grady Sizemore, who had been a third round pick of the Expos in 2000. He hit .250 in 99 games with the Phillies.
• June 24, 2015 – Granted free agency to Phillipe Aumont. Seattle drafted Aumont in the first round of the 2007 Draft and then dealt him to the Phillies in 2009 as part of the package for pitcher Cliff Lee. He pitched for Team Canada in the 2026 WBC.

ICYMI

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Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for June 24

• Billy Nash (born 1865) – A third baseman who played for the Phillies from 1896-1898. As a player/manager in 1896, Nash led the Phillies to a 62-68 record.
• George Harper (born 1892) – Played for the Phillies from 1924-1926 and hit .323/.376/.528/.904 in just under 300 games with the Phils.
• Rollie Hemsley (born 1907) – A catcher for the 1946 and 1947 Phillies, Hemsley had a 19-year MLB career and was a five time all-star.
• Hal Kelleher (born 1913) – Born in Philadelphia, Kelleher’s entire career was spent in Philadelphia. The right-hander played in the majors from 1935-1938 with an ERA of 5.95.
• Buster Adams (born 1915) – A Phillies outfielder from 1943-1945, Adams hit .266 with the Phillies.
• Al Gerheauser (born 1917) – A left-hander who made 60 starts and eight relief appearances with the Phillies in 1943 and ’44. Gerheauser was 18-35 with a 4.05 ERA as a Phillie.
• George Vukovich (born 1956) – An outfielder who played his first 221 games in the majors with the Phillies and hit .272.
• Keaton Anthony (born 2001) – Currently playing for Lehigh Valley, Anthony went undrafted and signed with the Phillies as a free agent.
• Leonardo Larez (born 2009) – A left-handed pitcher who was signed as an international free agent in January. He is currently on the IL with the DSL Phillies.

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