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 of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with the invention of the automated stitching machinery to make standardized baseballs. 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 from 1877 to 1881, when there was no professional league team based in Philadelphia after the demise of the original Athletics.
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Prior to purchasing the Athletics, Shibe and his sons worked for A. J. Reach & co., a Philadelphia sporting goods manufacturer. Shibe and his sons bought 50 percent of the Athletics from Charles Somers in 1901. At that time, he was named club president, a title he would retain until his death.[2] 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.
Ben Shibe tombstone in West Laurel Hill Cemetery
^Lanctot, Neil (1994). Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: the Hilldale Club and the development of black professional baseball, 1910-1932. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 5. ISBN 0-89950-988-6.
^Biography of John Shibe from the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society Archived October 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
Benjamin Franklin Shibe (January 23, 1838 – January 14, 1922) was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who was owner and president of the...
Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American...
Shibe is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: BenShibe (1838–1922), American sporting goods and baseball executive Shibe Park, a former...
recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner BenShibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia...
BenShibe, a minority owner of the rival Philadelphia Phillies, to buy a 50 percent stake in the team—an offer sweetened by Mack's promise that Shibe...
Philadelphia Athletics, but assumed sole ownership after the death of BenShibe. Mack served as the manager of the Athletics for fifty years. This record...
Philadelphia Athletics (4) vs. NL New York Giants (1) V.I.P.'s attend Game 2 at Shibe Park In the opener, Home Run Baker drove in three runs with three hits for...
of the American League in Philadelphia, and sarcastically referred to BenShibe and Connie Mack's club as a 'white elephant'. A Philadelphia newspaperman...
Meanwhile, across the state in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Athletics owners BenShibe and Connie Mack had decided to build a steel and concrete venue for their...
committed suicide by shooting himself in his hotel room in New York City. BenShibe, 83, American sporting goods manufacturer and owner of baseball's Philadelphia...
Alfred Reach – Beans Reardon – Paul Richards – Cy Rigler – Bill Rigney – BenShibe – Charles Somers – Billy Southworth – George Stallings – Bill Summers...
Giants' manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer BenShibe, who owned the controlling interest in the Athletics, had a "white elephant...
between 1884 and 1891, who became a full-time umpire in 1895. January 14 – BenShibe, 83, owner of the Philadelphia Athletics since the 1901 season, during...
team and renamed them the Philadelphia Phillies. The Athletics owner, BenShibe, followed suit and fielded, named a team named Philadelphia Athletics...
Athletic Club football team. Upon hearing of this, Wallace approached BenShibe of the rival American League's Philadelphia Athletics to see whether the...
100 losses. Tom Shibe, eldest son of former owner BenShibe, died on February 16, 1936. Connie Mack supported Tom's brother, John Shibe, as club president...
recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner BenShibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia...
finish in last place. BenShibe, who had been part-owner of the Athletics since 1901, died on January 14, 1922. His eldest son, Tom Shibe, was named club president...
October 8, 1913, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia October 9, 1913, at the Polo Grounds in New York City October 10, 1913, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia...
World Series. In what would be the last postseason game ever played in Shibe Park, 20-game winner Robin Roberts and Allie Reynolds both pitched outstanding...
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