On May 10, 1939, baseballs were dropped from the observation deck (521 feet) of City Hall to see if players on the Phillies could catch them, as part of a publicity stunt. Rookie catcher Dave Coble caught one. Estimated speed of the ball was 184 mph, with a force of 73 pounds. 10,000 fans showed up for this event. This information is from the Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/14, starting on the front page. Some of the information in the article was attributed to research by Dennis Link, a member of the Society of American Baseball Research.
Publication date | Jun 24, 2018 |
Neighborhood |
On May 10, 1939, baseballs were dropped from the observation deck (521 feet) of City Hall to see if players on the Phillies could catch them, as part of a publicity stunt. Rookie catcher Dave Coble caught one. Estimated speed of the ball was 184 mph, with a force of 73 pounds. 10,000 fans showed up for this event. This information is from the Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/14, starting on the front page. Some of the information in the article was attributed to research by Dennis Link, a member of the Society of American Baseball Research.