May 16, 1939: 1st American League night game

Into the night

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - On this date in 1939 the American League finally played a game under the lights - four years after the National League pioneered the trend. The game took place at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Cleveland Indians beat the home team Philadelphia Athletics 8-3 in ten innings .

Night games are so prevalent today, it's hard to imagine a time when all games were played during the day. That slowly began to change in 1935. The Cincinnati Reds played the first night game at Crosley Field in Cincinnati May 24, 1935. Crosley was the only park to have lights for more than 3 years.

Brooklyn was the next team to play under the lights on June 15, 1938. By coincidence, or maybe not, the Dodgers first night game was the night Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched his second consecutive no-hitter - the only time it's been done.

Here are the dates MLB teams first played under the lights:

NL AL
Cincinnati Reds 1935
Brooklyn Dodgers 1938

Philadelphia Athletics 1939
Philadelphia Phillies 1939
Cleveland Indians 1939
Chicago White Sox 1939

New York Giants 1940
St. Louis Browns 1940
Pittsburgh Pirates 1940
St. Louis Cardinals 1940
Washington Senators 194
Boston Braves 1946
New York Yankees 1946
Boston Red Sox 1947
Detroit Tigers 1948

Milwaukee Braves *1953

Baltimore Orioles *1954
Kansas City Athletics *1955

San Francisco Giants *1958
Los Angeles Dodgers *1958

Washington Senators
(Rangers) *1961
Los Angeles Angels **1961
Minnesota Twins *1961

Houston Colt .45s **1962
New York Mets **1964
Atlanta Braves *1966

Oakland Athletics *1968

San Diego Padres **1969
Kansas City Royals **1969
Seattle Pilots **1969

Montreal Expos **1969
Milwaukee Brewers *1970
Texas Rangers *1972
Seattle Mariners **1977
Toronto Blue Jays **1977
Chicago Cubs 1988
Florida Marlins **1993
Colorado Rockies **1993

Tampa Devil Rays **1998

Arizona Diamondbacks **1998

Washington Nationals *2005

*Expansion team
**Existing team in new location

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
BASEBALL-ALMANAC
The Associated Press (AP), Philadelphia, PA, May 17, 1939

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