20 Years Later: WMMR Remembers The Vet

THE VET: IT MAY HAVE BEEN UP A DUMP….But it was our dump!

March 21^st 2024: Today, twenty years ago, a series of rhythmic explosions were set off in South Philly. When they were done, Veterans Stadium lay in rubble, with echoes of cheers, boos, and music swirling like ghosts.

In 1971 it was a brand spanking new modern “multi-purpose” stadium. With sister stadiums in Pittsburgh (Three Rivers) and Cincinnati (Riverfront Stadium) they were the wave of the 70’s designed to easily transition from baseball to football. And they all had that newfangled Astro turf. . The Vet had dancing waters in centerfield, two huge dot matrix scoreboards, levels of different colored seats, and so much more. It was a major step up compared to the previous homes of the Phillies (Connie Mack Stadium) and The Eagles (Franklin Field.)

Naturally fans of Philly sports were also music fans, and so we’d meet there for mammoth shows, featuring The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, David Bowie, Roger Waters and more.

One night, circa August of '82, MMR hosted a post-game concert by Robert Hazard and the Heroes, at the time, a Philly band making national inroads. Robert and the band  did a rollicking set, and to this day, we have no idea how all those chairs ended up on the field!

A few years later, it was WMMR night at the Vet for a Phillies game. Seeing our call letters and staff photos up on the giant scoreboard in the 700 Level was a thrill. It was also may be as high as the staff had ever been. Or not.

And for a station who takes great pride in our association with Bruce Springsteen over the course of his career, there was one night in August of ’85 when we managed to almost get him to stop a show. See, we had rented one of those planes that trail banners, like the kind you seed flying at the shore. Well, we chartered one with a banner that read “WMMR welcomes Bruce Springsteen.”  But Bruce and his people didn’t like it, thinking it caused an accident threat, so they hinted that the remainder of the show might be jeopardized if the plane didn’t leave.

And we haven’t seen it since!

Like any public place that hosts a lot of mass gatherings, The Vet changed over the years. It’s Astro Turf was the worst in sports, the occupants of the stadium’s highest level (The 700) developed a rowdy rep for decades. And the fans were so “spirited” they turned an empty basement room into a courtroom. And a jail.

Doesn’t get more Philly than that!

So when those rhythmic BOOMS were set off those twenty years ago, a little bit of all of us came down with it. And we at WMMR (mostly) enjoyed the entire ride!

- Kevin Gunn, MMR Legend