For many players, Philadelphia becomes merely a second home. What we aim to do with the "Philadelphia Baseball Ghosts" series is take a look at those who are born within Philadelphia city limits before they set off on their grand baseball adventure somewhere else in the vast, horrible world. In past editions, we looked at William "Yank" Robinson and Harry "Socks" Seibold.
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John Francis "Phenomenal" Smith
DOB: December 12, 1864
What was happening in Philadelphia at the time: Philadelphia hosted The Great Sanitary Fair the year Smith was born, an event that was set up to get money funneled into the U.