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The 1993 Philles: Behind the Baseball

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In the summer of 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed invincible to many in the baseball world. But all of that came to a screeching halt one night in October. And no, I’m not talking about the infamous home run no Phillies fan should be forced to rewatch. The fact is, Joe Carter’s walk-off home run was a foregone conclusion; a moment sealed in fate by events that unfolded just days earlier. It was October 20, 1993.  The Phillies appeared to have game 4 of the World Series sewn up with a five run lead going into the late innings. A Phillies win would have tied up the series at 2, with one game left in Philadelphia, and potentially 2 more in Toronto. But in the top of the eighth, all hell broke loose, robbing Phillies fans of much of their hope of capping off what had been an incredible season with the franchise’s second World Series win in its 110 year history in the major leagues. Riding High Phillies fever swept through the Delaware Valley in the summer of 1993. That season Phillie
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Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Buy the Philadelphia Phillies Before the 1943 Season

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Did Bill Veeck really have a plan to integrate Major League Baseball as early as 1943? Some fans and baseball writers will repeat without question or criticism Veeck's boast concerning his alleged attempt to buy the hapless Philadelphia Phillies after the 1942 season. Veeck first made this claim in is 1962 autobiography, "Veeck, as in Wreck."   Veeck's Plan to Integrate Baseball   Veeck asserted that he worked with others, including Harlem Globetrotters owner and sports agent, Abe Saperstein and an African-American sports editor of the Chicago Defender, Doc Young, to field a baseball team made up of Negro League All-Stars, such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. Once he had bought the Phillies, Veeck would have replaced all of the players with a baseball team made up entirely of these Negro League Stars. Had the plan been successful, Veeck boasted that he would have turned the Phillies from a perennial basement dweller to a pennant winner.   Efforts to Keep Baseball Se
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Quakers Pitcher Charlie Ferguson, Becomes indelibly Written into Philadelphia Baseball History: August 29, 1885

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As Charlie Ferguson sat on the bench, the twenty-two year old must have had butterflies in his stomach.   He turned in a remarkable pitching performance, having gone a full nine innings for the Philadelphia Quakers, one of the nicknames that the Phillies were known by until about 1890, and not a single member of the Providence Grays had gotten a hit off of him.   Unfortunately, the Quakers’ offense was just as anemic as the Grays’ was that day.   And so, on this August 29, 1885, Charlie Ferguson would have to sit and wait, and even be ready to go out for a possible tenth inning. Charlie Ferguson's Opponents Had Been Involved in the First World Series The Quakers’ opponent was the Providence Grays, the reigning National League champions.   They had been involved in the first World Series, although, calling it that may give it a bit more of an air of formality than the series of matches really deserves.   Back in 1884, there were two separate major leagues.   There was the Nation
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When Phillies' Rick Wise No-Hit the Cincinnati Reds

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It was the bottom of the ninth, with two outs.  Although the Phillies had a four run lead, this was no time to relax.  One of the best hitters in the league, a former Rookie of the Year and two time batting title champion, had worked a full count.  Much was riding on this next pitch. The man on the mound, however, had been preparing his whole life for this moment.  Just thirteen years earlier, at age twelve, he had led his team to the Little League World Series.  Three years after that, he became only the second player to pitchers  a no-hitter in the Babe Ruth World series.  Major league scouts had shown interest in the teenaged Rick Wise, for quite some time.  One scout even pressured Wise's parents to sign a major league contract for their minor son on the spot, warning that his value could only decrease if Rick had a bad game.  In his next game, Wise proceeded to strike out twenty-two batters in nine innings. June 23, 1971 would prove to be a defining moment in Rick Wise's c
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Tim McCarver's Grand Slam that Wasn't

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It's a shame that nothing like YouTube was around in the 1970s.  Because if it were, I'm sure that the play I want to discuss would have gone viral.  It was that unusual, and it was that entertaining.  It happened on July 4, 1976, when I was about two weeks shy of my fifth birthday.  So I don't have any independent memory of it.  But, it gave my father and my grandfather such a kick, that they talked about it for years afterward.  And that is Tim McCarver's grand slam that wasn't. Most young baseball fans know Tim McCarver as a broadcaster.  He only retired seven years ago.  But before his TV career, McCarver was a fan favorite among the Phillies faithful.  In fact, he was the player who introduced the world to the Phillie Phanatic in 1978, on the popular local kids' TV show on Channel Six, Captain Noah and His Magical Ark. McCarver had two stints with the Phillies.  The Phillies first acquired McCarver in 1970 from the Cardinals.  He was part of that infa
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