Philadelphia Baseball History

October 21, 1993, my seats were high up in the 700 level of Veterans' Stadium. I had to strain my neck to look behind me if I wanted to see the replay on Phanavision. Of course, it didn't matter. Nor did I mind that no one actually sat during the entire three hour contest. It was game five of the World Series. The night before the Phillies had just blown a five run lead to fall behind the Blue Jays three games to one. The Phillies play-off life was in the balance. To the mound, Manager Jim Fregosi sent Curt Schilling. Schilling had been named Most Valuable Player of the NLCS, despite not earning a single win in the series. Instead, he went eight innings in both games he pitched, giving up only two runs. Yielding the mound to the Wild Thing, Mitch Williams, Schilling watched from the dugout, towel over his head, as the closer blew both saves. His 1.69 ERA was still enough for Schilling to win the MVP. As Schilling took the mound, we the fans knew that he was determined to see i

It’s the off-season again, and we are heading into the Major League’s Winter Meetings.   Not surprisingly, there are rumblings of “tanking” being heard across the land, and proposals on how to combat this evil.   But before falling for the arguments and the proposals, consider the true source of the accusations.   Are teams really risking their box office draw by being bad?   Or is “tanking” just the latest ruse meant to benefit marginal players reaching free agency years. Free agency is a ticket many players see to greater wealth.   A player spends a few years under the control of their team.   Then, once they have a track record of being a consistent major league player, the door is open to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts.   And of course the representatives of the players, the agents who negotiate their contracts, like this arrangement, as they get a cut of their employees’ pay.   Financially, then, there is an incentive among established players and their agents to

Yesterday, pitchers and catchers reported for the Phillies, opening Spring Training and the 2017 campaign. The Phillies are coming into 2017 with somewhat higher expectations than last year. While few expect the Phillies to contend for a play-off spot, many see .500 as a reachable goal. Why so many feel that an appropriate measure of success for this year's team is the number of wins is beyond me. The fact remains that the Phillies are a young team, with a number of promising prospects still developing in the minor leagues. To be sure, the Phillies appear to have improved by addressing offensive weakness in the outfield. They did so by signing veterans Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders to one year deals, with the team having the option to extend Saunders for another year. But the Phillies have young outfield talent in the organization. Aaron Altherr is expected to be available off the bench in the majors. Roman Quinn, Nick Williams and Dylan Cozens are expected to hone their craf

Going into the 2016 baseball season, we all knew that the Phillies were not likely going to be competitive. The fact is that neglect of the farm system from the front office combined with the aging of the star players from the 2008 World Championship team left the Phillies depleted. A sad comment on the organization was that the highlight of the 2015 season was the firing of Ruben Amaro, Jr. as the General Manager. Although there was a degree of optimism when Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak took over the front office, the amount of damage done to the Phillies organization meant that there would be no quick fix. Many pundits picked the Phils to lose 100 games in 2017.   Surprising many, the Phillies not only avoided losing 100 games, but also climbed out of the basement of the National League East, finishing with a better record than the Atlanta Braves. Along the way, the Phillies showed signs of improvement, giving their fans hope for a better future. This season may not have

Baseball teams did not always employ a closer.   There was a time when a relief pitcher came out of the bullpen to rescue a starter who had gotten into trouble in the middle to late innings, and pitch two, three, four innings to finish out a game.   The conventional wisdom was to employ a good balance of left-handed and right-handed arms to put out the fire when a team found itself in a jam. Such was the case for the Phillies in the mid to late seventies, when they began their rise to dominance in the National League East.   While Phillies fans today can all identify left-hander Tug McGaw’s iconic celebration after striking out Willie Wilson to win the team’s first ever World Series in 1980, few may recall his right-handed cohort who helped the Phils emerge from perennial basement dwellers to a force to be reckoned with in the National League.   That Phillies pitching arsenal included a quality right-hander, Gene Garber. Garber may best be known for his years with the Brave

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Rick Wise faced the Reds’ right fielder for the final out.   Up until this point, the only blemish on Wise’s performance had been a sixth inning walk to shortstop Dave Concepcion.   In order to preserve the no-hitter, and make history, Wise would have to retire one of the most dangerous hitters, and indeed, the eventual Major League hit king, Pete Rose. The Phillies led 4-0.   Three of those runs were driven in by Wise himself, with a two run home run in the fifth and a solo shot in the eighth. But now Wise bore down on Rose.   With a full count, Rose hit a line shot, right at third baseman John Vukovich.   The date was June 23, 1971.   It would be another nineteen years before another Phillies pitcher would throw a no-hitter. Despite an All-Star season, where Wise won seventeen games and posted a 2.88 ERA, he would not return to a Phillies uniform in 1972.   Instead, Rick Wise would forever be known as the answer to a trivia que

When you think of great Philadelphia Phillies pitchers, certain names come to mind right away.   They are certainly the trio of Hall of Fame pitchers who have had their numbers retired, Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts and Jim Bunning.   I am sure some of you think of the more recent dominating Phillies arms, like Cole Hammels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.   If you reach back twenty years, you can come up with Curt Schilling and Terry Mulholland.   Still more of you can remember the likes of Jim Kaat and Chris Short. But who can remember the only relief pitcher to win the National League Most Valuable Player award?   For that, you have to reach back to the 1950 Whiz Kids, and a former Phys Ed teacher named Jim Konstanty. Hailing from Strykersville, NY, Konstanty was a sports star in his high school and with Syracuse University.   Signed by the Reds, Konstanty played three seasons with their AA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, until he was called up in 1944.     That year, he w

Live In the moment.  You hear that advice from a lot of self help gurus. Don't dwell on the past.  Don't worry about the future. Be happy with the now. This is advice that Phillies fans need to take to heart.  In the second month of the season, the Phillies are seven games above .500.  Sure, there have been a lot of games where the Phillies have been blown out.  But there have been an awful lot more of really exciting games where the Phillies have eaked out victory. It has been fun to watch young players trying hard to keep their spot on the major-league roster. It has been fun to see a starting rotation that has performed above expectations.  It has been fun to see a bullpen that has become consistently reliable.  It has been fun to see those who made allegations of tanking be proven wrong. Is this pace sustainable? Are the Phillies playing above their heads? In the long term can they compete with the Nationals and the Mets for the whole season? I don't care. The fact is t

In last night's game with the Braves, Phillies outfielde, Tyler Goeddel went 1 for 4 with a single. While his sixth hit of the season was encouraging, his other three at-bats, despite being outs, were equally encouraging. That is because he put the ball in play all three times.  Goeddel came into the game last night having only played in 17 other games, and striking out 11 times. Early in the season, Goeddel was only being used in games against left-handers, which severely limited his playing time.  More recently, Pete Mackannin has given Goeddel more playing time, including the last game against the Marlins, where Goeddel had a double and 2 RBIs. Goeddel is hitting .167, and for a team that is having its offensive struggles with outfielders, it may seem strange to say he needs more playing time. But the Phillies picked up Goeddel in this winter's Rule 5 draft, and he is still a player in development.  In the Rule 5 draft, any team can pick any player from another team's or

At 18-14, this Phillies team has been fun to watch.   Some might even say surprising.   Although, for those who were paying attention in Spring Training, this early season success isn’t that surprising.   This was a team that, according to some pundits, was supposed to be tanking.   Yet the Phils sprinted out to a 10-3 record in the early Spring, and it looked like they didn’t know that they were supposed to lose.   Now, just as the early Spring Training success signaled cautious optimism, so too should this early season success.   There are still over 100 games to go in the regular season.   Nonetheless, watching the pundits react with surprise has been amusing.   Sportswriters, quite frankly, are not known for original thought.   Pre-season prognostication of gloom and doom appeared to be nothing more than lazy group think.   Many of the predictions were based on the dismal 2015 season.   Indeed, ESPN in one article noted that few of the players from the 2015 team were retur

For Phillies fans, it's easy to get cynical. The team is off to a 1-4 start. The offense is anemic. The bullpen can't keep a lead. After less than a week, it's looking like everyone who picked the Phils to finish 30th out of 30 teams was right on target.  Of course, it's a long season. There are 157 games left to be played. Teams have ups and downs throughout the season. And if there is any encouraging news in this first week, it's the staring pitching.  Hellickson, Nola and Eickhoff all had solid outings. Velasquez announced his presence with authority blanking the reigning NL Champions with 9 strike outs.  Even with Morton's rocky start, Phillies starting pitching is sixth in in ERA (2.93), fourth in opponents' batting average (.194) and third in WHIP (.98).  Two of the staring pitchers, Hellickson and Velasquez, have a zero ERA.  Offensively, Franco is hitting .286 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Howard has 2 home runs. With 359 career home runs, Howard just

(Photo by Yong Kim, philly.com) It's only spring.  (The Phillies are 10-3-2 in Spring Training games.) These games don't count.  (They are ties with Toronto in the Grapefruit League and Arizona in the Cactus League for most wins.) You have to temper your expectations.  (Maikel Franco is hitting .346 with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs.) This is a young pitching staff, and you can't expect much.  (Vince Velasquez has a monster fastball and has struck out 9 in 9 innings of work.  In 8 innings, Brett Oberholtzer is yet to give up a run, and has a WHIP of 1.13.) We can't expect them to score runs.  (The Phillies are second only to Arizona in runs scored in Spring Training, with 89.) Teams don't play their best players in Spring Training.  (Adam Morton blanked the presumptive Yankees starting line-up yesterday in 4 innings of work.) And everyone who is anyone is picking the Phillies to come in dead last for the foreseeable future.  (Did I mention they are 10-3-2

I have to admit, personally I feel disappointed. Last year, in late September, I sat in the nosebleed section of Nationals Park with my daughter and a group of her friends when the Phillies came to DC. I remember distinctly when Arron Altherr hit a line drive to centerfield with the bases loaded and Michael Taylor misplayed it.  Altherr turned on the speed and almost ran over Jared Eickhoff on the base pads. The result was an inside the park grand-slam home run. I have been a fan ever since. Altherr was likely to make the major-league roster as a starting outfielder this year. In a spring training game, he dove to try to catch a fly ball and landed awkwardly on his left wrist. Now he needs surgery to repair a torn tendon in the wrist, and will mess 4 to 6 months in recovery. I feel bad for Altherr. I pray that this is nothing more than a minor setback in what hopes to be a fine major league career. I was certainly looking forward to see how he would handle a full seas

Even the casual Phillies fan knows about Mike Schmidt’s accomplishments.   In his 18 year career, he hit 548 home runs, knocked in 1,595 RBIs, and had 2,234 hits.   Up until 2014, Schmidt was the all-time Phillies hit leader, when Jimmy Rollins passed him.   He was an eleven time all-star, with a home run in the 1981 hit fest that took place in Cleveland.   Three times Schmidt earned the NL MVP award, and ten times he won the gold glove award for his defensive prowess at third base.   He was the MVP of the first Phillies World Championship in 1980, and elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994.   In fact, many Phillies fans remember fondly the 1994 induction ceremony, when both Schmidt and Phillies favorite Richie Ashburn were inducted together. But Schmidt has one more amazing accomplishment.   He spent his entire 18 year career with one team, the Philadelphia Phillies.   To put into perspective how rare this is, in the entire history of major league