Philadelphia Baseball History

It may seem like odd timing. For years, the Phillies have been silent over talk at the Winter Meetings.  And that silence made sense. The Phillies had nothing to offer. Up until last September, the Phillies had nothing in their system worth discussing. But now, the Phillies prospects, including Nick Williams, Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro and J.P. Crawford have all shown that they can perform at the major league level. Now it is time for more serious discussions. What would it cost to turn the Phillies into a contender now by the acquisition of Manny Machado and Jake Arietta? For Machado, it makes sense to try to make a deal now. Machado is a free agent next year.  The Orioles will loose all value they may have in him. If the Orioles could find an interested trading partner now, at least Baltimore can salvage something. Connecting the Phillies to any potential Machado deal is interesting. With the disappointing play of Mikail Franco, third base currently represents the Phillies’ b

Despite a career average of .292, 351 total home runs, 1,119 total RBIs, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year award, seven All-Star appearances, and the 1972 AL MVP award, during his fifteen years of eligibility of 1982 through 1997, Dick Allen never garnered more than 20% of the vote from the BBWAA for Hall of Fame induction. The oft-cited reason for this has been the character issue. Baseball writers viewed Allen as a divisive figure in the clubhouse. Bill James has accused Allen of “manipulat[ing] racism as an explosive to blow his teams apart.” But far from manipulating racism, Allen was a victim of racism, who was saddled with an undeserved reputation because of his reactions to regrettable treatment by players and fans alike.  Allen broke into the major leagues in Philadelphia, a city Curt Flood described as “[t]he nation’s northernmost southern city.”  Philadelphia was infamous for its treatment of Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier in 1947. The Phillies, led b

Joe Morgan set the baseball world ablaze this week when he emailed BBWAA voters a letter stating that known steroid users do not belong in the Hall of Fame.  Morgan argued that PED users cheated to post big numbers, and in the process made the numbers of players who were clean look small by comparison. Morgan claimed that his opinion represented his only his own thoughts.  But the fact that he signed it as the Vice Chairman of the Hall of Fame, used a Hall of Fame email address, and sent it to an email list only the Hall had led many to believe that Morgan was speaking on behalf of the Hall itself.  Sportswriters also argued that Morgan's letter represented an attempt to counter the rising support Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have enjoyed, both having received over 50% of the vote last year. Morgan's letter erupted a firestorm of debate.  Some, like Intentional Talk host Chris Rose, criticized Morgan's letter as sanctimonious.  Others wholeheartedly agreed, calling f

Could interleague play have been meant to condition fans for an eventual major realignment? There was a time when the two major leagues were completely separate.   They had separate rules.   They hired separate umpires.   They had a separate organization structure.   American League owners met and voted on American League issues. Likewise for National League owners.   They were two completely distinct organizations whose teams only met for the annual All-Star Game and in the World Series. This is the reason why baseball has two Rookies of the Year, two Most Valuable Players and two Cy Young Award winners; one for each league. When expansion happened in 1961, it was an American League issue.   The American League owners voted on it, and two American League teams were added.   Likewise, when expansion occurred again in 1962, it was a National League issue.   National League owners voted on it, and two National League teams were added. This leagues existed like this, side

The imposing figure on the mound was familiar to the Shibe Park faithful, but not in the uniform he currently wore and not in the position he was playing.  It was 1945.  Jimmie Foxx had returned to Philadelphia, but this time with the Phillies (who were calling themselves the Blue Jays informally). World War II was still raging.  Although President Franklin Roosevelt insisted that baseball continue during the war, it ranks had been depleted.  With the likes of Ted Willliams, Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio joining the war effort, many teams struggled to put players on the field.  Many older players, like Foxx, found their career extended as a result. Foxx, known in his prime as The Beast or  Double X, saw his skills begin to diminish around 1941.  He played for the Cubs for a few years mostly as a pinch hitter, before joining the Phillies.  Now he was being asked to round out the Phillies' pitching staff as the season, and Foxx's playing career, wound down. The pride of Su

In the midst of an up and down season, the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves six games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in August of 1980.  It was a critical moment in Phillies history.  The Phillies had won the National League East Division in 1976, 1977 and 1978, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs.  Pete Rose was signed as a free agent in 1979 to help the Phillies get over the hump, and make it to the World Series.  The plan did not work in 1979, as the Phillies saw their division rivals, the Pirates, take the division, and go on to beat the Orioles in the World Series.  If this crew of talented veterans was going to win it all for the City of Philadelphia, time was running short. The Phillies roared back into contention in the months of August and September.  The charge was led by future Hall of Famers Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt.  But te Phillies found help from an unlikely source.  September call-up, Marty Bystrom, proceeded to win all five games that he pitc

It was the late seventies. As a seven or eight year old boy, I was excited to see my favorite baseball player, the Bull, Greg Luzinski, come to the Kiddie City on Erie Avenue near the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia. But the Bull was suffering from an injury that day, and couldn’t make it. In his place, the Phillies sent their star catcher, Bob Boone.  Sure, I was disappointed Luzinski couldn’t make it. But everyone knew Bob Boone. By 1979, he had already been an All-Star three times. He may not have been a serious offensive threat. But he did win Gold Gloves in 1978 and 1979.  And so, Boone showed up. He climbed up on to the temporary stage they had built in the Kiddie City parking lot, and demonstrated some toy. I think it was one of those machines that lobbed a plastic ball in the air that you then hit with a plastic bat. Of course, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t there to buy a new toy. I was there to meet one of the players on my favorite team.  Afterwards, Boone was

Baseball, having evolved from the game of rounders, is at its heart a child’s game. Growing up in the city, it was easy to start a baseball game. All you needed was a stick in a rubber ball for equipment. Gather a few friends. Find an open space such as an empty lot, or even a quiet city street where a car’s bumper would serve as a base. Boom! You have a ball game. It should be of no surprise, therefore, that this children’s game has attracted many children at heart to play professionally. The childish exploits of the great babe Ruth, and his soft spot for children fans, are well known in the baseball world. But child-like exploits as an adult often go hand-in-hand with child-like irresponsibility. And this could be a problem when a grown man cannot control his behavior, or curb child-like excesses. It often takes great patience to see the potential in such a player. Such was the case of George Edward “Rube” Waddell.  Waddell’s child-like exploits are well-known. Waddell has

It’s a trade that most likely would not have happened in the era of free agency. There were two pitchers, both in the mid-twenties, both of whom had relatively good success with their respective teams. And both thought they deserved a substantial raise.  But these were the days of the dreaded reserve clause; that contractual device slipped into every players’ contract that bound the player to the last team he played for in perpetuity.  The reserve clause, interestingly, was not always met with derision by the players. In the very early days of professional baseball, it was only inserted in the contracts of the very best players. If your contract had a reserve clause, that meant your team valued your play, which was a compliment.  But as the reserve clause was extended to cover all professional baseball players’ contracts, the real world effects became obvious. The owners had all the leverage when it came to salary. Whether a player would get a raise depended more on the g

10.  Game One of the 1915 World Series The Phillies took the National League by surprise winning the pennant in 1915, led by the bats of Gavvy Cravath and Fred Luderus. Game One of the World Series took place in the Baker Bowl, pitting 31 game winner Grover Cleveland Alexander against the Boston Red Sox’s 19 game winner, Ernie Shore.  Alexander kept Boston to one run, while the Phillies scored three for the victory. This was the Phillies’ first World Series win. It would prove to be their last for the next 65 years, as the Red Sox took the next four games to win the series. With the Yankees sweeping the Whiz Kids team of 1950, Phillies fans would have to wait until 1980 for the team to win another World Series game.  9. Game Five of the 1993 World Series The 1993 Phillies may not have won the World Series; but they won a special place in the hearts of Phillies fans. Starting strong with a 17-5 record in the month of April, the team never looked back. After bestin