Philadelphia Baseball History

At the end of the Nineteenth Century, the Phillies had one of the best outfields of all time: Ed Delahanty, Slidin' Billy Hamilton and Sam Thompson.  All three are in the Hall of Fame.  Nap Lajoie and Elmer Flick intimidated pitchers.  They are in the Hall of Fame.  For the 1930s, the Phillies are represented in the Hall by Chuck Klein.  Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Jim Bunning, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Roy Halladay.  Most eras have some Phillies representation. But then you think about the early Twentieth Century, from 1901 through 1928 (when Chuck Klein joined the team).  Yes, there is Grover Cleveland Alexander and Eppa Rixey.  But both spent a considerable amount of time pitching for other teams.  There is Dave Bancroft.  But his numbers for his time in Philadelphia aren't impressive at all.  He made the Hall of Fame due to the strength of his time with the New York Giants.  Really, there aren't any great Phillies...

As a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you know when a certain baseball player consistently plays well against your team.  It's the guy who gives you a sinking feeling in your stomach whenever he comes to the plate, or takes the mound against the Phils.  We call them “Phillies Killers.” One such Phillies Killer back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, whom I remember giving me agita, was Pirates relief pitcher, Kent Tekulve. Kent Tekulve Was a Phillies Killer To set the stage, in the five season from 1976 through 1980, the Phillies won the NL East four times.  The only year another team captured the division championship during that span was 1979, when the Pirates won the World Series. In fact, from 1976 to 1978, the Pirates finished second in the division, right on the tail of the Phillies.  During that time, their late inning relief workhorse was one Kent Tekulve. Kent Tekulve’s Time with the Pittsburgh Pirates Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Telkuve debuted for the P...

It was late in the season in 2017.  The Phillies had already traded away the last of the members of the 2008 World Championship team.  Despite a fast start in April, including a six game winning streak at the end of the month, this was clearly a rebuilding year.  This was the second full season for team President Andy MacPhail and General Manager Matt Klentak, and while fans were asked to endure some difficult times, there was supposedly promise in the years to come.  Analysts promised fans that there was talent in the minor league system, just waiting to burst through and bring contention to the Phillies.  One such prospect was Rhys Hoskins. A fifth round draft pick in 2014, Hoskins impressed with his offensive prowess in the minors.  In 2015, spending half his season each at low A Lakewood, and high A Clearwater, Hoskins batted .319 with 17 home runs.  In the next season, he developed his power with AA Reading, hitting 38 home runs, just 2 behind...

“Meet me at the statue of the guy sliding into second.”   That’s what my friends and I often said to each other when we planned to take the subway down to Broad and Patterson to see a Phillies game.   The statue was right next to a ticket office, where we might sometimes splurge and ask for the best available seats.   Usually, however, we spent our time in the cheap seats in the upper deck. Veterans Stadium opened in 1971; a multipurpose stadium that seated over 70,000 for baseball and football games.   Considered state of the art at the time, it boasted two electronic scoreboards that could make cartoonish faces to represent the players on the field, and incite the crowd to cheer after critical plays. AstroTurf served as the playing surface, following the trend of time.   The Vet also almost became a dome, as Philadelphia craved the honor of hosting a Super Bowl one day. But Veterans Stadium was to be more than just merely the new steel and concrete...