Philadelphia Baseball History

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...

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,...

    “Big Bertha” was the nickname given to large German artillery guns used during the First World War.   It was also the nickname given to a 6’ 4” tall, 240 pound navy veteran hailing from Tyler, Texas named Louis Napoleon Santop. Gifted with explosive power both behind the plate and at the plate, Santop was the premiere catcher and power hitter in African-American baseball in the pre- and early negro league era. In pre-game warm-ups, Santop entertained the crowd with an exhibition of his arm strength, throwing a baseball over the centerfield fence, and then randomly throwing to each of the bases, all while in the crouched position behind the plate. At the plate, Santop hit massive line-drives in the dead ball era.   It has been said that he could call his shots long before Babe Ruth did it in the 1932 World Series, and even hit one home run about 500 feet. At age twenty, Santop made-up half of the “kid battery” of the 1910 Philadelphia Giants,...