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 e...

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 ...

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 y...

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 k...

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...