Philadelphia Baseball History

As Charlie Ferguson sat on the bench, the twenty-two year old must have had butterflies in his stomach.   He turned in a remarkable pitching performance, having gone a full nine innings for the Philadelphia Quakers, one of the nicknames that the Phillies were known by until about 1890, and not a single member of the Providence Grays had gotten a hit off of him.   Unfortunately, the Quakers’ offense was just as anemic as the Grays’ was that day.   And so, on this August 29, 1885, Charlie Ferguson would have to sit and wait, and even be ready to go out for a possible tenth inning. Charlie Ferguson's Opponents Had Been Involved in the First World Series The Quakers’ opponent was the Providence Grays, the reigning National League champions.   They had been involved in the first World Series, although, calling it that may give it a bit more of an air of formality than the series of matches really deserves.   Back in 1884, there were two separate major leagues. ...

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...

Last year, three players, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, signed contracts worth in excess of $25 million per year to play baseball.   When baseball players sign such record breaking contracts, you often hear someone complain about our nation’s priorities, decrying that we value sports stars more than teachers. Of course, paying big money for star players is nothing new in baseball.   In 1925, Connie Mack paid $100,600 so Robert “Lefty” Grove could play for his Philadelphia Athletics.   That would be worth approximately $1.5 million in 2020.   This was the highest amount paid for a player at that time, exceeding even the $100,000 the Yankees paid the Red Sox for Babe Ruth in 1920 (estimates place the value of the Babe Ruth sale between $1.3 million and $1.5 million adjusted for inflation).   The problem, however, is that Lefty Grove received none of that money.   In 1925, Mack paid Grove a mere $6,500 (worth approximately $97,000 in 2020...

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...

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...