Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are in the Eastern Division of the National League.

Founded: 1883

Formerly known as: Philadelphia Quakers (1883-1889). Name changed to "Phillies" in 1890. Some newspapers tried to call them the Quakers in the 1910s, and during World War II, a poll selected "Blue Jays" as a new name, but neither stuck.

Home ballpark: Citizens Bank Park (2004-), a baseball-only field next to the former location of Veterans Stadium.

Former home ballparks: Veterans Stadium (1971-2003), Connie Mack Stadium/Shibe Park (1938-1970), Baker Bowl (1895-1938), Philadelphia Baseball Grounds (1887-1894), Recreation Park (1883-1886)

Uniform colors: Red and white

Logo design: A stylized "P".

Teams in Division: Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Washington Nationals

Playoff appearance (9): 1915, 1950, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1993

Wild Card titles won (0): none

Division titles won (6): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1993

National League pennants won (5): 1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993

World Series championships won (1): 1980

Franchise history

Founded in 1883, the National League's Philadelphia Phillies are the longest standing, one-name, one-location team in all professional American sports. Also, amongst franchises having played enough all time games to have eliminated most statistical anomalies, they are the worst team in the history of all American professional sports (in terms of winning percentage.)

Imaginitively named for a verbal shorthand of their city of residence ("Philly"), the Phillies replaced the Worcester, Massachusetts Worcesters in the National League. However, the team was not relocated - the Worcesters were ejected from the league, and the new Phillies were given their spot. The name has absolutely nothing to do with horses. Their initial owners were John Rodgers and Al Reach, the first ever professional baseball player according to many definitions.

The Phillies Franchise historically had four strong winning periods:

• the 1890s, when they featured one of the strongest outfields of all time in Hall of Famers Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson and Ed Delahanty. The 1894 team set an all-time mark for team batting average, but finished low in the standings due to weak pitching. The team still contended throughout the decade.
• the 1910s, winning the National League pennant in 1915 and contending for another three. These team featured Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and hitting stars Gavvy Cravath and Sherry Magee.
• the "Whiz Kids" of the 1950s, pennant winners in 1950 and contenders throughout. Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn (center fielder) and Robin Roberts (pitcher) played here.
• the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning quite a few division titles, two pennants, in 1980 and 1983, and one World Series, in 1980. This stands as the only World Series victory in the Phillies' 121 year history. This was a team with such notable names as Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Greg Luzinski, and Larry Bowa.

After Mike Schmidt retired in 1989, the Phillies had a decade of losing seasons, save for a World Series berth in 1993. Beloved by the city of Philadelphia, this team with names such as Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra also known as Nails, and Curt Schilling surprised the city and the nation with their achievements. Losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, giving the Canadians two consecutive World Series titles, was nonetheless disappointing. The team was often described as "shaggy," "unkempt" and "dirty." The previous year, noting the presence of the clean-cut Dale Murphy, Kruk himself described the team as "24 morons and one Mormon." Their character endeared them to Philadelphia, and attendance records were set the following season. But with that season's (1994) players' strike, most of the Phillies' fan base was greatly offended, and since then the Phillies have had little success either on the field or at the gate - the realignment of the Atlanta Braves into the National League East in 1994 having had a negative effect on both as the Braves have won the division every year since joining it, often by lopsided margins. Indeed, following their 1983 World Series loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the team neglected to post back-to-back winning seasons until finally doing so in 2003 and 2004; the 2004 team also was second in the NL East, only the third time the Phillies have finished that high since the 1994 realignment (including a joint second-place finish with the New York Mets in 1995).

Players of note

Baseball Hall of Famers

• Pete Alexander
• Sparky Anderson
• Richie Ashburn
• Dave Bancroft
• Chief Bender
• Dan Brouthers
• Jim Bunning
• Steve Carlton
• Roger Connor
• Ed Delahanty
• Hugh Duffy
• Johnny Evers
• Elmer Flick
• Jimmie Foxx
• Billy Hamilton
• Ferguson Jenkins
• Hughie Jennings
• Tim Keefe
• Chuck Klein
• Nap Lajoie
• Tommy McCarthy
• Joe Morgan
• Kid Nichols
• Tony Perez
• Eppa Rixey
• Robin Roberts
• Mike Schmidt
• Casey Stengel
• Sam Thompson
• Lloyd Waner
• Hack Wilson

Current players

• Bobby Abreu (RF)
• David Bell (3B)
• Marlon Byrd (CF)
• Pat Burrell (LF)
• Lou Collier (3B)
• Rheal Cormier (RP)
• Gavin Floyd (SP)
• Geoff Geary (RP)
• Doug Glanville (CF)
• Roberto Hernandez (RP)
• Ryan Howard (1B)
• Todd Jones (RP)
• Cory Lidle (SP)
• Mike Lieberthal (C)
• Ryan Madson (RP)
• Jason Michaels (LF)
• Kevin Millwood (SP)
• Eric Milton (SP)
• Brett Myers (SP)
• Vicente Padilla (SP)
• Brian Powell (RP)
• Todd Pratt (C)
• Félix Rodríguez (RP)
• Jimmy Rollins (SS)
• Jim Thome (1B)
• Billy Wagner (RP)
• Tim Worrell (RP)
• Randy Wolf (SP)
• Amaury Telemaco (RP)

Not to be forgotten

• Richie Allen (NL Rookie of the Year, 1964)
• Steve Bedrosian (NL Cy Young Award, 1987)
• Bob Boone
• Larry Bowa
• Johnny Callison (All-Star Game MVP, 1964)
• Dave Cash
• Darren Daulton
• John Denny (NL Cy Young Award, 1983)
• Bo Diaz
• Lenny Dykstra
• Del Enis
• Tony González
• Granny Hamner
• Jim Kaat
• Jim Konstanty (NL Most Valuable Player, 1950)
• John Kruk
• Greg Luzinski
• Sherry Magee
• Tug McGraw
• Scott Rolen (NL Rookie of the Year, 1997)
• Pete Rose
• Juan Samuel
• Jack Sanford (NL Rookie of the Year, 1957)
• Curt Schilling
• Chris Short
• Curt Simmons
• Tony Taylor
• Manny Trillo

Retired numbers

• Grover Cleveland Alexander (has retirement honors, as he played in the era prior to uniform numbers)
• Chuck Klein (has retirement honors)
• 1 Richie Ashburn
• 14 Jim Bunning
• 32 Steve Carlton
• 36 Robin Roberts
• 20 Mike Schmidt
• 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball)

Award Winners

• Most Valuable Player (5): Chuck Klein, 1932; Jim Konstanty, 1950; Mike Schmidt, 1980, 1981, 1986

• Cy Young Award (6): Steve Carlton, 1972, 1977, 1980, 1982; John Denny, 1983; Steve Bedrosian, 1987

• Rookie of the Year (3): Jack Sanford, 1957; Dick Allen, 1964; Scott Rolen, 1997

• The Sporting News Rookie of the Year (7): Del Ennis, 1946; Richie Ashburn, 1948; Jack Sanford, 1957; Dick Allen, 1964; Lonnie Smith, 1980; Juan Samuel, 1984; Scott Rolen, 1997

• Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award (2): Al Holland, 1983; Steve Bedrosian, 1987

• Ford Frick Award (2): By Saam, 1990; Harry Kalas, 2002

Minor League Affliates

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (AAA, International League)
• Reading Phillies (AA, Eastern League)
• Clearwater Threshers (High-A, Florida State League)
• Lakewood BlueClaws (A, South Atlantic League)
• Batavia Muckdogs (Short-Season A, New York-Penn League)
• GCL Phillies (Rookie, Gulf Coast League)

External links

• Philadelphia Phillies official web site (http://www.phillies.com)

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