|
Little Known Facts:
Team Factoids
•The Phillies nickname is the oldest in continuous use by a professional baseball team from any league. There have been two unofficial nicknames used by the Phillies, including the Philadelphia Quakers (1883-1889) and the Philadelphia Blue Jays (1944-1945).
•Richie Ashburn had an accidental mishap take place in 1957. One of his foul balls hit spectator Alice Roth, wife of the Philadelphia Bulletin sports editor Earl Roth, breaking her nose. Adding insult to injury, Ashburn hit Alice Roth again with a second foul ball as she was leaving the park on a stretcher. He spent 1948-1959 with the Phillies until being sold to the Chicago Cubs.
•The name Phillies derived from the classic Philadelphia name of “Athletics” was already used by the American Association, the team was just called the Philadelphias until the name was shortened to Phillies.
•Phillies fans have a notorious reputation of rowdiness. In the 1960’s, visiting announcers from visiting teams would frequently comment on the numerous fighting that would break out in the stands. At the last game at Connie Mack Stadium, fans ran onto the field, dislodging parts of the stadium to bring home with them as souvenirs.
Interesting Tidbits
•The Phillies have a long list of celebrity fans from Kevin Bacon, Tina Fey and Bill Cosby to Tim McGraw, Will Smith and Art Garfunkel. Other fans include Ryan Phillippe, Samuel Alito and Kevin Eubanks to name a few.
•The Phillies were the first pro baseball team to join the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership Program. The program helps motivate organizations to purchase green power to help minimize their effects on the environment. The Phillies’ green power purchase is the largest in professional sports, giving them the current record for green energy.
|
|
Championships
The Phillies won one World Series title in 1980, five National League Pennants (1915, 1950, 1980, 1983 and 1993) and seven East Division titles (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1993 and 2007). They have yet to attain a Wild Card berth.
Famous Players
The Philadelphia Phillies are members of the East Division in the National League of professional baseball. They were established in 1883 and are one of the few teams to have remained in their home city. They are also the oldest team to have kept their name over the stretch of their professional baseball time. Al Reach and John Rodgers won an expansion franchise for Philadelphia to be placed in the National League, and took the Worcester Brown Stockings and made them into the Quakers. They did not do well at first having an opening record of 17-98 which is still the worst record in franchise history. The following year, Harry Wright was recruited as manager of the team to help bring them out of the rut. It was during this time that the team was renamed the “Phillies” to reflect their home town.
Koufax, Campanella and Robinson were the first Dodgers players to have their numbers retired. They all retired in a ceremony that took place at Dodger Stadium on June 4, 1972.
Team History
The
Philadelphia Phillies are members of the East Division in the National League of professional baseball. They were established in 1883 and are one of the few teams to have remained in their home city. They are also the oldest team to have kept their name over the stretch of their professional baseball time. Al Reach and John Rodgers won an expansion franchise for Philadelphia to be placed in the National League, and took the Worcester Brown Stockings and made them into the Quakers. They did not do well at first having an opening record of 17-98, the worst record in franchise history. The following year, Harry Wright was recruited as manager of the team to help bring them out of the rut. It was during this time that the team was renamed the “Phillies” to reflect their home town.
In the early 1900’s, the Phillies saw many of their teammates switch over to their crosstown rivals the Athletics. The team had more bad luck during this time, including a collapsed balcony that killed 12 fans and injured more than 200 others. Reach and Rodgers were forced to sell the team as opposed to keep them and run the risk of getting sued. During this time, the Phillies had a number of successful pitchers including Chick Fraser and John Lush, bringing in many no-hitters. Their first series game against the A’s came in 1903, making it one of the most popular attractions in Philadelphia. By the end of the decade, the team was starting to gain speed in the National League, bringing them up from dead last.
The Phillies finally had their first shot at the World Series in 1915. Many attribute their National League Pennant win to Grover Cleveland Alexander’s pitching and Gavvy Cravath’s batting. Even with first year Manager Pat Moran, the team made a huge sweep at the pennant with a 90-62 record. The next National League Pennant win came 35 years later in 1950. In 1954, another major event took place in Philadelphia, when the Athletics moved to Kansas City, selling Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park) to the
Phillies, making them the only professional baseball team remaining in the area.
The highlight of the 1970’s included three consecutive East Division Titles in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Although none of them translated into a World Series victory, they were significant for the time because the team hadn’t witnessed very much success from the 1950’s through the 1960’s. The Phillies drafted Pete Rose in 1979, which gave them a huge boost in the following season. In the 1980 season, the Phillies were sputtering at the beginning, but toward the middle of the season were ablaze with wins. They went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals in six games for their first World Series Championship after 97 years. Since then they have yet to return another World Series win to the Philadelphia area.
The Phillies earned seven East Division Titles (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1993 and 2007) and five National League Pennants (1915, 1950, 1980, 1983 and 1993). Their current ballpark is Citizens Bank Park where they have played their home games since 2004. Prior to that, they played at Veterans Stadium (1971-2003), Connie Mack Stadium (1938-1970), Baker Bowl (1887-1938) and Recreation Park (1883-1886). They have gone through six different logos, finally settling on their current logo of the Liberty Bell with the word Phillies across the top. They have had this logo since 1992. The Phillies have a laundry list of celebrity fans that pay top dollar for
Phillies tickets just to get a glimpse of this historic team. The list includes Kevin Bacon, Bill Cosby, Tim McGraw, Ryan Phillippe, Rob Reiner, Will Smith, Jamie Kennedy and many others.
Find Philadelphia Phillies Tickets Now!
