On May 1, 1883, the Philadelphia Quakers took the field against the Providence Grays, launching a franchise that still plays today under the name Phillies. The Quakers lost that game, 4-3. They then got swept by Providence, including a 24-6 drubbing on May 3.
For fans, it was a sign of things to come. The Quakers went 4-13 under manager Bob Ferguson, who the team then fired. After that, they went 13-68-1 under manager Blondie Purcell. The team finished the year 17-81-1 and in last place. The silver lining is that this remains the worst performance in team history.
In 1890, the team changed its name to Phillies. They’ve stuck with that name ever since while giving fans some amazing moments. Here’s a look at five that stand out as some of the best moments in Philadelphia Phillies baseball.
The 1915 Pennant
In 1915, the Phillies won the team’s first National League pennant. They won 90 games and finished seven games ahead of the Boston Braves. The pitcher Grover “Pete” Alexander starred for the team. He won 31 games and finished the season with a 1.22 ERA. In the 1915 World Series, the team lost, 4-1, to the Boston Red Sox. The only win came in Game 1 with Alexander on the mound.
Grover “Pete” Alexander MLB Career & Early Life
The 1950 Pennant
The Phillies traded Alexander in 1917 for Pickles Dillhoefer (who had just 11 at-bats for the club and got traded away in 1918), Mike Prendergast (who won 13 games in 1917 and left baseball in 1918) and $55,000. That trade, which fans rank as one of the team’s worst, started a slide that saw the Phillies have just one winning season (1932) in the next 32 years.
That all changed in 1950. The Phillies won the National League pennant, beating out the Brooklyn Dodgers by two games. The team, nicknamed the Whiz Kids, lost the World Series in a sweep to the New York Yankees. But the season ended one of the longest bad streaks in baseball history, making this team of young players a Phillies favorite.
Yankees World Series Wins 1903 - Present
The 1980 Championship
The Phillies won their first World Championship in the team’s 97th season, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-2. Mike Schmidt, one of the greatest Phillies in history, won the Most Valuable Player award after hitting .381 in the series with two home runs and seven RBI. The win ended what many fans considered almost a century of (at times) bad baseball and (at other times) really bad luck, with the exceptions of 1915 and 1950.
Back-To-Back Pennants
The Phillies went through a golden era at the start of the 21st century. The team won pennants in 2008 and 2009, winning the World Series in 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays. For 10 straight seasons (2003-2012) the team never had a losing record and made the playoffs in five straight seasons (2007-2011).
Great Individual Moments
Phillies fans have had the chance to see many great players over the years. Some of the milestones reached by those players include the following, which rank among the best moments in Philadelphia Phillies baseball.
- Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter in a 2010 playoff game against the Cincinnati Red, becoming just the second player in baseball history to throw a no-hitter in the playoffs (the Yankees’ Don Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series).
- Steve Carlton won his 241st game as Phillies pitcher in 1986, making him the all-time team leader in wins.
- Ryan Howard set the team’s single-season homerun record with 58 dingers in 2006.
- Starter Robin Roberts led the league in wins four straight years, 1952-1955. He remains the best pitcher in Phillies history by WAR (wins above replacement).
- Jimmy Rollins passed Schmidt as the all-time team hits leader in 2014, getting a single in a game against the Chicago Cubs. Rollins had 2,306 hits with the Phillies before playing his last two seasons for other teams. Rollins also has the team’s most at-bats (8,628) and doubles (479).
- In 1885, Quakers pitcher Charles Ferguson threw the team’s first no-hitter, a 1-0 victory on Aug. 29 against the Grays.
Don Larsen Early Life and MLB Career
The Phillies rank among the most important and historic clubs in MLB history. They have a remarkable, unbroken streak of playing in the same city in three different centuries. Fans can look forward to adding more best moments in Philadelphia Phillies baseball history in the years to come.
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