Tagged: Winning Streaks
Blanton and the bullpen blanks the Mets as the Phils sweep their major rival in the East, 2-0.
For only the third time at home this season, the Phils have swept a series, doing it for the first time against a team not named the Nationals as they defeated the Mets with a 2-0 win over their ace Johan Santana.
The Phils took the lead in the bottom of the first as, on a 1-0 fastball, Jimmy Rollins hits a lead-off home run into the left field seats, his seventh home run of the year, to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. The game then developed into a pitchers’ duel between Phils’ starter Joe Blanton, who would give up only a single and a walk during his first five innings, while Mets’ starter Johan Santana would give up only one more hit, a single to Rollins, and a walk, after giving up the solo shot to Rollins, in five innings. The Mets then threathen to score in the sixth as they loaded the bases on a walk to Luis Castillo, a single to Santana, moving Castillo up to second base, a sacrfice bunt by Alex Cora, 5-4, moving both runners up a base, and a walk to Daniel Murphy, with only one man out. But Blanton was able to get out of the inning by getting the next batter, David Wright, to hit into a 4-6-3 double play, wiping out Murphy at second, to keep it a 1-0 ballgame. Then, in the Phils’ half of the sixth, with two men out, Chase Utley made it a 2-0 Phils’ lead by hitting an 0-2 fastball into the right field seats for a solo home run, his eighteenth home run of the year. After putting the Mets down in the seventh, although giving up a single, Blanton started off the eighth by giving up a single to Castillo. After striking out pinch hitter Gary Sheffield for the inning’s first out, Charlie Manuel replaces Blanton with J.C. Romero, to face Cora. Sadly, the move did not work as Romero hits Cora with his second pitch, moving Castillo up to second base, putting the tying run on base, with still one man out. Manuel then replaces Romero with Chan Ho Park, to face pinch hitter Fernando Tatis. Park got the job done as he got Tatis to hit into a 4-6-3 double play, the Phils’ third double play of the game, wiping out Cora at second, and keeping it a 2-0 Phils’ lead. In the ninth, Brad Lidge threw his sixteenth save of the season, as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side as he preserves the shut out.
Joe Blanton got the win as he pitched a strong seven and a third innings of shut out ball, giving up just four hits and three walks, while striking out five. His record is now 5-4 with his ERA reduced to 4.69. J.C. Romero pitched to one batter, hitting him. Chan Ho Park recored his fifth hold, as he pitched to one batter, getting a double play ball, as he pitched two-thirds of an inning. Brad Lidge recorded his sixteenth save of the season as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side. Johan Santana took the lost, as he went seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out three. His record is now 9-7 with an ERA of 3.29. Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless inning, walking a batter, while striking out one.
The Phils had only three hits in the game, with a resurging Jimmy Rollins collecting two of the three hits, a home run and a single, raising his average to .217, as he has gotten seven hits in his last four starts. Chase Utley has the Phils’ other hit, a solo home run. The win keeps the Phils a game ahead of the Marlins and four games ahead of both the Braves and the Mets.
The Phillies (42-37, 1st National League East) continue their ten-games home stand with a four-games series with the Reds (40-40, 4th National League Central). The first game of the series will start at 7:05 pm tonight and will be played at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils will send to the mound Coel Hamels (4-5, 4.98), who is coming off his worst start of the season, as he was pummeled by the Braves on July 1, giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out only one batter, in four innings of work, in the Phils’ 11-1 lost. The Phils will be looking for Hamels to act like their ace again, while he will be looking to stop his own three games losing streak. The Reds will counter with Johnny Cueto (8-4, 2.69), who is coming off a win against the D’backs on July 1, as he pitched six strong innings, giving up no runs on only one hit and four walks, while striking out eight, in the Reds’ 1-0 win. He will be trying for his ninth win of the season. The Phils will be looking for Hamels to pitch the fourth straight quality start from a Phils’ starter, while trying to increase their present winning streak at home to four games.
Philadelphia Phillies – Year 8: The Phillies finished in third place in the NL, inspite of losing their manager Harry Wright for most of the season as he goes blind.
The Phillies would start the 1890 season with a major problem. Before the season even starts, as they start to officially call themselves the Phillies, the club would lose several of its players to the teams of the Players’ League, including a new team that the rebellious league had set up in Philadelphia, the new Philadelphia Quakers. This new team would challenge not only the Phils but also the American Association’s Philadelphia franchise, the Philadelphia Athletics, to see which team would reign surpreme in the Philadelphia baseball world.
As the National League finds itself unable to destroy the upstart league through the courts, as New York Supreme Court Justice Morgan J. O’Brien rules on January 28 in favor of John Montgomery Ward, formerly a star pitcher for the New York Giants and now a Hall of Famer, in his reserve clause case against the league, they decide to destroy it on the playing field, despite losing half of the people who had played for National League teams the previous season before the start of the regular season. The league would set things up so that they would end up playing most of their games on the same day as would the teams of their Players’ League opponents, beginning with opening day, April 19.
The Phillies’ opponents for 1890 would include the two franchises that had joined the National League from the weakening American Association, after the previous season, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the Cincinnati Reds, replacing the now defunct Washington Nationals and Indianapolis Hoosiers franchises, along with the Beaneaters, the Giants, the Alleghenys, the Spiders and the Chicago franchise, which has before the season changed its nickname from the White Stockings to the Colts. Every member of the league, except for Cincinnati, would face a challenge from a Players’ League franchise, while only Brooklyn and Philadelphia would also face teams from the more friendly American Association. The Phillies would continue to play their home games at the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds, while Harry Wright would begin his seventh season as the team’s manager, trying to see if he can finally pilot the team to a league pennant.
The Phillies would begin their season on the road in April, playing four games against the previous season’s champ, the Giants, and one game against the former American Association champ, the Bridegrooms. The Phillies would win the season opener behind Kid Gleason, defeating the Giants 4-0. They would then lose the next game, 5-3, before winning the four- games series, 3-1, by defeating New York by the scores of 7-3 and 3-1, and landing in a three-way tie for first place with the Beaneaters and the Alleghenys. The Phils would then lose their game with the Bridegrooms, 10-0, ending their road trip with a record of 3-2 and landing in third place, trailing the Beaneaters by a game. They would then go back home to begin an eleven-games home stand with their eastern rivals the Giants (3), the Beaneaters (4) and the Bridegrooms (4). The Phillies would end the month of April by splitting the first two of their three games with the Giants, ending the month with a record of 4-3 while in a three-way tie with the Bridegrooms and Beaneaters for second place, as they all trailed the now leading Colts by half-a-game.
With the start of May, the Phillies would conclude their series with the Giants, winning the final game, and thus winning the series, 3-1, as they would end up in a four-way tie for first place with the Beaneaters, the Colts and the Reds, all four teams a full game ahead of the Alleghenys and the Bridegrooms. The Phils would then sweep their series with the Beaneaters, putting themselves in first place, a game-and-a-half ahead of the second place Colts. The Phillies would then win their sixth game in a row as they would defeat the Bridegrooms in the first game of their four-games series, 6-1. The Phils would then lose their next two games with Brooklyn, before winning the last game of the home stand, and splitting the series 2-2, while winning their home stand, 8-3, still in first place, but now leading the Colts by two full games. The Phils then go to Boston for a one-game series, which they would lose, 14-7, before coming back home for a long twenty-four games series against all of their league opponents that would last the rest of May and the early part of June. The Phillies would begin the home stand by losing their three-games series with the Reds, 1-2, leaving them just a half-game ahead of the Colts, as their western rival come into Philadelphia for a four-games series. The Phils would win the series, 2-1-1, including a suspended final game which had the Colts leading 10-8, which would end up leaving the Phillies still in first place, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Colts, the Bridegrooms and the Giants. The Phils would next face the Alleghenys for four games. They would sweep the series, including a doubleheader sweep on May 28, winning the games by the scores of 12-10 and 7-2, which would leave them still a game-and-a-half ahead of Brooklyn. The Phils would then end the month playing four games with the Spiders, including their second doubleheader of the month, played on May 30. After winning the first game of the series, they would be swept in the doubleheader, losing the two games by the score of 8-4 and 4-1, before winning the final game of the series, thus ending up splitting their series with Cleveland, 2-2. The Phillies would end the month of May with a 17-8 record, and with an overall record of 21-11-1, a game-and-a-half ahead of both the Reds and the Bridegrooms.
The Phillies would start June by winning their series with the Beaneaters, 2-1 and then with the Bridegrooms, also 2-1, before sweeping their three-games series with the Giants, ending the home stand with a winning record of 17-7, leaving them in first, but now only a-half-game ahead of the Reds. The Phillies would then go on the road for seven games with Boston (4) and Brooklyn (3). The Phils would lose the first game in their series with the Beaneaters, 8-5, having their four-games winning streak snapped, before losing the series overall, 1-3. They would then get swept by the Bridegrooms, becoming mired in a five-games losing streak, as they fall into third place, five-and-a-half games behind the Reds. The Phillies would then go back home for a four-games home stand with the Alleghenys. The Phils would win the short home stand 3-1, still in third, but now trailing by three-and-a-half games. The Phillies would then go on an eleven-games road trip to Cleveland (4), Chicago (4) and Cincinnati (3) for the rest of the month and the start of July. The Phils would go to Cleveland, winning the series there, 3-1, as they now stood in second place, still three-and-a-half games behind the Reds. The Phillies would then go to Chicago, where they would lose the first game of their series with the Colts, thus ending the month with a 13-11-1 record, and an overall record of 34-22-1, falling back into third place, but still three-and-a-half games behind the Reds.
The Phillies would start July off by winning two of their next three games with the Colts, ending the series with a split, before going on to Cincinnati for their first visit to the Queen City on the Ohio. The Phils would win their first road series against the Reds, 2-1, which would include a doubleheader split on July 4th, winning the first game 11-2, and then losing the ‘nightcap’, 7-1, thus ending the road trip with a record of 7-4, still trailing the Reds by three-and-a-half games, tied for second with the Bridegrooms. The Phils would then go back home for a fifteen-games home stand against the Reds, the Spiders, the Alleghenys, the Colts and the Alleghenys again, for five three-games series. The Phillies would start the home stand by winning their series with the Reds, 2-1, leaving them now just two-and-a-half games behind the Reds, while staying in third place. They would then sweep the other four series in their home stand, thus ending the home stand with a 14-1 record, returning to first place, now leading the second place Bridegrooms by two-and-a-half games. The Phillies would then go back on the road, for nine games with the Spiders (2), the Colts (3) and the Reds (4). The Phils would begin the road trip by sweeping the Spiders, increasing their winning streak to fifteen games, while increasing their lead over the Bridegrooms to three games. The Phillies would then go to Chicago, where their winning streak would be snapped by the Colts, 12-4, before they ended the series losing it, 1-2, with their lead over Brooklyn shrinking down to two games. The Phillies would then go on to Cincinnati, where they promptly lost the first game of their four-games series to the Reds, ending the month with a 21-6 record and an overall record of 55-28-1, now leading the Bridegrooms by just a game-and-a-half.
The Phils would start the month of August by losing two of three to the Reds, thus losing the series, 1-3, and the road trip with a 4-5 record, now in second place and a game behind the Bridegrooms, as the pennant race starts to heat up. The Phillies would then go back home for a short three-games home stand against the Giants (2) and the Beaneaters (1). The Phils would split their short series with the Giants, 1-1, before losing their game with Boston, ending the homestand, 1-2 and now three games behind Brooklyn, as they remain in second place. The Phillies then go back onto the road for nine games with Boston (2), New York (3) and Brooklyn (4). The Phillies go into Boston, where they are swept by the Beaneaters, dropping them into third, still three games behind Brooklyn. The Phils then go to New York, where they would lose the series to the Giants, 1-2, leaving them four games behind the Bridegrooms, before going into Brooklyn. The Phillies would then fall further behind Brooklyn, as they would lose three of their four games with the Bridegrooms, including a doubleheader lost on the 20, by the lopsided scores of 13-2 and 12-7, ending the road trip with a 2-7 record, now six games behind the first place Bridegrooms, as they fall into fourth place. The Phillies would then return home for a long nineteen-games home stand against all of their opponents for four straight three-games series (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati), two straight two-games series (Boston and New York) and then a final three-games series with Brooklyn. The Phils would start the home stand by redeeming themselves as they would proceed to sweep first the Alleghenys and then the Spiders, putting them back into third place, now three games behind Brooklyn. They then had a setback as they got swept in turn by the Colts, ending August with a losing record of 10-14, and an overall mark of 65-42-1, in a technical tie for third place with the Reds, six games behind the league leading Bridegrooms.
The Phillies would start September off by spliting a doubleheader with the Reds on the 1, winning the first game, 2-1 and then losing the ‘nightcap’, 8-5, before winning the third game of the series to win the series, 2-1. They would then split their two-games series with the Giants, which was a doubleheader split on the 3, losing the first game, 9-6, then winning the ‘nightcap’, 9-5, leaving them in third place, eight games behind the Bridegrooms. The Phillies would then be swept by the Beaneaters in their two-games series, leaving them now eight and a half games behind Brooklyn, still in third place, as the Bridegrooms come to Philadelphia for three-games, giving the Phils one last chance to make up ground on first place Brooklyn. The Phils would proceed to sweep the Bridegrooms, winning the three games by scores of 4-3, 13-6 and 9-3, ending the home stand with a record of 12-7, now trailing the Bridegrooms by five-and-a-half games. The Phillies would then go on the road for the final time, to play fifteen games in Boston (3), Cincinnati (4), Chicago (2), Pittsburgh (2) and Cleveland (4), for the rest of September and the start of October. The Phillies would start the road trip off by taking two of three from the Beaneaters, leaving them still five-and-a-half games behind Brooklyn and now a game behind the second place Beaneaters. The Philles would then lose three of four to the Reds, watching them stay in third place, six-and-a-half games behind Brooklyn, with only an outside chance to win the pennant. The Phils would then go to Chicago, where they would sweep the Colts, seeing them move up into second place over the Colts, six games behind the Bridegrooms. The Phillies would then go to Pittsburgh, where they would split the two-games series with the Alleghenys, losing the second game by the score of 10-1, thus ending the month with a record of 12-9 and an overall record of 77-51-1, now in third place, seven-and-a-half games behind the Bridegrooms, as Brooklyn clinches the pennant on that same day, September 30, by defeating the Spiders, 4-3 while the second place Colts would lose to the Beaneaters, 6-4.
The Phillies would end the season playing four games in October with the Spiders. After tying the first game, 2-2, they would win the next game, 5-4, before ending the season by being swept in an October 4 doubleheader, losing by the scores of 5-1 and 7-3, ending the month with a record of 1-2-1, the road trip with a record of 7-7-1, and ending the season with a record of 78-53-2, two-and-a-half games behind the second place Colts and nine games behind the league champ, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, so far the only Major League franchise to win a championship two years in a row in two difference leagues (AA 1889, NL 1890).
The Phillies would spend most of the year without their manager as Harry Wright would become blind on May 22. He would not be able to distinguish light from dark for ten days and would not return to manage the Phils until August 6. As Wright recovers, the Phillies would originally replace him with catcher Jack Clements, thus making him the fourth manager in Phillies’ history and the team’s second player-manager. Clements would be at the helm for only nineteen games, compling a record of 12-6-1 for a winning percentage of .667. Phillies co-owner, Al Reach, would replace him as the team’s fifth manager, leading the team for eleven games, compling a losing record of 4-7 for a winning percentage of .364. Reach then replaces himself as the team’s manager with shortstop Bob Allen, making him the team’s sixth manager and the third player-manager in franchise’s history. Allen would remain the team’s leader until Wright’s return, compling a record of 25-10 in thirty-five games, for a winning percentage of .714. Wright would return on August 6, leading the team during the final two-plus months of the pennant race, leading the Phils to its third third place finish, as he compiled a record of 36-31-1 in sixty-eight games, for a winning percentage of .537.
The Phillies would end up playing a total of 133 games, with a home/road split of 54-21-1 at home and 24-32-1 on the road, as 148,366 fans would come to watch them play at home. They would face the Spiders, the Reds and the Beaneaters twenty times each, the Colts and the Allghenys nineteen times, the Bridegrooms eighteen times and the Giants only seventeen times. The Phillies had winning records against four of their opponents, with their best record being against the Alleghenys, as they would go 17-2, followed by the Spiders at 14-5-1. They would have losing records with three teams, with their worst record being against the Bridegrooms, as they went 8-10, followed by both the Beaneaters and the Reds at 9-11. The Phillies would be 9-3 in shut outs, 17-9 in 1-run games and 30-17 in blowouts.
During the season, the Phillies would be either at the top, or near the top, in most offensive categories. The team would be first in doubles (220), batting average (.269) and on-base percentage (.342), second in hits (1267), walks (522), slugging percentage (.364) and stolen bases (335), third in run scored (823) and triples (78), fifth in at-bats (4707), sixth in home runs (23) and strikeouts (403), while also knocking in 631 RBIs, while 64 batters would be hit by the pitch. Meanwhile, the pitchers would also be near the top in most categories. They would be second in saves (2), shut outs (9), innings pitched (1194), home runs allowed (22) and strikeouts (507), fifth in complete games (122), and sixth in ERA (3.32), hits allowed (1210), runs allowed (707), and walks (486), as well as start 133 games, complete eleven games, allowed 440 earned runs, throw 45 wild pitches and commit two balks.
Team offensive leaders for the season would include Billy Hamilton in batting average (.325), on-base percentage (.430), runs scored (133), stolen bases (102), also leading the league in that category, and singles (137), being tied for the league lead with Cliff Carroll of the Chicago Colts. Clements would lead the team in slugging percentage (.472) and home runs (7). Allen would lead in games played (133), walks (87) and strikeouts (54), while being tied with Eddie Burke for triples with 11 each. Sam Thompson would be the team leader in at-bats (549), total plate appearances (599), hits (172), tied for the league lead with Jack Glasscock of the New York Giants, total bases (243), doubles (41), being the league leader, RBIs (102) and extra-base hits (54). Al Myers would lead in hit by the bat by being plunked 10 times.
Pitching wise, 1890 would be the coming out year for Kid Gleason, as he would be the team leader in most pitching categories. He would have the lowest ERA (2.63), win the most games (38, which is still the team’s single season record), highest win-lost percentage (.691), game played (60), saves (2), tied for the lead in that category with Dave Foutz of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Bill Hutchison of the Chicago Colts, innings pitched (506), strikeouts (222), games started (55), complete games (54), games finished (5), shutouts (6), hits allowed (479), earned runs allowed (148), while being tied with Tom Vickery for the team lead in home runs allowed (6). Vickery would also lead the team in walks (184), losses (22) and wild pitches (23). The Phils would only have two pitchers who would win twenty or more games, Gleason, setting a club record 38 wins and Vickery with 24.
As the Phillies continue to try to claim their first pennant, the National League Champ, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, would face the American Association Champ, the Louisville Colonels in a seven-games post-season series, that would end up as a 3-3-1 tie between the two teams. Meanwhile, the Players’ League folds, as the league’s idea of having a revenue sharing-pool between the players would backfire, as the owners of the league’s eight teams are unable to make enough of a profit to stay in business. This would force the owners to sell the interest of their teams to the owners of the National League, who would in the process regain many of the players that they had lost to the revolt, such as the Phillies regaining Ed Delahanty from the Cleveland Infants. Meanwhile, as the Players’ League dies, the American Association would kick the Athletics out of the fold, for violating the league’s constitution. The Athletics would then be replaced in the AA by the Quakers of the Players’ League, leaving the Phillies with a rival. Noone, however, would have any idea how damaging the players’ revolt would be to the AA until 1891.
Sources: Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com, Baseball-reference.org, Retrosheet.org
Philadelphia Phillies – Year 7: Dropping back down to fourth place.
The Phillies would begin their seventh year of existance trying to rebound from the previous season drop in the standings, as their manager, Harry Wright, would begin his sixth season as the Phillies’ skipper.
As the Phillies continue to play their home games in their home ballpark, the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds, change is in the air in the National League as the league would be in a constant state of flux that will last the next several years. Early in the 1888 off-season, the Detroit Wolverine franchise would fold, it place in the National League to be taken by the American Association Cleveland Blues, who would soon change their name to the Cleveland Spiders. The league would then adopt a five-tier salary structure which would help to determine how much each player is paid. This move by the owners would have repercussions within two years, as it would lead to the Players’ revolt of 1890. Early in 1889, the National League would take control of the debt-ridden Indianapolis Hoosiers before an ownership group would finally take contol of the franchise. The Phillies’ opponents for the new season, besides the new Spiders and the Hoosiers, under new management, would be the Beaneaters, the Giants, the Nationals, the Alleghenys, and the White Stockings.
The Phillies would begin the 1889 regular season on Wednesday, April 24, against the Nationals in Washington, which the Phillies would win, 8-4, putting them in a tie for first place with the Beaneaters, the Hoosiers and the Alleghenys. The Phillies would then go home for a twenty-eight games home stand against all of their rivals, where they would play four straight four-games series with the Beaneaters, the Giants, the Nationals, the White Stockings, a two-games series with the Hoosiers, two straight four-games series with the Spiders and the Alleghenys and finally a second two-games series with the Hoosiers, which would last through the entire month of May. The Phillies would end April by splitting the first two games of their four-games series with the Beaneaters, losing 8-3, and then winning 7-6, ending April with a 2-1 record, in third place, trailing both the Giants and the Alleghenys by half a game.
The Phillies would begin May the same way they had ended April, by splitting the last two games of their four-games series with Boston, ending the series with a 2-2 record, while staying in third place as they now trailed the first place Giants by a game and a half. In their four-game series with their rival, the Giants, the Phillies would take three of the four games, including 9-4 and 11-2 victories in the first two games of the series, before being clobbered 13-9 in the series’ third game, putting them in a first place tie with the Beaneaters, half a game ahead of both the now third place Giants and the fourth place Alleghenys. The Phils would then proceed to split their series with the Nationals, which would keep them tied with Boston for first and still half a game ahead of the Giants. The Phils would then win their four-games series with their main western rival, the White Stockings, 3-1, as they fall into second place in the standings, a full game behind the first place Beaneaters. They would then sweep their two games with the Hoosiers, which keep them a game behind Boston in the standings. They would then win the first game of their four-games with the Spiders, giving them a five-games winning streak, before they would lose the next three games, thus losing the series to Cleveland, 1-3, as they fall three and a half games behind Boston, while staying in second place. The Phillies would then rebound, winning the first three games in their four-games series with the Alleghenys, including a doubleheader split on May 30, winning the opener by the score of 13-6, before losing the ‘nightcap’ by the score of 10-6. They would then sweep their second straight doubleheader, this one against the Hoosiers on May 31, by the scores of 11-8 and 11-4, thus ending the home stand with a record of 18-10 and the month with a 17-9 record. Their overall record of 19-10 would keep them in second place, now two and a half games behind the first place Beaneaters.
The Phillies would start off June by playing a four-games series with first place Beaneaters in Boston. The series would be a disaster, as they would lose the first three games in the series by scores of 7-2, 10-6 and 4-2, before leaving Boston with a 5-4 win, which would put the still second place Phils behind Boston by four and a half games. The Phillies would next play two straight three-games series with the Nationals, with the first three to be played in Philadelphia, and then the latter three in Washington, as part of a six-cities, twenty-two-games road trip to New York (2), Chicago (4), Cleveland (4), Pittsburgh (5) and Indianapolis (4), that would take the balance of June and the start of July to complete. The Phillies would win both of their series against the Nationals, going 2-1 both at home and in Washington, which would include a split of their third doubleheader of the season, losing the first game 6-3, and then winning the ‘nightcap’ 7-5. The Phillies would drop down to third place as they head for New York, a game behind the third place Spiders and three and a half games behind league leading Boston. The Phils would end up being swept in New York, which would drop them five and a half games behind the Beaneaters. The Phillies would then go to Chicago, where they would split their four-games series with the White Stockings, as they would now trail Boston by eight games, as the Beaneaters would appear to be running away from the rest of the league. The Phillies would next go to Cleveland, visiting the city for the first time since the collapse of the original Cleveland Blues franchise in 1884. The Phillies would end up losing the series to the Spiders, 1-3, which would dropped the Phils into fourth place, still trailing the Beaneaters by eight games, as the Giants would jump over them into third place. The Phils would then go to Pittsburgh, where their losing streak would increase to four games, including a doubleheader lost on June 29 by the score of 3-2 and 8-0. The Phillies would end June with an 8-15 losing record, and an overall record of 27-25, eight and a half games behind Boston in fourth place.
The Phillies would start July by losing the last two games of their series with Pittsburgh, losing the five-games series as their losing streak rises to six games, as they now trail Boston by nine and a half games. The Phillies would finally break their losing streak by winning the first game of their July 4th doubleheader with the Hoosiers, winning by the score of 5-4, before losing the ‘nightcap’ 6-0. They would then split the last two games in Indianapolis, splitting the series, as they would end the road trip with a losing record of 7-15, as they now trailed Boston by nine games, as they stayed a half game ahead of fifth place Chicago. The Phillies would then go back home to begin a seventeen-games home stand with the Hoosiers (3), White Stockings (2), the Spiders (3), the Alleghenys (3), the Giants (3) and the first place Beaneaters (3). The Phillies would start the home stand off with a seven-games winning streak as they would sweep first the Hoosiers, then the White Stockings, before the Spiders would finally end the winning streak by beating the Phils in the final game of their three-games series, 9-4. Their seven games winning streak would place the Phillies six games behind the Beaneaters, before their lost and Boston’s doubleheader sweep of the Hoosiers the next day would push them back to seven and a half games behind. The Phillies would then sweep their series with Pittsburgh and New York, which would put them four and a half game behind Boston as the Beaneaters came to town. The Phillies would proceed to lose the first two games with Boston, thus losing the series, 1-2, as they now trail the first place Beaneaters by five and a half games, as they moved into third place, a half game ahead of the Spiders and two games behind New York, as they end the home stand with a record of 14-3. The Phillies would then go back onto the road for a six-cities, thirteen-games road trip to Boston (2), New York (2), Pittsburgh (2), Cleveland (2), Chicago (3) and Indianapolis (2). The Phillies would start their road trip in Boston, where they would be swept by the Beaneaters, ending the month with a 16-9 record and with an overall record of 43-34, seven and a half games behind Boston, and tied for third place with Cleveland (who have played one game more than the Phils, which ended up as a tie.).
The Phillies would begin August still on the road as they visit rival New York, where they would be swept by the Giants as their losing streak rises to four games, as they fall to eight games behind, technically in third place as they lead the Spiders by .001. The Phillies would then sweep their series with the Alleghenys, before splitting their series with the Spiders, as they now trailed the Beaneaters by six and a half games, while in third place by themselves. The Phillies would then go to Chicago, where they would win the series with their western rival, 2-1, before heading on to Indianapolis, where they would split the series with the Hoosiers, ending the road trip with a respectible 6-7 record, seven games behind the Beaneaters, who were now trying to fight off a challenge for first from the Giants. The Phillies then went home for a short three-games series with the Nationals, which the Phillies would win, 2-1, as they now trailed Boston by seven and a half games. The Phillies then went back onto the road for a five-games series in New York, which they would lose to the Giants, 1-4, as they played two straight doubleheaders with them, splitting the first one on August 23, losing the first game, 7-3, before winning the ‘nightcap’ 11-2. They would then be swept in the doubleheader played on the 24, by the scores of 10-8 and 8-3. The Phils would stay in third place, but now trailing Boston by nine and a half games. They would then go home to face the Beaneaters for three games, seeing their losing streak go up to four games, before finally winning the series’ final game, as they lose the series, 1-2, as the Phillies now trailed the Beaneaters by ten and a half games. The Phillies then go back onto the road for three games with the Nationals, where they would lose the series, 0-1-1, tying the series’ middle game by the score of 2-2, as they would end the month with a record of 10-14-1, while having an overall record of 53-48-1, eleven and a half game behind Boston, and a half-game ahead of fourth place Chicago.
In September, the Phils would play a ten-games home stand with the White Stockings (4), the Spiders (3), the Alleghenys (1) and the Hoosiers (2). The Phillies would lose the series with their western rival, the White Stockings, 1-3, which would include a doubleheader split on the 2, losing the first game, 2-1, before winning the ‘nightcap’ 3-2. The series would see the Phillies drop back into fourth place, now twelve and a half games behind both Boston and New York, who were in a mathematical tie for first place, and a game and a half behind now third place Chicago. The Phils would then go on a five-games winning streak, sweeping their series with the Spiders, and then winning their one-game series with the Alleghenys, before splitting their doubleheader with the Hoosiers on the 14, winning the opener, 11-3, then losing the second game, 10-7, thus ending their home stand with a 6-4 record, as they regained third place, now twelve games behind Boston and three and a half games ahead of the fourth place White Stockings. The Phillies would then go to Boston for a three games series, which they would lose to the Beaneaters, 1-2, leaving them still twelve games behind the Beaneaters and the Giants, with the Giants leading by .003. The Phillies then went back home for a five-games series with the Giants, which they would lose 0-4-1, which would include a doubleheader split on the 20, as they would lose the first game, 5-1, then would be tied in the ‘nightcap’, 4-4. The Phillies were now sixteen and a half games behind the Giants, who were now a game ahead of Boston in the pennant race. The Phillies would now go onto the road for the rest of the season, to play eleven games in four cities, with three games in Cleveland, three in Pittsburgh, two in Indianapolis and the final three games of the season in Chicago. The Phillies would win the series in Cleveland, going 2-1, as they now trailed the Giants by seventeen and a half games. The Phils would then go to Pittsburgh, where they would be swept by the Alleghenys, ending the month of September with an 8-14-1 record, while their overall record went to 61-62-2, placing them in a mathematical tie with the White Stockings for third place.
In October, the Phillies would start the month off with a sweep of the Hoosiers, placing them a half game ahead of Chicago as the two teams now fought over third place, while the Phils now trailed both New York and Boston by eighteen games, as those two teams fought for the league’s crown. The Phillies would go to Chicago, and would end the first game in their three-games series in a 5-5 tie. They would then lose the final two games of the season to the White Stockings, ending the month with a record of 2-2-1, while their road trip would end with a record of 4-6-1, as they end the season in fourth place with a record of 63-64-3, a winning percentage of .496, a game and a half behind third place Chicago and twenty and a half games behind the league’s winner, the New York Giants, who would win the pennant on the last day of the regualr season.
The Phillies would play 130 games, with a home-road record of 43-24-1 at home and 20-40-2 on the road. They would play in front of 281,869 fans at home. They would have winning records with only three teams, with their best record being 13-4 against the Hoosiers, while also having losing records against three teams, with their worst being against the Beaneaters at 6-13. They would also have a 9-9 record with the Alleghenys. The Phillies would be 4-10 in shut outs, 17-13 in one-run games, and 21-24 in blowouts.
Offensively, they would end up being around the middle of the pack, ending up second in 2Bs (215), third in stolen bases (269), fourth in at-bats (4695), home runs (44) and batting average (.266), fifth in runs scored (742), hits (1248), on-base percentage (.323) and slugging percentage (.362), seventh in triples (52) and walks (393) and eighth in strike outs (353), as well as knocking in 605 RBIs, while 35 batters were hit by the pitch. Among pitching staffs, the Phils would also be near the middle of the league, as they would lead the league in home runs given up with 33, be third in saves (2) and strikeouts (443), fourth in runs allowed (748), fifth in ERA (4.00), innings pitched (1153), hits allowed (1288) and walks (428), sixth in shut outs (4), and eighth in complete games (106), while finishing twenty-four other games, giving up 512 earned runs, forty-seven wild pitches, and hitting twenty-seven batters.
Among the batters, Sam Thompson would lead the team in batting average (.296), slugging percentage (.492), total plate appearances (575), hits (158), total bases (262), doubles (36), home runs (20), where he was the league leader and RBIs (111), while Jim Fogarty would lead in on-base percentage (.352), runs scored (107), triples (17), walks (65), strikeouts (60), stolen bases (99), also leading the league in that category and hit by the pitch (7), Sid Farrar in games played (130), and Joe Mulvey in at-bats (544) and singles (121). Among the pitchers, Charlie Buffington would lead the pitching staff in ERA (3.24), wins (28), winning percentage (.636), games pitched (47), games started (43), complete games (37), shutouts (2), innings pitched (280), home runs allowed (10), walks (121), wild pitches (15) and batters faced (1661), while Kid Gleason and Ben Sanders would be tied for first with one save each, Sanders would also lead in hits allowed (406), losses (18) and earned runs allowed (138), and Gleason would lead in hit batters (9) and games finished (7). The Phillies would have only one twenty-game winner in 1889, Charlie Buffington, who would go 28-16, as Ben Sanders would just miss it, as he would go 19-18.
With the 1889 season over, the Phillies would have their first losing season since 1884, although staying in the first division for the fifth straight season under Harry Wright’s tenure. As the Phillies once again try to figure out what they would need to do to finally win a pennant, the Giants would face the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association in a post-season playoff, which the Giants would win 6-3, beginning what would become a long standing rivalry between the two clubs, as Brooklyn would join the National League for the following season, along with the Cincinnati Red Stockings (now the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds, respectively), as they would replace the just folded Nationals and Hoosiers franchises. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, the players’ union, still upset over the restructuring of the players’ salary structure, would formally revolt against the owners with the formation of the Players’ League on December 16. The players’ revolt would within two years have an outcome not expected by any of the players who would join any of the teams in the new league or those who would remain in either the NL or AA, or among the teams’ owners.
Sources: Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com, Retrosheet.org, Baseball-reference.com
Philadelphia Phillies – Year 6: Falling back into third place, as Phils’ pennant hopes are dashed by a pre-season death.
As 1888 dawns, Harry Wright was starting his fifth year as the Phillies’ manager, leading a team that hoped to use their momentum from the previous season where they went 17-0-1 in their last 18 games, lead by their pitcher-second baseman Charlie Ferguson, to finally win the organization’s first pennant.
The 1888 National League would contain no changes among its membership. The Phillies’ opponents for the season would still be the Beaneaters, the Giants and the Nationals in the east and the Alleghenys, the Wolverines, the Hoosiers and the White Stockings in the west. The Phillies would continue to play their home games in the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds.
But, before the season would officially start, the Phillies’ pennant chances would be struck a major blow, as their star player, Charlie Ferguson, would be struck down by tyhoid fever in spring training, and would die in late April, after the start of the 1888 season. The Phillies would spend the rest of the season wearing a black crepe upon their left shoulders in honor of their fallen comrade, as would their east coast opponents, the Giants, the Nationals and the Beaneaters. Ferguson’s place on the team would eventually be taken by future Hall of Famer, Ed Delahanty, who would be the oldest of five brothers who would all play the game professionally by the end of the 19th Century.
(For more information on Charlie Ferguson, go here: Philadelphia Phillies – The Players: Charlie Ferguson, the Phillies’ unknown first star.)
The Phillies, without Ferguson, would begin the 1888 season on April 20 at home with a four-games series against the Beaneaters, which would see the Phils being swept by Boston by scores of 4-3, 9-3, 3-1 and 7-1, with the Phils’ opening day pitcher being rookie pitcher Kid Gleason, who would later be the manager of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox. The Phils would then go to New York for four games with the Giants. After winning the first game 5-3, they would lose the next three, ending their short road trip, 1-3. They would then come back home for another short four-games series, this time with the Nationals, for the last day of April and the beginning of May. The Phillies would begin the series by winning the first game by the score of 3-1, ending April with a record of 2-7.
The Phils would begin May by continuing their short home stand with the Nationals. They would win the next two games, giving them a three games winning streak, before losing the final game in the home stand, giving them a 3-1 series win. The Phillies would then go west for a ten-games western road trip, playing against the Alleghenys for two games, the Wolverines for three, the Hoosiers for one and then their main western rival, the White Stockings, for four games, before going on to Boston for three more games for a thirteen-game road trip. Their two games series with their cross-state rival would end up being a two-games series win. The Phils would then move on to Detroit, where they would win the first game with the Wolverines, before losing the next two games, losing the series 1-2. They would then go into Indianapolis, losing the only game in that short series, before going on to Chicago, where they would lose the first game in their four-games series. The Phillies would then win the next two games, including the May 22 game which would feature the major league debut of Ferguson’s replacement, Ed Delahanty, thus breaking their four games losing streak, before losing the away game in their series, splitting their series with the White Stockings, 2-2. The Phils would then go to Boston, where they would sweep the three-games series from the Beaneaters, ending their road trip with a record of 8-5. The Phillies would then go home for a fifteen-games home stand for the last day of May and most of June, against the Wolverines (3), the White Stockings (4), the Alleghenys (4) and the Hoosiers (4). The Phillies would begin the home stand by playing a doubleheader with the Wolverines, which they would split, losing the opener by the score of 6-2 and then winning the ‘nightcap’ by the score of 5-4, thus ending May with a winning record of 11-7 and an overall win-lost record of 13-14.
The Phillies would then lose the final game of their series with the Wolverines, winning the series, 2-1. They would win the first game of their four-games series with the White Stockings, before being swept by them for three straight games, losing the series, 1-3. They would then win the next six games, sweeping their series with the Alleghenys, then winning the first two games with the Hoosiers, before splitting the final two games in the series, winning the series, 3-1, and the home stand, 10-5. The Phillies would then go to Washington for a four-games road trip, which they would lose to the Nationals, 1-3. They would then come back home for a two teams, seven-games, home stand with the Giants (4) and the Beaneaters (3) for the last days of June and the first day of July. The Phils would split their four-games series with the Giants, before winning the first two games of their series with Boston, ending the month with a winning record of 13-10, and an overall record of 26-24.
The Phillies would start July off by winning the final game of their series with Boston, sweeping the Beaneaters, and winning the home stand, 5-2. The Phils would then go on another western road trip, this time for twelve-games, for four three-games series with the White Stockings, the Hoosiers, the Wolverines and the Alleghenys, until the middle of the month. They would start the road trip off with a July 4 doubleheader with the White Stockings, losing the first game by the score of 10-8, ending their four-games winning streak, then winning the second game by the score of 6-5. They would then lose the away game, thus losing the series, 1-2. They would then go to Indianapolis to face the Hoosiers, losing that series, 1-2. They next went to Detroit, where they would end up being swept by the Wolverines, before going on to Pittsburgh, where they would sweep the Alleghenys, thus end the road trip with a record of 5-7. They would then return to Philadelphia for a six-games home stand of two three-games series with the Giants and the Nationals. After defeating the Giants in the opening game of their series, the Phillies would be defeated in the next five games, losing two in a row to the Giants and then being swept by the Nationals, ending the home stand with a 1-5 record. The Phillies would then go on an east coast road trip to face the Giants (3), the Beaneaters (3) and the Nationals (3), for the end of July and the beginning of August. The Phillies would start off the road trip by being swept by the Giants, with their losing streak going up to eight games, before finally ending the month by defeating the Beaneaters for the first two games of their series, thus snapping their losing streak, while ending the month with a losing record of 9-15 and an overall win-lost record of 35-39.
The Phillies would begin August by winning the final games of their series with the Beaneaters, thus sweeping the series. They would then go on to Washington, where they would lose the first game of the series, then win the next two games, winning the series, 2-1 and ending the road trip with a 5-4 record. They would then go back to Philadelphia for a sixteen-games home stand, which would include a two-games series with the White Stockings, three straight three-games series with the Wolverines, the Hoosiers and the Alleghenys, a two-games series with Boston and a three-games series with the Giants. The Phils would begin the home stand by splitting their series with the White Stockings, before sweeping their series with the Wolverines and the Hoosiers. The Phillies would then lose their series with the Alleghenys, 1-2, before being swept by the Beaneaters in their short two-games series. They then ended the home stand by losing their series with the Giants, after winning the first games in the series, 1-2, thus ending the home stand with a 9-7 record. The Phillies would then end the month by playing four of their next five games with the Nationals, two games in Washington and three more in Philadelphia. The Phillies would start things off by winning the two-games series in Washington, then winning the first game played in Philadelphia before having their three-games winning streak snapped by losing the final game to be played that month, thus ending the month of August with a 15-9 record and having a win-lost record of 50-48.
The Phillies would start off September by ending their road-home series with Washington, beating the Nationals, winning the series, 4-1. They would then go onto the road for twenty-one games for most of the month, facing the Giants (3), the Alleghenys (4), the Wolverines (4), the White Stockings (3), the Hoosiers (3) and the Beaneaters (4), They would start off their road trip by playing the Giants to an 0-0 tie, then losing the next two games for an 0-2-1 losing record. The Phillies would then split their series with the Alleghenys, before losing their series with the Wolverines, 1-3. They would then sweep their two three-games series, first with the White Stockings, including the September 18 game where their starter Ben Sanders would miss throwing a perfect game as he would give up a single in the ninth inning to Chicago pitcher Gus Krock in a 6-0 shut out, and then the Hoosiers, before losing their series with Boston, 1-3, ending the long road trip with a record of 10-10-1. The Phillies would then spend the rest of their season at home, facing the Alleghenys for two games in September and two more in October, followed by a three-games series with the Hoosiers, then two two-games series with the Wolverines and the White Stockings. The Phillies would end the month, and start the home stand, by losing the first two-games of their four games series to Pittsburgh, ending the month with an 11-12-1 record and with an overall record of 61-60-1.
The Phillies would then rebound and win their next two games with the Alleghenys, splitting the series. The Phillies would then sweep the Hoosiers, before splitting their series with the Wolverines and then ending the season with a sweep of their main western rivals, the White Stockings, with the last game being won via forfeit. The final home stand would end up a winning record of 8-3 and an overall season record of 69-61-1 for a .531 winning percentage, landing the Phillies back into third place, five and a half games behind second place Chicago and fourteen and a half game behind the league champ, the New York Giants.
The Phillies would play a total of 131 games, with a home-road record of 37-29 at home and 32-32-1 on the road. The Phillies had winning records against all but two of their opponents, with their best record being a 14-6 record against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, followed by a 13-4 one with the Hoosiers. Their two losing records would be against the league champion Giants (5-14-1) and the Wolverines (7-11). The Phillies were 16-8 in shut outs, 28-16 in 1-run games and 19-17 in blowouts. The Phillies’ home attendence for 1888 would be 151,804 patrons.
The Phillies’ offense would in 1888 be ranked among the bottom of the league, being fourth in doubles (151), fifth in walks (268), sixth in runs scored (535), strikeouts (485), on-base percentage (.269) and slugging percentage (.290), seventh in hits (1021), triples (46), home runs (16), batting average (.225) and stolen bases (246) and eighth in at-bats (4528), as well as having 418 RBIs and having 51 hit batsmen. The Phillies’ pitchers would end the season being number one in saves (3), second in ERA (2.38), shut outs (16), hits allowed (1072), runs allowed (509), home runs allowed (26) and walks (196), fourth in strike outs (519), seventh in complete games (125) and eighth in innings pitched (1167), as well as finishing seven games, giving up 309 earned runs, throwing 50 wild pitches, hitting 25 batters and throwing 2 balks.
Among the team’s batting leaders, Jack Clements would lead the team in batting average, hitting .245. Jim Fogarty would lead the team in on-base percentage (.325), walks (53), strike outs (66) and stolen bases (58). George Wood would lead in slugging percentage (.342) and home runs (6). Sid Farrar would lead in games played (131), total bases (165), doubles (24), triples (7), RBIs (53) extra-base hits (32) and hit by the pitch (13), while being tied with Ed Andrews for the team’s lead in total plate appearances with 552. Andrews would also lead the team in at-bats (528), runs scored (75), hits (126), and singles (105). Among the team’s leader in pitching, Ben Sanders would lead the team in ERA (1.90), win-loss percentage (.655), and shut outs (8), also being tied for first in the league lead in that category with Tim Keefe of the Giants, as well as being tied with George Wood for the team’s lead in games finished with two. Wood would lead the team in saves with 2, also being the league leader in that category. Charlie Buffinton would lead the team in wins with 28, being the team’s only 20-game winner, games pitched and started (46), innings pitched (400.3), strikeouts (199), complete games (43), walks (59), hits allowed (324), wild pitches (15) and batters faced (1586). Rookie Kid Gleason would lead in home runs allowed (11) and hit batters (12). Dan Casey would lead the team in losses with 18 and earned runs allowed with 100.
The Phillies would end the season still among the league’s elite teams while still looking for their first team pennant. Meanwhile, the Giants would face the American Association winner, the St. Louis Browns, in a post-season series, which the Giants would win 6 games to four.
Sources: Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com, Baseball-reference.com
Philadelphia Phillies – Year 5: Finishing in 2nd place for the first time.
In 1887, in the fourth year of Harry Wright’s tenure as the Phillies/Quakers’ managers, the team would finish in second place for the first time in the team’s long existance.
The 1887 season would see some more changes within the National League. First, the Kansas City Cowboys, after finishing in seventh place in 1886, would not be offered another chance by the league. Their place would be taken up by the American Association Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now the Pirates) who had finished the 1886 AA season in second place. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Maroons would transfer their assets to Indianapolis, becoming the Indianapolis Hoosiers, leaving St. Louis once again without an entry in the NL (the city’s previous representative, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, were dropped after being in the league for the 1876-1877 seasons.). The rest of the Phillies’ opponents for 1887 would be the Beaneaters, the Giants, the Nationals, the Wolverines and the White Stockings. The Phillies would play their games in their new home, the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds, later known as Baker Bowl, which was located between North Broad Street, West Huntingdon Street, North 15th Street and West Lehigh Street in North Philadelphia.
The Phillies would begin the season in late April, facing their eastern rival, the New York Giants, for three games, the first two to be played in New York, and the third in the Phillies’ new home, the Philadelphia Base Ball Ground. The Phils would lose both games played in New York, by close scores of 4-3 and 7-4, before winning the first game to be played in their new park, by the score of 15-9, giving them a record of 1-2 for the month of April. They would then start May at home, facing the Beaneaters for three games. They would lose the first two games, then win the away game by the score of 12-0, ending their short home stand with a 2-2 record. The Phillies would next go on the road for three games against the Nationals, and then three more in Boston. The Phils would start the road trip with a 5-5 tie with the Nationals, before winning the next two games against them, and then winning the first game in their three-games series with the Beaneaters. They would then split the next two games with Boston, winning the series, 2-1, and ending the road trip with a 4-1-1 record. The Phillies would then start a second three-games series with the Giants, this time playing the first two games in Philadelphia and then the final one in New York. The Phils would split the series at home, before winning the final game in New York by the lopsided score of 17-2 for a 2-1 record in the series. The Phillies would then come home for a long home stand with three of the western teams, playing first four games against Detroit, then four against Chicago and finally three against Indianapolis. They would be swept by the Wolverines, then lose their first game with their western rival, the White Stockings. After ending their five-games slide by defeating Chicago, they would split the next two games with them, for a 2-2 record in their series, before winning all three games against the Hoosiers, ending the home stand with a respectable record of 5-6. The Phillies would then end the month of June by playing the Alleghenys in Pittsburgh for the first time for three games, including a doubleheader on June 30. The Phillies would split the doubleheader with their cross-state rival, winning the first game by 2-1 and then losing the ‘nightcap’ by a score of 6-4. They would then win the final game of their short road trip, giving them a record of 2-1, a 14-11-1 record for the month of May and an overall record of 15-13-1.
The Phillies would begin June with a short home stand against their eastern rivals, with three games against the Beaneaters, and then three more with the Giants. The Phils would lose their series with the Beaneaters, going 1-2, before tying the first game against the Giants, 6-6. They would then split the last two games with the Giants to end the series with an 1-1-1 record, and to end the short home stand with an overall record of 2-3-1. They would then go on the road to face these two teams again for two more three-games series. The road trip would end up being an 1-5 fiasco, with their only victory coming in their first game in New York, 5-4, with their worst defeat being a 29-1 shalacking by the Giants in the last game of their three-games series. The Phils would then come home for a short three-games home stand against the Nationals, which the Phillies would win 2-1. The Phillies would then go west for an eleven-games road trip against the White Stockings (3), the Hoosiers (4) and the Wolverines (4), to end June and start July. The Phillies would lose the first two games of their series with Chicago, before tying the final game at 7-7. They would then go to Indianapolos, losing the first game, and then winning the next three with the Hoosiers, including a 24-0 thumping on June 28, before going on to Detroit, where they would split the final two games of the month of June, ending the month with a record of 9-13-2 and an overall record of 24-26-3.
They would begin the month of July by losing their final two games with the Wolverines, ending the series with a record of 1-3, and the road trip with a record of 4-6-1. They would then go home for a fifteen-games home stand, to face the Alleghenys for three games, including the second doubleheader between the two teams, this one to be played on July 4, followed by three games with Chicago, three with the Hoosiers, three with Detroit and then the final three games with the Alleghenys. The Phillies would split the doubleheader with Pittsburgh, winning the first game, 9-5, then losing the ‘nightcap’ by 8-5. They would then win the last game of the series, to give them a series win at 2-1. Then would then get swept by the White Stockings, before going on an eight-games winning streak, sweeping first the Hoosiers and then the Wolverines and then winning the first two games of their second home series against the Alleghenys, before losing the last games in the series, by 4-3, winning the home stand as they went 10-5. The Phils would then go on a long road trip for the rest of July and the beginning of August to face the Nationals (3), the Alleghenys (3), the Wolverines (3), the White Stockings (1), the Hoosiers (2) and the White Stockings (3) again for 15 games. The Phillies would begin their long trip by losing their series with the Nationals, 1-2, before going on to Pittsburgh to win their series with the Alleghenys, 2-1, ending July with a record of 13-10 and with an overall record of 37-36-3, and poised to make a pennant run, as Harry Wright prepares to turn his best starter, Charlie Ferguson, into an everyday player, as well as his pitching ace, because of Ferguson’s .300 batting average.
The Phillies would start August in Detroit, winning the first game of the series, before ending it with an 1-2 record, as they would lose the next two games. They would then win the next four games, winning their one-game series in Chicago, then sweeping the Hoosiers, before going back to Chicago and winning the first game of their three-games series with their western rival. They would then split the next two games to win the series, 2-1, and go back home with a winning record of 9-6. They would go home for a long seventeen-games home stand for the rest of August and the start of September, facing the Nationals for three, the Giants for four, the Hoosiers for three, the Wolverines for two, the Alleghenys for three and the White Stockings for two. The Phils would start their long home stand by sweeping the Nationals, and then winning the first two games of their series with the Giants before having their winning streak snapped at six games with a 10-8 lost. The next game with the Giants would end up in a 5-5 tie, ending the series with a 2-1-1 series win. The Phils would then sweep the Hoosiers, before spliting their two-games series with Detroit. They would then lost their three-games series with Pittsburgh, ending August with a 16-7-1 record and an overall record of 53-43-4.
The Phillies would start off the month of September by splitting their two-games series with the White Stockings, ending the home stand with a record of 11-5-1. They would then go on an equally long road trip for most of September, facing the Beaneaters for three games, the Nationals for three, the White Stockings for three, the Hoosiers for three, the Wolverines for two and the Alleghenys for three. On the eastern half of the trip, after losing the first game with the Beaneaters, they would win the next five games, including a three-games sweep of the Nationals. They are then swept in Chicago by the White Stockings, before beginning what would become a seventeen-games no-lost streak, as they would first sweep the Hoosiers in three straight, then the Wolverines for three and finally end the trip by sweeping the Alleghenys, ending their long road trip with a record of 13-4. They would then end the month of September with two games at home against the Nationals, which they would also sweep, giving them a record for the month of 16-5, and an overall record of 69-48-4.
They would continue the home stand in October with three games against Boston, sweeping the Beaneaters with ease. They would then end their season the same way they had started it, with a series against the Giants, this time facing them for two games in New York, a one-game series in Philadelphia and then one final game in New York. The Phillies would sweep the short two-games series in New York, tied their final home game in Philadelphia, going 5-5, and then winning their final game of the year, 6-3, ending October with a 6-0-1 record and the season with a record of 75-48-5, with a winning percentage of .610, their best record to date in their short existance. This would put them in second place, three games ahead of the third place White Stockings and six and a half games behind the 1887 National League Champions, the Detroit Wolverines (This would be the Wolverines only title.).
In 128 games played, the Phillies would have a home/road record of 38-23-3 at home and 37-25-2 on the road. The Phillies would have good records against all but three teams, with their best record being against the Hoosiers (17-1), followed by the Nationals (13-3-1), with their worst record being against their nemesis the White Stockings (6-12-1). They were 7-2 in shut outs, 17-11 in 1-run games and 37-13 in blowouts. The Phillies would play before 253,671 fans in their brand new park.
The Phillies’ offense and pitching would be among the league leaders in 1887. In batting, they would end up being first in doubles (213), second in at-bats (4630), runs scored (901), hits (1269) and walks (385), fourth in batting average (.274), on-base percentage (.330), slugging percentage (.389) and stolen bases (355) and fifth in triples (89), home runs (47) and strikeouts (346), while also knocking in 702 RBIs, while being hit by the pitch 52 times. The pitchers, meanwhile, would lead the league in innings pitched (1132), shut outs (7) and runs allowed (702), be second in ERA (3.47), saves (1) and strikeouts (435), third in walks (305), fourth in hits allowed (1173) and home runs allowed (48) and sixth in complete games (119), while also finishing nine games, giving up 436 earned runs, throwing 56 wild pitches, no balks and hitting 34 batters.
Individual offensive leaders for the Phillies in 1887 would be Ed Andrews in batting (.325), hits (151) and singles (121), Jim Forgarty in on-base percentage (.376), games (126), at-bats (495), total plate appearances (587), doubles (26), walks (82) and stolen bases (102), while being tied with Sid Farrar in the number of times HBP (10), George Wood in slugging percentage (.497), runs scored (118), total bases (244), triples (19), home runs (14), strikeouts (51), and extra-base hits (55), and Charlie Ferguson in RBIs (85). Ferguson would also lead the pitching staff in winning percentage (.688), saves (1) and games finished (4), while going 22-10. Dan Casey would lead the staff in ERA (2.86), wins (28), games pitched (45), games started (also 45), complete games (43), shut outs (4), hits allowed (377), walks allowed (115), hit batters (14) and batters faced (1660), while Charlie Buffinton would lead in strikeouts (160), home runs allowed (16), losses (17), earned runs allowed (135) and wild pitches (25). On the staff, there would be three twenty games winners, as Buffinton would win 21 games, to go along with Ferguson’s 22 and Casey’s 28. Fogarty would also be the league leader in total plate appearances and walks among the batters, while Casey would be the league’s ERA and shut outs leader, while Ferguson would be tied for the league’s lead in saves among pitchers.
As the Phillies would spent the off-season preparing to hopefully win their first pennant, the Detroit Wolverines would face the American Association’s pennant winner, the St. Louis Browns, in a fifteen games World Series, which would be won by the Wolverines, 10 games to 5.
Sources: Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com and Baseball-Reference.com
Philadelphia Phillies – Year 4: Still in the first division, but finishing in 4th place with a better record.
With Harry Wright now entering his third year as the Phillies’ manager, and with two 20 games winners in Charlie Ferguson and Ed Daily (although both pitchers were also 20 games losers), the Phillies would be positioned to improve on their third place finish of 1885.
The National League of 1886 would be a very much different league compared to the league at the end of 1885, as two franchises, the Providence Grays and the Buffalo Bisons, would both collapse during the off-season, leaving the league with only six teams for the ’86 season, including the Phillies: the Beaneaters, the Giants, the Wolverines, the White Stockings and the Maroons being the other five. That situation would be corrected by the league early in 1886 by first admitting into the fold the Washington Nationals (aka Senators, the first NL team to play in the Nation’s Capital) in January, and then in February by allowing the Kansas City Cowboys (the first NL team to play beyond the Mississippi River) into the league for a one-year trial. The Phillies would still play their home games at Recreation Park, although a new ballpark, the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds, later known as Baker Bowl, would be built for them in 1887.
The Phillies’ season would start on April 29, with a three-games series against the new Nationals in Washington. The Phillies would spilt the two games that they would play with the Nationals in April, losing the first game 6-3, then winning the second game on April 30, 12-3, before losing the first game played in May, 9-2, starting May off on a losing note, while going home with a 1-2 record. The Phillies would then play a short four-games home stand, with three games being against the Giants and one game against the Beaneaters. The Phillies would win two of their three games with their rivals from New York, before defeating the Beaneaters, ending their short home stand with a 3-1 record and leaving Philadelphia with an overall record of 4-3, as they would begin a nine-games western road trip against St. Louis, Detroit and Chicago. In St. Louis, after dropping the first game, they would win the next two games with the Maroons, but they would then end the road trip mired in a six games losing streak, being swept first by the Wolverines, than by their nemesis the White Stockings, ending the road trip with a record of 2-7. They would then come home for a fifteen-games home stand for the rest of May and the first days of June, facing the Cowboys for the first time for four games, including a doubleheader on the 29, two games with Chicago, three games with the Maroons, three with the Wolverines and three with the Nationals. The Phillies would begin the home stand by winning three of four games from Kansas City, including a sweep of the twinbill, winning the two games by the scores of 1-0 and 9-3. They would then lose the last game of May to the White Stockings by the score of 4-3, thus ending the month of May with a record of 8-11, with an overall record for the season of 9-12.
The Phillies would then win their first game in June, defeating Chicago 3-0, thus splitting the two games of the series. The Phillies would then proceed to sweep their series with the Maroons, lose their series with the Wolverines, going 1-2, and then sweep their series with the Nationals, ending their fifteen-games home stand with a record of 11-4. The Phillies would then conduct a sixteen-games road trip for the rest of June and the beginning of July, which would see them visit New York City for two, the Beaneaters for three, Detroit for a game, Chicago for three, visit Kansas City for the first time for three games, St. Louis for three, then visit Detroit again for another game, before going back home. The Phils would start the trip off by splitting their two-games series with New York, then sweeping the Beaneaters in Boston. The Phillies would then lose their game in Detroit, then the first two games in Chicago before defeating the White Stockings in the third game of the series, thus ending June with a winning record of 13-6 and an overall season record of 22-18. The Phillies would then begin July with a sweep of their next two series with the Cowboys and the Maroons, including their second doubleheader win of the year, this time over the Maroons on July 5 by the scores of 6-1 and 3-2, before leaving St. Louis with a seven-games winning streak. The streak would be broken in Detroit as they would lose to the Wolverines by the score of 2-0, ending their road trip with an 11-5 record. The Phillies would then return to Philadelphia to face their east coast rivals the Giants and the Beaneaters for a five-games home stand, three games with New York and two with Boston. The Phils would lose the first game of the home stand to New York, before winning the next four games against New York and Boston, ending the home stand with a 4-1 record. They would then conduct a three cities, eight-games, east coast road trip to Washington (3), New York (3) and Boston (2). In Washington, they would increase their winning streak to six games by winning their first two meetings with the Nationals, before losing the final game in the series. They would then go on to New York, where they would lose their first two meetings with the Giants, before winning the going away game. The Phillies would then split their two-games series with the Beaneaters, thus ending their east coast trip with a 4-4 record.
The Phils would then come back home for a twenty-games home stand for the rest of July and the balance of August, facing the Cowboys for three games, the Wolverines for three, St. Louis for three, Chicago for two, the Nationals for three, Boston for three and the Giants for three. The Phillies would start the home stand off by sweeping the Cowboys and then losing the first of three games to Detroit, ending July with a record of 17-7 and with an overall record of 39-25. The Phillies would then begin August on a winning note by sweeping their next two games with the Wolverines. They would then lose their three-games series with the Maroons, 1-2. They would then split their series with the White Stockings before sweeping their series with the Nationals, and then winnings both of their series with the Beaneaters and the Giants, both 2-1, thus ending their twenty-games home stand with a record of 14-6. The Phillies would then go back onto the road for the rest of August and most of September, going to Detroit (3), Chicago (3), Kansas City (4), St. Louis (3), Washington (3), Boston (2) and New York (3) for eighteen games. They would win their series with the Wolverines, winning it by going 2-1, before being swept by the White Stockings, ending August with a record of 13-9 and an overall record of 52-34.
The Phillies would start off September by winning their series in Kansas City, 3-1. They would then lose their series in St. Louis 1-2, thus ending the western half of their road trip with a 6-7 record. They would then start the eastern half of their long road trip by winning the first game of their series with the Nationals, then losing the second game, which would be the debut game of future hall of fame manager Connie Mack, before ending up in a 3-3 tie in the series’ final game. The Phillies would then go on to Boston, where they would split the series, before heading on to New York, where they would end their road trip by losing the series 0-2-1, with the middle game of the series ending up as a 3-3 tie. The Phillies would end the eastern part of their road trip with a 2-4-2 record, ending the entire road trip with a somewhat respectible 10-11-2 record. The Phillies would then come home, where they would end their season with an eighteen-games home stand for the rest of September and October against the Nationals (3), the White Stockings (5), the Maroons (3), the Cowboys (3) and the Wolverines (4). The Phillies would start the home stand off by sweeping the Nationals, before defeating their western nemesis, the White Stockings in four of the five games they would play, with the other game, the third game in the five-games series, ending up as a 3-3 tie. The Phillies would then have their seven-games winning streak snapped by the Maroons in the first games of their three-games series, ending the month of September with a 13-8-3 record and with an overall season record of 65-42-3. The Phillies would then start off the month of October by winning the next two games with St. Louis, winning the series 2-1. They would then win their series with the Cowboys, going 2-0-1, with the final game of the series ending in a 6-6 tie. They would then start off their final series of the season with an 1-1 tie against the Wolverines, before losing the next game, and then ending the season with a two-games winning streak, ending the series with a 2-1-1 record, ending the home stand with a record of 13-1-2, ending October with a 6-1-2 record and ending the season with a combine record of 71-43-5, for a winning percentage of .623, finishing the 1886 season in fourth place, two and a half games behind the third place Giants and fourteen games behind the first place White Stockings.
In 1886, the Phillies would play 119 games, having winning records against all but three of their opponents, with their best record being a record of 14-2-1 against the Cowboys, followed by a record of 13-4-1 with the Nationals and a record of 10-3 against Boston. Their worst records would be against the second place Detroit Wolverines and the league winner Chicago White Stockings, both being records of 7-10-1. During the season, the Phillies would play 18 games apiece against four fellow NL teams (Nationals, Wolverines, White Stockings and Maroons), meet the Cowboys and the Giants for 17 games each and battle the Beaneaters only 13 times. The Phillies record in shut outs would be 10-5, 17-8 in 1-run games and 27-12 in blowouts. The Phillies home record would be 45-14-3, while their road record would be 26-29-2. Home Attendence for 1886 would be 175,623.
The Phillies’ batters would go to bat 4072 times (8th) getting 976 hits (6th) for a team batting average of .240 (5th), a team slugging percentage of .327 (5th) and a team on-base percentage of .289 (5th). The batters would knock in 621 runs (5th) on 424 RBIs, while hitting 145 2Bs (7th), 66 3Bs (4th) and 26 HRs (4th), while receiving 282 walks (3rd) while striking out 516 times (5th). The team would lead the league in stolen bases with 226. The Phillies’ pitchers would lead the league in team ERA with a 2.45 mark, as they would pitch a total of 1045 innings (6th), pitching 110 complete games (1st), while finishing 9 other games, having 10 shut outs (1st) and 2 saves (2nd). The pitchers would give up 498 runs (1st) of which 284 would be earned on 923 hits (1st). They would give up 29 home runs (4th), 264 walks (3rd) and 60 wild pitches, while striking out 540 batters (4th).
Among the team’s batting leaders, Jim Fogarty would lead the team in batting average with a .293 mark, on-base percentage with .385, and 42 walks, while being tied with George Wood for the team lead in slugging percentage with a .407 mark. Wood would also lead the team in at-bats (450), total plate appearances (473), hits (123), total bases (183), triples (15) and strikeouts (75). Sid Farrar would lead the team in games played with 118, as well as in doubles (19) and home runs (5). Ed Andrews would lead in runs scored with 93, singles (88) and stolen bases (56), also being the league leader in that category in 1886. Joe Mulvey would be the team’s RBI leader with 53. Among the pitchers, Charlie Ferguson would lead the team in most pitching categories. He would be the leader in ERA with a 1.98 mark, in wins with 30, becoming the team’s first 30-games winner, win-lost percentage with .769, games pitched with 48, games started with 45, games completed with 43, games saved with 2, while also being the league leader in that category, innings pitched with 395.7, strikeouts with 212, batters faced with 1582 and home runs allowed with 11, while being tied with Dan Casey for the team lead in shut outs with 4. Casey, who would win 24 games that season for the team, would also be the team leader in walks with 104, hits allowed with 326, losses with 18, earned runs allowed with 99 and wild pitches with 25. Ed Daily would lead the team in games finished with 4.
The Phillies, while still in the first division, and having improved on their previous season record, are still looking for their first division title, while watching the American Association’s St. Louis Browns defeat the National League winner, the White Stockings, in a seven-games post season contest, 4 games to 2.
Sources: Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com, Baseball-reference.com
Phillies Red Pinstripes 