20 Greatest Philadelphia Phillies

20

Charlie Ferguson

19

Del Ennis

A handsome, broad-shouldered, athletic outfielder, Ennis provided the power for the Phillies in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, highlighted by the hard-fought pennant in 1950. He was a Philadelphia kid and was immensely popular in the years he wore the Phils’ uniform. His eight 20-HR seasons are exceeded by only two Phillies’ batters: Mike Schmidt and Ryan Howard.

18

Aaron Nola

Nola is writing a nice list of accomplishments, and still has much of his thirties to add more. It’s cliché, but Nola is a throwback. He would have fit in well in the 1960s, when starters were working every fourth day. Or in the 1980s, when starters were being tasked with pitching 200+ innings and completing their own games. The husky right-hander from Louisiana is an ironman, supremely efficient even though his fastball rarely tops 93 miles per hour.

17

Dick Allen

“I love to watch him hit. I can’t take my eyes off him when he runs the bases. I get a kick out of him taking batting practice, even fielding practice. Hell, it’s even a thrill to me to see him walking around a hotel lobby. What presence he has. No doubt about it, he is ‘El Hombre Grande.’ ” — Reggie Jackson

16

Curt Schilling

Schilling (2004 Red Sox) is one of only three players who were 37 years old or older and led their team in WAR when that team won a World Series. The others are Babe Ruth and Randy Johnson.

15

Billy Hamilton

Hamilton got on base a lot, walking 121 times per 162 games, and leading the league in free passes five times. He was so good at taking pitches, he was nicknamed “Good Eye Bill,” which was actually his second-most famous nickname. Most people called him “Sliding Billy” because Hamilton was a marvel on the bases. Records are spotty, but Billy stole about 900 bases in 1,594 games. He also scored more than one run per game for his career, and topped 100 runs scored in 11 seasons. In 1894, when Hamilton batted .403 for the Phillies, he scored 198 runs in 132 games, had 225 hits (181 of them singles), walked 128 times, and stole 100 bases. That season, his on-base percentage was an astounding .521, making him one of only ten players to top .500 in OBP in a single season.

14

Chuck Klein

“He is built for baseball, trim, not heavy in the legs, fiery in his way but yet not what you would call a colorful ballplayer.” — Daniel M. Daniel for The Sporting News, 1933

13

Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas walked far more than anyone else in the game. From 1899 to 1907, Thomas walked 929 times, and the next closest player was 310 behind (Topsy Hartsel with 619). How did he walk so much? He made contact. It may seem counterintuitive that making contact can lead to walks, but it can if the hitter masters the art of slapping the ball foul. That’s what Thomas did: he hit a lot of foul balls. So many that pitchers would grow tired and eventually throw four balls. During a game in 1900, Thomas fouled off 10 or 11 pitches in a row, prompting the pitcher, a man named “Whoa Bill” Phillips, to stroll to home plate and punch Roy in the mouth. Thomas led the National League in bases on balls seven times, all in his first nine seasons. He topped a .450 on-base percentage three times. He was a nuisance at leadoff for the Phillies, at various times batting ahead of future Hall of Famers Nap Lajoie, Elmer Flick, and Big Ed Delahanty.

12

Johnny Callison

A slight-built man, even for his era, Callison was a valuable player in his early twenties but didn’t have a good season after the age of 29. He shared a lot of traits with Bobby Higginson: the arm, the small build, the short left-handed swing. But Callison was superior to Higginson.

11

Cole Hamels

In the 2008 postseason, Hamels went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA: he won twice in the NLCS and twice in the Fall Classic. He was the first pitcher to win the MVP in both rounds of the playoffs. The Phillies don’t win that World Series without Hamels, but he never had the type of success in the regular season that placed him among the elite pitchers of his era. He never led the league in strikeouts, in ERA, in innings, or wins. In an era of decreasing innings, fewer decisions, fewer late innings for starters, Hamels settled into the second tier of hurlers, with Mark Buehrle, with Cliff Lee. He was a modern Jerry Koosman: talented, important to his teams, but no one ever said “Future Hall of Famer.” Except that one afternoon in Cooperstown.

10

Bobby Abreu

Only 11 players have had as many as eight seasons in which they reached base 275 times or more. That list is composed of: Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Pete Rose, Wade Boggs, Barry Bonds, and Bobby Abreu. Lofty company for “El Comedulce” (The Candy Eater).

9

Jimmy Rollins

Only three double play combinations have played as long as ten years together. First there was Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers for the Cubs in the early years of the twentieth century. Then there were Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, who spent a remarkable 19 years together in Detroit. Finally, there’s Rollins and Chase Utley, who teamed up in Philadelphia for a decade starting in 2005. Rollins has the most hits (2,455) of any of those six players, and he was the best base stealer of the bunch. Rollins had a photographic memory of sorts, which helped him remember patterns as he faced opposing pitchers. He was a multi-sport star in Oakland where he hailed from a family of accomplished athletes.

8

Sherry Magee

7

Richie Ashburn

Ashburn won two batting titles in Philadelphia, played a shallow center field, and served as a leadoff man on the 1950 Phillies pennant-winning team. He brought back the headfirst slide, which hadn’t been seen much in the league after Pete Reiser went down with injuries. As a young prospect, Richie was compared to great players, not just Earle Combs, but also the dynamic Frankie Frisch, for his baserunning. Once in his rookie season during spring training, Ashburn bounced a routine grounder to shortstop where John Sullivan fielded the ball and tossed it to first. Sullivan was astonished to see Ashburn had beat his throw by two steps.

6

Ed Delahanty

“Big Ed’s batting style was unusual for the 1890s: he held the bat well back from his rear (right) shoulder and stood straight up in the right-handed box. He swung viciously. He joked once to a teammate that his biggest desire was “to [actually] tear the cover off a baseball with his swing.” No idea if he ever did it, but Delahanty won two home run titles. He also led the league in doubles four times, triples once, and slugging five times. His booming bat earned Delahanty the nickname “King of Swat.”

5

Pete Alexander

“I always thought that Alex was a changed man after the World War. Before he went to France, he was more or less careful about his drinking, but when he was demobilized he would drink anything and at any time.” — Bill Killefer, Alexander’s longtime catcher

4

Chase Utley

Utley was a near perfect baseball player. He wasn’t the offensive machine that Rogers Hornsby was. He wasn’t the defensive wizard that Alomar was. He wasn’t a stolen base merchant like Eddie Collins. Utley wasn’t a pure home run hitter like Jeff Kent. He wasn’t as durable as Charlie Gehringer, and he didn’t draw as many walks as Joe Morgan. But he was excellent at everything—and I mean everything. Add it all up and you have one of the ten greatest second basemen in the history of baseball.

3

Steve Carlton

2

Robin Roberts

Roberts used a three-quarter motion and had long arms and fingers which allowed him to exert exquisite control. He pitched a dozen years without missing a turn in the rotation, from 1949 to 1960. Once, he tossed 21 innings in a five-day stretch. It wasn’t easy, he fought through several nagging injuries. In 1952 when he won a career-high 28 games and completed 30 games, Roberts had a sore arm most of the season. He developed stiffness in his right arm in spring training and suffered from it for months. The Phils’ trainer would stretch the arm between starts and sometimes between innings. Finally, in early September, the stiffness disappeared.

1

Mike Schmidt

Unquestionably the greatest third baseman in baseball history. Schmidt withstood the boos from fickle Philly fans early in his career, winning them over with his multiple home run titles and Gold Gloves.