Phillies, The most losing franchise
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Topic: Phillies, The most losing franchise
Posted By: red clay
Subject: Phillies, The most losing franchise
Date Posted: 11-Jun-2011 at 10:50
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In Major League sports History.
Yup, that's my Phillies. Philadelphia once had 2 MLB teams. The Phils and the A's. I've tried to find as much history as possible here.
I'm going to tie it up with the History of the Ball Park, Shibe Field, or better known as "Connie Mack Stadium."
CMack, as it was known when I was a kid, had many historic events occur there. Ted Williams went 6 for 8 in the last game of the season in 1941 to finish the season with a .406 Batting average. {It hasn't been done since]
The Phills started out as "The Philly Quakers".
1883 Philadelphia Quakers
 Record: 17-81 The inaugural season for the http://bleacherreport.com/philadelphia-phillies - Phillies foreshadowed what would become the most-losing franchise in professional sports history. Granted, it's tough to be successful in your expansion year, but 17-81 is mind blowing. On Aug. 21, 1883, the Quakers fell victim to a 28-0 shellacking by the Providence Grays. Pitcher John Coleman won 12 of the 17 games. His record that season...12-48! The Philadelphia A's on the other hand won the American Association pennant. 1903 Phillies
 Record: 49-86 On Aug. 6, 1903 tragedy struck on a Saturday afternoon in a game with the http://bleacherreport.com/st-louis-cardinals - Cardinals . On the western boundary of Philadelphia Park, a fire broke out on the balcony. When the balcony gave way, approximately 500 people plunged to the street below. It was complete chaos on 15th Street as the ambulances rushed to the scene. Twelve people died, and 232 others were rushed to the hospital with broken limbs and head injuries. It was said that the iron that supported the balcony had rusted and was unable to withstand all of the pressure. In other news, 1903 marked the first time that the city rivals Phillies and http://bleacherreport.com/oakland-athletics - Athletics played each other. 1904 Phillies
 Record: 52-100 The team was atrocious, but 1904 marked the debut of a 19-year-old outfielder named Sherry Magee. In his first full season in 1905, the Phillies improved by 31 wins and finished 83-69. Magee hit .299 with 24 doubles, 17 triples and five home runs. He scored 100 runs and stole 48 bags. The outfield combination of Magee, Roy Thomas and John "Tight Pants" Titus scored 317 runs, the most out of any outfield trio in baseball that season. 1961 Phillies
 Record: 47-107 The Phillies set an all-time 23-game losing streak in Gene Mauch's first season as manager. The 1961 season did mark the first full season of starting pitcher Art Mahaffey. He won the Rookie of the Year Award the year prior. On Apr. 23, Mahaffey set a club record with 17 strikeouts in a day game against the http://bleacherreport.com/chicago-cubs - Chicago Cubs . In the 6-0 Phillies win, Mahaffey allowed four hits and one walk in the complete-game shutout. He struck out Ernie Banks three times. Although he led the NL in losses with 19, Mahaffey was still voted to the All-Star Game. This next piece is still talked about and is still amazing, the Phills only won 59 games in 72. Carleton won 27 of them.
1972 Phillies
 Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Record: 59-97 Unfathomably, Steve Carlton won 27 of the 59 games, an http://bleacherreport.com/mlb - MLB record 45.8 percent of the victories. He went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts. Lefty had 30 complete games, eight shutouts and is one of five pitchers in MLB history to win 20-plus games for a last-place team. It was the first of four Cy Young Awards for the Hall of Fame southpaw. As it turns out, the acquistion of Carlton from the http://bleacherreport.com/st-louis-cardinals - Cardinals was certainly a wise decision. 1918-1948 Phillies
 1942: 42-109 1941: 43-111 1928: 43-109 1939: 45-106 1945: 46-108 The 1917 trade of starting pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander started a 31-year stretch of appalling baseball. In tough economic times, the tight-fisted Phillies owner William Baker routinely traded his top players for money. He was the cheapest owner in the history of baseball. Baker installed a 20-foot screen on top of the already 40-foot right field wall at the Baker Bowl to cut down on Chuck Klein's power numbers. Baker felt that if Klein hit more home runs, he'd ask for more cash. Klein's finest season came in 1930 when he hit .386 with 40 home runs and 170 RBI. The Phillies still finished 50 games under .500. The organization even sold office furniture one season to pay for spring-training expenses. Some other notable names traded for cash...Lefty O'Doul and Davey Bancroft. Klein was traded in 1933, the year he won the Triple Crown, but this came after William Baker's death in 1930. It's still a bit baffling that it was the Philadelphia A's franchise which left Philadelphia during the 1950s, and not the Phillies. ------------- "Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces". Unknown. |