Philadelphia Phillies
History
The Philadelphia Phillies were founded in 1883. The team then was named the Philadelphia Quakers.
They took on the Phillies name their second year in existence, which coincided with the Quakers until 1889.
In 1943 tthe Phillies changed the teams name to the Philadelphia Blue Jays to change the team's image, but
it only lasted two years.The "Phillies" name came from a shortened version of the "Philadelphias".
The team played its home games in the Baker Bowl. After fighting to get out of their lease and the badly aging
stadium, where a balcony collapsed during a game at the killing 12 and injuring hundreds, they moved
into Connie Mack Stadium in 1938. Then called Shibe Park . This was also home of their American League rivals,
the Philadelphia Athletics. The A's moved in 1954 to Kansas City, Missouri and today are the Oakland Athletics. The Phillies have been playing in Citizens Bank Park Stadium since 2004 after moving from Veteran's Stadium which
opened in 1971. That was the same year sportscaster, Harry Kalas joined the Phillies. Harry Kalas
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.
The Phillies won their first pennant in 1915 thanks to the pitching of Hall of Famer,Grover Cleveland Alexander
. The Philadelphia Phillies have only won one World Series Championship in their history. It was in 1980 against
the Kansas City Royals. They defeated of the favored Kansas City Royals in six games. The Philadelphia Phillies
have appeared in the world series four other times. In 1915 they lost to the Boston Red Sox. In 1950 the "Whiz
Kid's" lost to the New York Yankees. In 1983 the Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles and in 1993 they lost
to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Philadelphia Phillies are nicknamed "the Fightins'", or "The Fightin' Phils". This was no more prevelent
than in 2007, when the Phillies made a miraculous comeback to wrestle the Easten Division title from the New york Mets,
who were several games ahead of the Phillies in the final week of the season. The Phillies went on to lose to
the Colorado Rockies in the National League Championship Series.
The Philadelphia Phillies have retired the numbers of five players in their franchise history. The #1 of Hall of
Fame outfielder and a member of the famous "Whiz Kids" team of 1950, Richie Ashburn. The #14 of
Hall of Fame pitcher and US Representative, Jim Bunning, who pitched a perfect game June 21, 1964. The #20 of Hall
of Fame third baseman Michael Jack Schmidt, who was on the 1980 World Championship team. The #32 of Hall of Fame
pitcher and four time Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton, affectionately known as "Lefty". And the #36 of Hall of
Fame pitcher and member of the famous "Whiz Kids", Robin Roberts, who once pitched 28 complete games in a row. |
