The Philadelphia Phillies are the longest standing same-named, same-city team in American professional sports, having been born to the National League in 1883. Unfortunately for them, longevity does not constitute greatness. In fact, the Phillies have been dogged by bad management, poor players and general ineptness for almost the entire span of their long history, so much so that they have lost more games than any other American professional sports team.
Their all-time record through 2005 is 8,694-9,879, almost one-thousand two-hundred games under .500. They hold the unenviable records of losing twenty-three straight games (1961) and going ninety-two years (1883-1979) without a championship (a record tied by the Cubs in 2005).
The Phillies played their first game on May 1, 1883, losing to the Providence Grays 4-3. They would lose eighty-one of ninety-eight games, a harbinger of things to come. Hall of Famer Harry Wright took over the team in its sophomore season and for the next ten years, they finished out of the first division only once. Wright added great talent, starting with Ed Delahanty. "Big Ed" hit over .400 three times, won a batting title, hit four home runs in a game in 1896, and was the slugging leader in 1893 (nineteen home runs & one-hundred forty-six runs batted in).
In 1894, Delahanty was a member of an All-Hall-of-Fame outfield with Sam Thompson and "Sliding" Billy Hamilton. All three hit over .400 that year. Hamilton would set a record by scoring one-hundred ninety-two runs that year. He would win two batting titles and four stolen base crowns (thus his nickname) and Thompson would twice lead the league in home runs.
The Phillies had a tough time in the first decade of the 20th Century after the upstart American League signed away their three biggest stars - Delahanty, Elmer Flick and Nap Lajoie - all future Hall of Famers. Their rebound started when they signed a young Grover Cleveland Alexander. One of the greatest of all pitchers, he won twenty-eight games as a rookie in 1911. He averaged twenty-seven wins in his seven years with Philly, winning thirty-plus games three times and twenty-plus games each year but 1912 when he won nineteen.
In 1915, he had one of the all-time great seasons (31-10, 1.22 ERA, twelve shutouts, four one-hitters and two-hundred sixty-four strikeouts) in sparking the Phillies to the pennant. His battery mate, Gavvy Cravath was the league's premier slugger, socking a then-record twenty-four home runs. The Phils lost to the Red Sox in the World Series, winning the first game by two runs, before losing four in a row, all by one run.
After two consecutive second place finishes, the Phils collapsed into a dark and dismal period virtually unmatched in the game's history. Over the next three decades, they would finish last seventeen times and next-to-last seven times, losing over one-hundred games for five straight seasons (1938-1942).
Philadelphia Phillies History
