Let’s learn about the most perenially mediocre team in the history of sports. (Sorry if I sound a bit cynical, but Monday’s loss just took me over the edge.)
-The first ever baseball game broadcasted on the radio aired on August 25, 1921, in Philadlephia. The Phillies, get this, lost to the Pirates, 8-5.
-There were efforts to call the Phils the Quakers in the 1910s and the Blue Jays in the 1940s. Neither name stuck, and therefore “Phillies” is the longest continuous name fo a team in all of professional sports.
-Though the World Series began in 1903, there were World Championships held between the first and second place teams between 1876-1900. The Phillies, who were formed in 1883, never finished first or second.
-The first major league night game, between the Reds and the Phillies, took place on May 24, 1935. FDR turned on the lights via a switch in the White House. The Phillies, get this, lost the game.
-Between 1919 and 1947, a stretch of 29 seasons, the Phillies finished last 17 times and next to last 7 times.
-The 1894 Phillies have the record for highest team batting average, as they hit an amazing .349 as a team. They also averaged over nine runs a game. They finished fourth in the league that year, due to bad pitching.
-The 1930 Phils hit .315 as a team, leading the league. But they finished the year in last place, 50 games under .500, because they had the worst pitching staff in the history of baseball. The worst ERA by a pitcher with over 150 innings pitched in baseball history is a a 7.71 ERA by 1930 Phil hurler Les Sweetland. The 2nd worst of all time is that of his teammate Claude Willoughby, who had an ERA of 7.59 that year.
-Robin Roberts, considered by many to be the second best pitcher in Phils history (behind Carlton), has the record for both most home runs given up in a year (46) and in a career (502).
-Curious about the worst minor league ever? That would be the 1926 Reading team (then called the Keystones). They finished 31-129 and 75 games out of first place.
-Oh, come on Johnny. All this stuff is so negative. Alright, fair enough. Let’s end with a positive, even if we have to go back to 1898 to find it. In that year, Phillies pitcher Bill Duggleby hit a grand slam in his first at bat. He is the only major league player to ever hit one in his first at bat.