Phillies History

The Phillies finished the 2000 season is last place with a 65-97 record. The acquisitions of Andy Ashby and Mike Jackson could not also help out the team. The Phillies heed to Curt Schilling's request and traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks before the trade deadline in exchange for Pitchers Vincente Padilla Omar Daal, and first-base Travis Lee. The Phillies also signed an agreement with the city to build a new 43,500-seat ballpark scheduled to open in April 2004. In 2001, the Phillies played under the new Manager Larry Bowa who helped the Phillies to finish the season in 2nd with an 86-76 record. Larry Bowa earned the Manager of the Year for helping the Phillies to improve their performance as compared to the previous season. Rookie shortstop Jimmy Rollins was energetic and a perpetual sparkplug for the team, leading the league in stolen bases with 4. The Phillies started the 2003 season on a miserable note with nearly 20 games below .500.

Larry Bowa's Phillies reverted from a season finishing two games behind the Braves in the NL East with an 80-81 record and a 3rd place finish. In 2003, the Veterans Stadium for the final time hosted the Phillies game led by the Phillies new acquisition slugger Jim Thome and Kevin Millwood. The Phillies became the contenders in the thick of the race for the Wild Card as Jim Thome led the National League with 47 home runs. However, the Phillies lost 7 of their last 8 games finishing the season in 3rd place with an 86-76 record. The following season, the Phili8es acquired closer Billy Wagner from the Houston Astros. 2004 was also a season of high anticipations since the Phillies inaugurated their new ballpark Citizens Bank Park. However, the Phillies lost the home opening game to the Cincinnati Reds by 4-1. But this didn’t dampen their optimism, though their hopes of winning the division faded. Probably because of the growing dispute between the players and Manager Larry Bowa, the Phillies were not able to show their potential.

The Phillies finished the season in 2nd Place with an 86-76 record. Bowa was rusticated prior to the eventual 2 games of the season. The Philadelphia Phillies were founded in 1883, and are having the longest footing with one-name and one-location in all professional American sports. The team is named for the spoken shorthand of their city, Philly. The Phillies replaced the Worcester, Massachusetts Brown Stockings in the National League without having been relocated to some other city. Former player Alfred J. Reach holds the credit for organizing the team in 1883. Though the team featured experienced players it managed to rise above the third place only three times in their first thirty-two years. The Phillies won their first NL pennant in 1915 under manager Pat Moran powered by future Baseball Hall of Fame members such as Ed Delahanty, Billy Hamilton, and Sam Thompson. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the Phillies featured many outstanding players but finished in seventh or eighth place in those three decades. In 1933 Klein won the Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. In the 1940s, the Whiz Kids took the hold of the team formed by pitchers Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons and outfielders Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis, and Dick Sisler and captured the team’s second NL pennant in 1950 since its inception. Ashburn became one of baseball’s most apprehensive offensive threats, winning two batting titles and accumulating a career batting average of .308.

From 1951 to 1975, the Phillies managed to finish higher than third place only two times. The Phillies became the most threatened team of NL in late 1970s, when it captured five division titles from 1976 to 1983. But every year they were swept by the dominating team of NLCS. The Phillies in their 98th season won their third NL pennant and first World Series in 1980 under the guidance of manager Dallas Green. Schmidt won the NL most valuable player (MVP) awards and Carlton won Cy Young Award. Tug McGraw anchored the pitching. In 1983, the Phillies won another NL pennant with the line-up featuring second baseman Joe Morgan and first baseman Tony Perez. After facing a ten-year drought, the Phillies won another pennant in 1993 led by catcher Darren Daulton, outfielder Lenny Dykstra, first baseman John Kruk, and relief pitcher Mitch Williams. The Phillies prominence soon faded in the mid- and late 1990s. The logo of the team has a white Liberty Bell against a blue background in the shape of a baseball diamond, with Phillies written in scarlet red with blue stars dotting the "I"s in white trim. The mascot of the team is Phillie Phanatic.