Saturday September.01/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles here.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024 This team has played for almost 130 years. As such, they have a great deal of history, so there are going to be several more hitters than pitchers as is the case with most Franchises. For the first seasons as the Quakers, they had some decent pitchers. It wasn’t until Pete Grover Alexander joined the club, that Philadelphia Phillies fams got to see a Hall of Fame pitcher before their very eyes. From Alexander, to Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, to Jim Bunning, Rick Wise and Chris Short, to Steve Carlton, Tug McGraw and Jim Lonborg, to Curt Schilling and Mitch Williams, to Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, the Phillies Pitchers have been improving in each generation.
Last year when the club won a record 102 games for the Franchise, they had the best 4 starters they had ever assembled in Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Roy Oswalt to take the mound. Having Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton as your 5th starter is an option most teams would love to have. The Phillies have been one of the best teams in the National League since 1975. They have appeared in 9 NLCS’s and 5 World Series while winning 2 of them. That is an impressive 36 year run. Going forward, the clubs pitchers still look solid. Cole Hamels just signed a 6 year extension, Cliff Lee is around for 3 more years and Roy Halladay still has 2 more years left after this. The club also signed Jonathan Papelbon up until the end of the 2015 season before 2012 began. Papelbon may have a chance to make this list when someone else chronicles the best pitchers in Phillies history one day 25 years from now.
If you ask me to have a Mount Rushmore of Pitchers it would be: Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Grover Alexander and probably Cole Hamels because of his instrumental pitching since the 2007 season.
For Part 1 of the Phillies Article Series: The Franchise click here:
For Part 2 of the Phillies Article Series: The Hitters click here:
For Part 4 of the Phillies Article Series: Team Payroll and Contractual Statuses click here
For the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals Franchise 5 Part Series click here
Steve Carlton Highlight Reel:
Grover Alexander ranks 3rd in MLB History with 373 Wins versus only 208 defeats. He won 190 games of his totals with the Philllies.
The Early Years (14) 1883-1948:
Charlie Ferguson 1884-1887 99-64 (.607) 2.67 ERA: Ferguson was the 1st great pitcher for the Philadelphia franchise. In 1886, he registered a 30-9 year with a 1.98 with the Quakers. He was also played outfield and 2nd Base. In 1887, he hit .337 with The Quakers and drove in 85 RBI in just 73 games. Unfortunately after the 1887, he contracted typhoid disease and died when he was just 25 years old just days before the 1888 year.
Jack Taylor 1892-1897 96-55 (.555) 4.34: “Brewery Jack” was a lightning rod when fighting with the umpires and he played for the famous team that had Billy Hamilton, Ed Delahanty and Sam Thompson in the outfield. Taylor’s best year was 1895, where he went 26-14. Sadly, at the age of 27 he also died of a kidney disease, although he was pitching for a different organization, the Phillies fans honored him.
Tully Sparks 1897, 1902-1910 95-95 (.500) 2.82 ERA: From 1902-1909, Tully Sparks had an ERA go as low as 2.00 and only as high as 2.96. Obviously his record should have been better than just .500 with an ERA like that. Tully’s best year came in 1907, where he went 22-8 and had that exact 2 ERA.
Al Orth 1895-1901 100-72 (.581) 3.49 ERA: Al Orth was the 1st player to win both 100 games in the National League and 100 in the American League for the New York Highlanders/Yankees Franchise. It took him 9 starts for his 200th win and last year Tim Wakefield fell one game short of matching Orth for the longest such streak. In 1899, Orth led the League in Winning Percentage (.824) on his 14-3 season with a 2.49 ERA. As a pitcher, he was routinely pinch-hitting as almost a .300 Hitter for the Phils (.294)
George McQuillan 1907-1910, 1915-1916 54-49 (.524) 1.79: McQuillan started the first 25 Innings of his career without giving up an earned run. It was a record that would last 101 years until Brad Ziegler of the Oakland A’s began his career by going 39.1 Innings without surrendering an earned run. He is the Phillies ALL-Time Leader in ERA and he came back to the Phillies for their run to the 1915 World Series. He completed 32 of his 48 starts as a rookie in 1908-while posting a 23-17 record and an incredible 1.53 ERA.
Grover Alexander 1911-1917 190-91 (.676) 2.18 ERA: Point Blank, Grover Alexander is on the Mount Rushmore for greatest starting pitchers of all time in MLB History behind only Walter Johnson, Cy Young and Lefty Grove. For the Phillies, he led the League in wins 5 times, IP 6x, CG 5X, SHO 5X, SO 5X, ERA 2X and Winning Percentage once. He is the Phillies ALL-Time Leader in Win Percentage. Alexander was traded after the 1917 season because the Phillies Management thought he was going to get drafted for World War I. In the World Series run year of 1915, he went 31-10 with an astounding 1.22 ERA. He would throw 4 more years consecutively of an ERA under 2. Alexander eventually won a World Series with the Cardinals. Alexander is tied with Christy Matthewson for 1st in NL wins with 373. He is 3rd place ALL-Time to Cy Young (511 wins) and Walter Johnston’s (417 wins.) He was inducted into the BBHOF in 1938 with 80.2% of the vote. Alexander was on hand for Game #3 of the 1950 World Series where the Yankees defeated the Phillies. He died less than a month after.
The Ashburn Days 1948-1959:
Robin Roberts 1948-1961 234-199 (.540) 3.46 ERA: This 7 time ALL-Star is the ALL-Time Leader for the club in Innings Pitched and is just 7 wins behind Steve Carlton (241) for 1st. Robert rambled off 6 straight 20-win seasons that started in the 1950 Pennant year for the Phillies. He led the league in IP 5x, Wins 4X, GS 6x, SO 2X and had 4 top 10 MVP finishes. He later would mentor young Jim Palmer with the Baltimore Orioles as part of their pitching staff. In 1976, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Robin Roberts lived until age 83 in 2010.
Curt Simmons 1947-1959 115-110 (.511) 3.66 ERA: He was part of the ‘Whiz Kids’ and a great 2nd option to Robin Roberts. This 3 Time ALL-Star came through with a 17-8 year and a 3.40 ERA during the 1950 Pennant winning season. After he spent 1951 fighting in the Korean War with several other MLB players, Simmons returned to pitching in 1952. That year he finished 14-8 with a League Best 6 shutouts. He was amongst the hardest of his generation to hit a HR off of. He allowed 0.7 HRs for every 9 IP.
1960-69 The Lean Years Post Ashburn Days:
Jim Bunning 1964-1967, 1970-1971 89-73 (.549) 2.93 ERA: Jim Bunning was already a 6 time ALL-Star with 118 career victories when the Phillies acquired him after the 1963 year. Bunning and the gang were part of the 64 collapse that saw them lose the division down the stretch as he was being heavily used by Coach Gene Mauch. They lost 10 games in a row and a 6 and a half game lead to the St. Louis Cardinals in the last 2 weeks. Bunning threw a perfect game on Fathers Day in 1964 and was his 2nd career no-hitter. In 1966 and 1967, Bunning led the league in Games Started and Shutouts.
Bunning also led the league in IP and SO during the 1967 year. In his 4 full years with the Phillies, he also hit the most opposing batters in every year. He is also tied for the fewest amount of pitches for striking out the side by throwing 9 strikes in a row to 3 batters in an inning in 1959. At the time of his retirement, his 2855 Career Strikeouts ranked him 2nd only to Walter Johnson (3508). In 1996, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. From 2009-2011, he was a United States Senator in the state of Kentucky. He is currently 80 years old.
Rick Wise 1964-1971 75-76 (.497) 3.60 ERA: While his contributions to the Phillies were extensive, his trade value to bringing back Steve Carlton proved to be the best trade the franchise has ever made. Wise was a 2 time ALL-Star for the Phillies and had his best season in 1971. He was 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA.
Chris Short 1959-1972 132-127 (.510) 3.38 ERA: This 2 time ALL-Star and one time 20 game winner, ranks 3rd ALL-Time for the Phillies in Games Started, 4th in Wins and 3rd in strikeouts with 1585 of them. Short’s best year was 1964, with a 17-9 record and a stellar 2.20 ERA.
Veterans Stadium Early Days 1970-83:
Steve Carlton 1972-1986: With the St. Louis Cardinals before joining the Phillies, Carlton had just won 20 games in 1971. It would be the 1st of 6-20 win seasons as he did it with Philadelphia 5 more times. Carlton was lights out from the word go in 1972. He racked up 27 of the teams 59 wins en route to winning the NL CY Young with a 27-10 record and a flashy 1.97 ERA and 30 CG. He was so good that year he finished in the top 5 for MVP voting on a last place club as a pitcher. Carlton went onto to be the most dominant Left Handed Pitcher in his generation. Carlton leads the ALL-Time Phillies list in Wins (241) GS (499) and strikeouts with 3031. Carlton was an 8 time ALL-Star with Philadelphia and took in 4 CY Young Awards. He led the league in wins 4X, ERA 1x, GS 4x, CG 3X, IP 5X and SO 4X.
Carlton has the second most Strikeouts ALL-Time by a Lefty (1st is Randy Johnson) and is 4th overall with 4136. Only Nolan Ryan (5714) Randy Johnson (4875) and Roger Clemens (4672) have more. His 327 wins are good for 2nd ALL-Time for a Lefty behind Warren Spahns 363. Steve Carlton was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994 in his 1st ballot chance with a 95.8% approval rate. He won a World Series with the Phillies in 1980 and appeared in the 1983 World Series as well. Carlton also won a WS with the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals. Carlton and Ryan both took turns as the ALL-Time Strikeouts (after passing Johnson) leader before injuries finally caught up to Carlton and Ryan pitched until he was 46 and amassed 5714 strikeouts
Jim Lonborg 1973-1979 75-60 (.556) 3.98 ERA: Lonborg came over in a trade with 3 others from Milwaukee for Don Money, John Vuckovich and Bill Champion. Lonborg has already won a CY Young with the Boston Red Sox in 1967. He was a nice veteran pitcher to add with Steve Carlton and Larry Christenson. His best year came in 1976, where he had a 18-10 record with a 3.08 ER- in helping the Phillies Capture a Pennant.
Tug McGraw 1975-1984 49-37 (.570) 3.10 ERA 94 SV: McGraw came over in a trade before the 1975 season. He was there for the best stretch of Phillies baseball up until the 2007-2011 Phillies came along. 6 of his 1st 7 years Tug had an ERA of under 3 coming out of the pen. In 1980, he saved 2 games vs the Houston Astros in the NLCS and another 2 games vs the Kansas City Royals in the 1st ever Phillies World Series Win.
Larry Christenson 1973-1983 83-71 (.539) 3.79 ERA: Christenson was a solid part of the starting pitching rotation for 10 years. His best year was in 1976. This is a year he went 19-6 despite a high ERA of 4.06. Christenson had great control as he only walked 2.5 batters/every 9 IP for his career. He was part of the 1980 championship team although he has a ERA of 108 .00 in the World Series by giving up 4 runs and only recording one out in his only start.
Dick Ruthven 1973-1975, 1979-1983 78-65 (.545) 4.00 ERA: His 1st stint as a Phillies Pitcher, he was 15-24 and his second stint he fared much better at 63-41, including being an integral part in the 1980 World Series Team. Ruthven won a game vs the Houston Astros in the NLCS and then pitched 9 Innings in a World Series game where he given a no-decision against KC. He was an ALL-Star in 1981 for Philly.
Ron Reed 1976-1983 57-38 (.600) 3.06 ERA 458 Games 90 SV: Ron Reed was one of the premier bullpen arms from the time he was traded over from the Atlanta Braves in 1975. In 1979 he had a 13-8 Record out of the pen. In 1983, he was 9-1 out of the pen. Together with Tug McGraw, they were one of the better shutdown bullpen teams for this stretch. He was part of both World Series Appearances in 1980 and 1983.
John Denny 1982-1985 37-29 (.561) 2.96 ERA:
John Denny won the NL Cy Young in 1983 for the Phillies. He has a 19-6 record with a 2.37 ERA. He was only 18-23 for the rest of his time with the Franchise.
John Denny came over to the Phillies during a September trade in 1982. He barely missed out of the Cardinals Game 7 World Series Win versus the Brewers. Denny would take out his frustration by throwing a career high 242 IP in 1983 to win his Cy Young and finish 13th in MVP voting. Denny had an identical 2.37 ERA in that postseason despite only going 1-2. In the 1983 World Series versus the Baltimore Orioles, he won Game #1 by only giving up 1 earned run in 7.2 Innings. He wouldn’t fare as well in Game #4, where he gave up 4 earned runs in 5.1 IP. Denny would go onto have a record of 18-22 in the next two seasons. He sported a 2.45 ERA in 22 starts during the 1984 season, and he logged 230 IP in 33 Starts in 1985, his final year with the club.
Veterans Stadium 1984-1993:
Shane Rawley 1984-1988 59-48 (.551) 3.88 ERA: Shane Rawley was the only starting pitcher for the club that was any decent in the late eighties. In his 1st four years, he went 51-32 and led the league in Games Started (36) during the 1987 year by going 17-10, before a brutal 8-16 campaign in 1988 brought down his win percentage as a Phillies pitcher. He still had a decent ERA that year at 4.18. He made his only ALL-Star Appearance in 1986. He had 4 out of 5 years of plus .600 winning percentages. He went 5-12 for Minnesota in 1989 before retiring.
Steve Bedrosian 1986-1989 21-18 (.523) 3.29 ERA 103 SV: “Bedrock” pitched 3 and a half seasons for the club before being traded. He won the 1987 NL CY Young with his NL leading 40 Saves and made his only career ALL-Star Game. He is 2nd in Franchise saves.
Tommy Greene 1990-1995 Career Record 36-22 (.621) 4.02 ERA:
Tommy Greene came over to the Phillies with some guy named Dale Murphy just after the 1990 Non-Waiver Trade Deadline. In just his second start of the season in 1991, he threw a no-hitter against the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium on May.23/1991. 5 days later, this time back at Veterans Stadium, Greene threw a three hit shut out versus the team from Canada. In that 1991 year, 4 out of the 13 wins Greene had were against the Expos, where he only gave up 1 earned run in 32 Innings Pitched against the NL East Opponent. Greene rode that success to a 13-7 year with a 3.38 ERA. Unfortunately he spent half of 1992 with arm problems. In 1993, the Phillies hurler was 16-4 with a 3.42 ERA and finished in 6th for NL CY Young voting. He was absolutely destroyed in 3 Playoff Appearances though versus the Atlanta Braves and the World Series Winning Toronto Blue Jays, where he carried a 13.11 ERA for the postseason. Incredibly, he was 1-1 for that playoff run. Tommy Greene had shoulder problems that persisted and he only ever won 2 more games in the Majors. For the Phillies, his record was 36-22, although he headed into the 1994 player strike at 36-17.
Mitch Williams 1991-1993 20-20 (.500) 3.11 ERA 102 SV: “The Wildthing” signed as a Free Agent before the 1991 year and rewarded them with a 12-5 Record and 30 Saves out of the Pen. Williams finished 6th in Cy Young Voting in 1992. Williams was an old school chucker, so he would want the ball every day if you wanted to give it to him. In 1993, he was part of the World Series Appearing team and a lot of it was due to his bullpen work. Mitch had 43 Saves in the regular season and 2 more in the NLCS to take the MVP. He was roughed up and forever blamed for giving up Joe Carter’s walk-off Homer, even though he placed the ball knee high on the inside corner. Williams sits in 3rd place ALL-Time for Phillie Saves.
Curt Schilling 1992-1999 101-78 (.564) 3.35 ERA: Schilling was one of the best ‘big game’ pitchers for about a 15 year stretch. He won 3 World Series and appeared in another for the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies. He was a 3 Time ALL-Star, he led the league in CG 3x, GS 2x, SO 2x (over 300 K’s both years) and Innings pitched once. Schilling is 11-2 ALL-Time in the post-season with a 2.23 ERA. He is undefeated in elimination games for his clubs, going 3-0-including memorable rallies of down 3-0 against the Yankees (2004 ALCS) and down 3-1 vs the Indians (2007 ALCS). He was part of the Diamondbacks team that stopped the Yankees from their 4 peat in the 2001 World Series.
Terry Mulholland 1989-1993, 1996 62-57 (.521) 3.81 ERA: He came over in a trade for Steve Bedrosian, so he was under pressure to perform. The Phillies fans received a workman like effort from the Veteran Lefty. In 1991, he went 16-13. In 1992, he Completed 12 Games. In 1993, he went 12-9 with a career best 3.25 ERA. Mulholland went 1-0 in the 1993 World Series versus the Blue Jays.
Veterans Stadium 1994-2003:
Jose Mesa 2001-2003, 2007 13-18 (.419) 4.05 ERA 112 SV: Take away the token appearances back with the team in 2007 and Mesa nailed down 111 out of his 112 Saves from 2001-2003. This mark is the ALL-Time franchise lead. Mesa had 42 Saves in 2001 and 45 Saves in 2002. He was an adventure some nights, yet he got the job done.
Brett Myers 2002-2009 73-63 (.540) 4.47 ERA 21 SV: Brett Myers was a valuable swing-man for the club for many years. His best year was in 2005, where he was 13-8 (.619) with a 3.72 ERA and 208 Strikeouts in 215 Innings Pitched. He was part of the 2008 and 2009 World Series Appearances. Out of the Bullpen in 2007, he saved 21 games and struck out 81 batter in nearly 69 innings.
Randy Wolf 1999-2006 69-60 (.535) 4.21 ERA: The Phillies fans always held signs “The Wolf Pack” and for a few years there was also “Thome’s Homies.” Wolf just missed out on the glory years of playoffs. He did have 3 years of 200+ Innings and he made an ALL-Star Appearance for the team in 2003. It was a year he went 16-10 (.615) with 177 SO in 200 IP.
Vicente Padilla 2000-2005 49-49 (.500) 3.98 ERA: The man pitched better than his record indicated. He could never get enough run support. He logged 200+ Innings twice and was an ALL-Star for the club back in 2002. His best year was in 2002, where he was 14-11 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 Starts.
Robert Person 1999-2002 38-24 (.613) 4.23 ERA: The bulk of Robert’s career was with the Phillies. He has one of the franchise’s higher winning percentages of ALL-Time. He struck out 535 guys in 606 IP for the club. His best year was in 2001. He was 15-7 with a 4.19 ERA and fanned 183 batters in 208 IP. He also hit 4 HRs in 216 AB which is pretty good hitting power for a pitcher.
Citizens Bank Ball Park 2004-2012:
Ryan Madson 2003-2011 47-30 (.610) 3.59 ERA 491 Games 52 SV: Madson was one of the teams most consistent arms out of the bullpen for their great 5 year run. He saved 32 games last year and posted his 9th straight year of a .500 year or better and had a 2.37 ERA. Madson struck out 547 batters in his 630 IP for the Phils. He also has 2-1 record in his postseason career, with a 2.33 ERA-while mowing down 43 batters in 35 IP. Madson would finish 11 Playoff Games overall. Sadly, he blew out his arm and needed Tommy John Surgery for the Reds in spring training of 2012. He is a free agent again in 2013 and is 32 years old.
Billy Wagner 2004-2005 8-3 (.727) 1.86 ERA 59 SV: Wagner was only with the club for 2 years, but he was a force! In 2005, Wagner led the league with 70 Appearances and collected 38 Saves. He was an ALL-Star. In 2004, he struck out 58 batters while only walking 6 in 48.1 IP. The Phillies fans only wished he could have been around longer!
Kyle Kendrick 2007- Present 51-39 (.567) 4.34 ERA: Kyle Kendrick came onto the scene in the middle of the 2007 year and finished 5th in Rookie of the Year Voting, by posting a 10-4 record with 3.87 ERA. He has since had 4 straight winning seasons as the 5th man out of the rotation and some spot relief duty. Kendrick is 8-9 with a 4.01 ERA this year. Kyle Kendrick is still only 28 years old.
Brad Lidge 2008-2011 3-8 (.273) 3.73 ERA 100 SV: Brad Lidge was perfect in his 1st year as a closer for the Phils. They rode him to an ALL-Star Appearance (where he blew his only save of the year) and ultimately to a World Series Victory. Lidge finished 4th in CY Young Voting for 2008. While he had a hellish regular season of 0-8 in 2009, with a 7.21 ERA and 31 Saves, he was great in the NLDS and the NLCS before giving up a 3 run inning during a Game 4 Loss to the New York Yankees. He would never see the mound the rest of the series. He resurrected his career in 2010 and 2011, with 28 Saves and a nice ERA of under 3 collectively. Lidge saved 2 games of the 2010 NLCS before Philadelphia lost out to the San Francisco Giants. He signed with Nationals this year and could not get many guys out, going 0-1 with 2 saves out of 4 chances-and a 9.64 ERA. He was released on June.25 by the Nats. He is 35-about to be 36 Years Old.
Cole Hamels 2006- Present 88-60 (.594) 3.34 ERA: At 28, Hamels just signed a 6 Year/144 Million Dollar extension to pitch for the Phillies. This year he has been the ‘ace’ of the staff- by going 14-6 (.700) with a 2,99 ERA. Hamels made his 3rd ALL-Star Appearance this year. In his 7th year with the club, Hamels has 6 years out of 7 with winning records. Prior to this season, his best campaign was 2007, with a 15-5 Record (.750) and 3.39 ERA.
Hamels led the NL in WHIP for 2008 (1.082). Hamels is 7-4 in his post season career with a 3.09 ERA. He was 4-0 in the 2008 Postseason alone-and 2-0 versus the Rays. He was the MVP for both of the NLCS and World Series. With these three big game pitchers (Hamels, Lee and Halladay) the Phillies will have a window to win if they all play up to their capabilities with just an average offense. The 3 are 411-235 combined (.636). If they average 25 decisions each that would be a 48-27 record. If 93 wins gets you into the playoffs most years, the rest of club would only need a 45-42 record.
Cliff Lee 2009, 2011- Present 27-19 (.587) 3.00 ERA: Cliff Lee was 24-12 for his Philly career heading into this disappointing 2012 campaign. Lee is 3-7 with a 3.67 ERA, although he has really pitched well lately. At 34, Lee is signed for 3 more years and will make about $90 Million Dollars from 2013-2015. Last year Cliff was 17-8 (.680) and had a 2.40 ERA, courtesy of throwing 6 Shutouts (which is the most by any MLB Pitcher since 1999.) Lee was an ALL-Star and finished in the top 3 for Cy Young Voting. Lee won a CY Young with the Indians in 2008, where he went 22-3 (.880) and had a 2.54 ERA. Lee is 122-76 (.616) Lifetime with a 3.65 ERA.
More impressive is that Lee has a 7-3 Postseason record with a 2.52 ERA. He has thrown 82 IP and has 89 SO and just 10 Walks. Lee has solid command and is one of the top 10 Pitchers in the game still. Lee was on wrong ends of 2 straight World Series Losses in 2009 with the Philles-and in 2010 with the Rangers.
Roy ‘Doc’ Halladay 2010- Present 48-23 (.676) 2.70 ERA: At 35, and with 196 Career wins, he is the active Winning Pctg Leader in the MLB- and is a 7-time ALL-Star, with 7 Top CY Young Voting finishes in his career. Of those 7, he has one 2 CY Young Awards, including his first year with the Phillies, where he went 21-10 and led the league with 4 Shut-outs. Halladay also threw a perfect game in the regular season of 2010 versus the Miami Marlins-and became the 2nd MLB Player ever (Don Larsen-1956 World Series) to throw a No-hitter in the Post Season. Halladay has led the league in CG 7X (2x w/PHI), SHO 4x(1x w/PHI) Wins 2x (1x w/PHI). He has thrown over 200 IP 8x in his career, yet he will see a 6 Year consecutive streak for that stat come up short in 2012. In 2012, he is 8-7 with a 4.02 ERA. This year resembles his off-year with Toronto in 2004. That year he went 8-8 with a 4.20 ERA-while he battled injuries.
Halladay should return to form in 2013. Halladay has been .500 or better for every year since 2001. Roy is slated to be as free agent after 2013 if he doesn’t throw 225 IP next year in 2013. He also can’t end the year on the DL. Should he reach this innings plateau, he will be guaranteed a 20 Million Dollar Contract for 2014. Halladay threw 250 Innings in 2010 and 233 Innings in 2011.
Jamie Moyer 2006-2010 56-40 (.583) 4.83 ERA: The Phillies just thought they got someone for the stretch drive in 2006 when they picked up 43 year old Moyer from the Mariners. He would amaze everyone by being productive for 5 years with club between the ages of 43-47. He never had a losing season for the club. Jamie was 235-155 for his career after the age of 30. He stands 3rd ALL-Time for winning pitchers over the age of 30 behind Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn. His greatest game as a Phillie in Game #3 of the 2008 WS. Jamie had a quality start of 6 IP, yielded 3 runs and struck out 5. At the age of 45, he was the oldest to ever win a WS Game. He matched that feat this year by being the oldest to ever record a hit, the oldest to ever win a game and the oldest ever to start a game. To see my Dedication Article to Jamie Moyer click here .
Honorable Mentions: Frank Corridan, Earl Moore, Erskine Mayer, Charlie Buffinton, Red Donahue, Kevin Gross and Tom Seaton.
For Part 1 of the Phillies Article Series: The Franchise click here:
For Part 2 of the Phillies Article Series: The Hitters click here:
For Part 4 of the Phillies Article Series: Team Payroll and Contractual Statuses click here
Brad Lidge saved exactly 100 games with the Phillies, 41 of them came with the 2008 Phillies that went onto win the World Series. Lidge was perfect in the regular season and then in 7 straight opportunities in the post season.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com ***
***Thank you to our Lead Baseball Writer- Chuck Booth for prep
aring today’s feature on MLB reports. To learn more about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames” and Chuck Booth, you can follow Chuck on Twitter (@ChuckBooth3024) and you can also follow Chuck’s website for his Guinness Book of World Record Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 days click here or on the 30 MLB Parks in 23 days GWR tracker at the Reports click here. To Purchase or read about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book, ” please click here ***
Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
