From: dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dave Eisen)
Subject: All-Time Phillies
Organization: Sequoia Peripherals, Inc.
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 18:36:30 GMT


Let me indicate my biases ahead of time: I'm going to be biased
towards the players I've seen as opposed to one's I haven't. Of
course, since the Phillies were the worst team in the league during
most of their history, this shouldn't matter a great deal.

Actually, I'm more likely to be biased towars Phillies' stars who
were way past their prime when I started following baseball. I
would have been too young to watch them but just old enough to
hear the local mediots rave about them. See Chris Short and Johnny
Callison for examples.

C Bob Boone
   Andy Seminick had a lot more power than Boony did, but he
   didn't last as long with the Phillies and wasn't the
   defensive catcher Boone was. Although now that I think
   of it, Boone was not regarded as the defensive great he
   is now until after he left the Phillies. Was he as
   good back then?

   Honorable mention goes to Tim McCarver who played in an
   inordinate percentage of the Phillies' wins.

1B Richie Allen
   He played a lot more 3B that 1B for the Phillies' but he
   obviously is not going to get much consideration as the
   best 3Bman the Phillies have ever had. Besides, I couldn't
   really think of any top flight first baseman the Phillies
   have ever had.

2B ???
   Have the Phillies ever *had* a good second basemen? Cash,
   Sizemore, and Samuel were all decent players, but none
   of them should merit inclusion on an all-time anything
   list. I'll pick Samuel if I'm pressed.

SS Larry Bowa
   Regarded as a great fielder by the Philadelphia fans, but
   that is questionable. We do know that he never made an
   error, but that is not nearly all there is to fielding.
   And he had a few good years with the bat.

   Honorable mention goes to Granny Hammer who had more power
   than Bowa did, but didn't play nearly as many games for the
   Phillies that Bowa did.

3B Well, duh.

RF Ed Delahanty
   Well, I don't know which outfield position he played. He
   did play an awfully long time ago. But he was one of
   the best players of the late 1800s.

   Honorable mention to Johnny Callison, one of the star of
   the infamous 1964 team. Had good power and a good arm.

CF Richie Ashburn
   Hit for a great average, walked a ton, had absurdly high
   range factors, and even stole bases at a time when this
   was not fashionable. Had no power whatsoever, but then again,
   if he had had some power, the Phillies fans who thought
   him better than his contemporaries Mays, Mantle, and
   Snyder would not have been totally insane.

   Probably belongs in the HOF.

   The second stringer here would be Maddox. He was a good enough
   outfielder that the Phillies could use two total stiffs in
   RF and LF. (This is really useful when you have players like
   Greg Luzinski and Lonnie Smith playing for you.) He could
   hit too.

LF Chuck Klein
   Yes, he played in a hitter's park. And he played in an era
   very favorable to hitters. But when you have numbers as
   good as he had, you still have to put him on your team.

   Other good LFs the Phillies have had include Greg Luzinski
   and Del Ennis, two great power hitters who racked up the RBIs
   but didn't do a whole lot else.

SP Steve Carlton, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Robin Roberts, Jim Bunning.
   If we need to add a fifth arm to this rotation (we probably don't
   with these pitchers who *all* could throw a lot of innings), I'd
   go with Chris Short.

RP Tug McGraw
   Without knocking the two Phillies relievers who single-handedly
   won pennants for the Phillies, Jim Konstanty and Al Holland,
   the tugger gave the Phillies more good years than anyone else.
   Besides, who can forget the scene of McGraw jumping into the
   air after he saved the game that gave the Phillies their only
   world championship?



-- 
Dave Eisen                               Sequoia Peripherals: (415) 967-5644
dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU              Home:                (415) 321-5154
       There's something in my library to offend everybody. 
          --- Washington Coalition Against Censorship
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