# 1883 Philadelphia Quakers season

The 1883 season was the first in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team was founded earlier in the year as a replacement for the Worcester franchise. It was the first year Philadelphia was represented in the National League since the original Athletics were disbanded in 1876 after refusing to finish the season. The American Association's Philadelphia Athletics had been founded a year earlier.
The team opened the year managed by Bob Ferguson; however, he was fired as manager after a disappointing 4–13 start and replaced by Blondie Purcell. The team finished the season 17–81, worst in the National League.

## Preseason

The Phillies played their first game ever on April 2, 1883, and defeated the amateur Manayunk Ashlands in an exhibition game by the score of 11–0 at Recreation Park.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 63 | 35 | .643 | — | 41‍–‍8 | 22‍–‍27 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 59 | 39 | .602 | 4 | 36‍–‍13 | 23‍–‍26 |
| Providence Grays | 58 | 40 | .592 | 5 | 34‍–‍15 | 24‍–‍25 |
| Cleveland Blues | 55 | 42 | .567 | 7½ | 31‍–‍18 | 24‍–‍24 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 49 | 45 | .521 | 12 | 36‍–‍13 | 13‍–‍32 |
| New York Gothams | 46 | 50 | .479 | 16 | 28‍–‍19 | 18‍–‍31 |
| Detroit Wolverines | 40 | 58 | .408 | 23 | 23‍–‍26 | 17‍–‍32 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 17 | 81 | .173 | 46 | 9‍–‍40 | 8‍–‍41 |

### Record vs. opponents

1883 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | NYG | PHI | PRV |
| Boston | — | 7–7 | 7–7 | 10–4 | 10–4 | 7–7 | 14–0 | 8–6 |
| Buffalo | 7–7 | — | 5–9 | 7–7 | 9–5–1 | 8–5 | 9–5 | 7–7 |
| Chicago | 7–7 | 9–5 | — | 6–8 | 9–5 | 9–5 | 12–2 | 7–7 |
| Cleveland | 4–10 | 7–7 | 8–6 | — | 9–5–1 | 7–6–2 | 12–2 | 8–6 |
| Detroit | 4–10 | 5–9–1 | 5–9 | 5–9–1 | — | 8–6 | 11–3–1 | 2–12 |
| New York | 7–7 | 5–8 | 5–9 | 6–7–2 | 6–8 | — | 12–2 | 5–9 |
| Philadelphia | 0–14 | 5–9 | 2–12 | 2–12 | 3–11–1 | 2–12 | — | 3–11 |
| Providence | 6–8 | 7–7 | 7–7 | 6–8 | 12–2 | 9–5 | 11–3 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Emil Gross | 57 | 231 | 71 | .307 | 1 | 25 |
| 1B | Sid Farrar | 99 | 377 | 88 | .233 | 0 | 29 |
| 2B | Bob Ferguson | 86 | 329 | 85 | .258 | 0 | 27 |
| 3B | Blondie Purcell | 97 | 425 | 114 | .268 | 1 | 32 |
| SS | Bill McClellan | 80 | 326 | 75 | .230 | 1 | 33 |
| OF | Bill Harbridge | 73 | 280 | 62 | .221 | 0 | 21 |
| OF | Jack Manning | 98 | 420 | 112 | .267 | 0 | 37 |
| OF | Fred Lewis | 38 | 160 | 40 | .250 | 0 | 18 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| John Coleman | 90 | 354 | 83 | .234 | 0 | 32 |
| Frank Ringo | 60 | 221 | 42 | .190 | 0 | 12 |
| Fred Warner | 39 | 141 | 32 | .227 | 0 | 13 |
| Jack Neagle | 18 | 73 | 12 | .164 | 0 | 4 |
| Conny Doyle | 16 | 68 | 15 | .221 | 0 | 3 |
| James Pirie | 5 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Art Benedict | 3 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe Mulvey | 3 | 12 | 6 | .500 | 0 | 3 |
| Abe Wolstenholme | 3 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Gallagher | 2 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Hardie Henderson | 2 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Charlie Kelly | 2 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Piggy Ward | 1 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Edgar Smith | 1 | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | 1 |
| Buck Gladmon | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Waitt | 1 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| John Kelly | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill White | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| John Coleman | 65 | 538.1 | 12 | 48 | 4.87 | 159 |
| Art Hagan | 17 | 137.0 | 1 | 14 | 5.45 | 39 |
| Blondie Purcell | 11 | 80.0 | 2 | 6 | 4.39 | 30 |
| Jack Neagle | 8 | 61.1 | 1 | 7 | 6.90 | 13 |
| Charlie Hilsey | 3 | 26.0 | 0 | 3 | 5.54 | 8 |
| Hardie Henderson | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 19.00 | 2 |
| Edgar Smith | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 15.43 | 2 |
| Alonzo Breitenstein | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 0 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Bob Ferguson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |