100 Greatest Phillies: 21 – Chris Short
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Fri, March 06, 2009 04:00 PM | Comments: 20
100 Greatest Phillies, Posts
Chris Short
Starting Pitcher
1959-1972
Career w/Phillies: 2253 IP / 132-127 / 3.37 ERA / 1585 K
Fourth all-time in franchise wins. Fourth all-time franchise shutouts. Third all-time franchise strikeouts. Chris “Style” Short was a Phillies pitching legend over his 14-year Phillie career. The left-hander competed with five of the greatest pitchers of all-time during his best years — Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson and teammate Jim Bunning. And he held his own. In 1964 he went 17-9 with a 2.20 ERA despite being overused toward the end of the season. He won 18 games in 1965 and 20 in ’66. In the great pitching year of 1968 he went 19-13 with a 3.02 ERA. Great numbers, right? His 19 wins was fourth in the National League; his 3.02 ERA was not even close to the top 10. That aside, Short had seven consecutive fantastic seasons on the mound, and surrounded those years with steady work. Toward the end of his career Short maintained a respectable ERA, but couldn’t quite overpower hitters the way he could before. Throughout Phillies history, one can make the case that currently, Short is the franchise’s second-greatest lefty.
Comment: Short had a few unbelievable seasons and was considered a top arm in an era of truly legendary pitchers. Though he wasn’t near being a Hall of Fame pitcher, he absolutely gave the Phils some of the best pitching seasons in franchise history. And he was instrumental in the 1964 campaign, despite being used beyond belief toward the end. He just misses the top 20.
Posts: 0 Don M
the guy ranks Top 3 in like WINS, K’s, etc.. for the organization… surprised he’s not higher on the list..
Posted: 04:09 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Chutley
went to my high school Lewes, Delaware you’ll be glad to know that the ball field is named after him
Posted: 04:23 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 James Kay
Short was a quality lefty who deserves to be revered. He was a natural born Phillie typical of his era who threw the ball like a robot. His was not excessively emotional. He just went out with a constant expression on his face, threw hard, and won. Short is arguably the franchise’s second-greatest lefty. He made my top 15. I usually try to counter my praise with some equalizing negative rhetoric, but I am at a loss to say anything bad about Short. That leaves 3 1960′s & 3 1950′s era Phillies left worthy of the top 20. Where will they place? The balance of this list should generate some high emotion.
Does anyone know what Short did in the off season to augment his Carpenter family supplied Phillies income?
What will be the prize for a correct top 10 submission?
Posted: 05:20 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Fran
i filled in my top 10 today. That was tough
Posted: 06:01 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 jkink
Was my fav Phillie along with Callison when I first became aware of baseball and the Phillies.
Posted: 06:48 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 BurrGundy
Chris “Styles” Short averaged 15 complete games and over four shutouts for three consecutive years in his prime (’64 to ’66). I remember watching him totally dominate on a number of occasions. And he really was robotic in his pitching delivery. He may be one of the greatest baseball players to come out of Delaware. He died too young and would be a living legend if he were alive today.
Posted: 06:49 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Mike
he is way to short to be on this list…
Posted: 06:59 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 ashmidt
has to be the best player ever from delaware, bunning, short had to be one of the best 1-2 . i met him one time, he was one of the all time bad hitters he really had the foot in the bucket bailout, and he told me he went 4 for 4 off of warren spahn one game. one of his proudest moments.he died too young.
Posted: 07:54 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Mr. Phil
He was a regular at the De Braak Inn in Lewes, sitting at the bar. I never saw him there but a buddy of mine who frequented the place would tell me that Chris Short was sitting there at the bar. 2nd all time lefty Phillie pitcher.
Posted: 11:22 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Griffin
Tim, I tried to submit my top 10 list before 11:59 Friday, but it said “no more submissions accepted at this time” even though it’s 11:30.
So I will post my list for the hell of it.
1. Schmidt
2. Carlton
3. Ed Delahanty
4. Robin Roberts
5. Chuck Klein
6. Billy Hamilton
7. Grover Cleveland Alexander
8. Richie Ashburn
9. Jim Bunning
10. Cy Williams
Posted: 11:24 PM on March 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Ed R.
Bunning and Short and hold the fort!
Great player, good choice. Gotta love those pitching stats in the good old days before they lowered the mound.
Posted: 08:15 AM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 0 Richie Allen
I know I asked this question on another post before to no answer…So
Does any one know haw many times Bunning and Short were used in the last weeks of the 64 season?
I was so young then that I remember it was unreal,but I’d like to know exactly.I remember my dad talking about how dumb it was for Gene Mauch to keep throwing those 2 out there,because we never won the pennant by doing that.
Posted: 01:41 PM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 0 ashmidt
richie crash allen, one of my all time faves, as good as any of the hofers from the 60s imo. i looked it up in br, because i always heard the same thing, the last 12 games they lost the first 10 and won the last 2, short started 4 games , bunning started 4 games, and mahaffey and bennet started 2 each. its tough to blame gene mauch imo he was the best mgr the phils ever had, and i dont think they would have been close without him, the little general.
Posted: 02:14 PM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 0 Phils Drop Twin Bill, Myers Tinkers With Change
[...] 8.17 ERA and a opponent’s BA of .339. Yikes. 7. Phillies Nation is getting close to their Top 20 Phillies of All-Time. 8. The Fightins reported on an interview that Howard Stern did with porn star Sophia Rossi, who [...]
Posted: 03:35 PM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 0 Richie Allen
Thanks ashmidt, so the 2 started 8 out of the last 12…
Try that today,and you would have lawsuits galore.
Posted: 04:39 PM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
James, your math is wrong. In fact, I think the 1950s and 60s hold the most amount of players remaining of any era. But that’s without glancing at the list.
Posted: 04:54 PM on March 7, 2009
Posts: 0 James Kay
Tim, Does that imply that Ed Bouchee still has a shot? Hit .300 and the baseball world will tolerate almost anything.
Posted: 02:31 AM on March 8, 2009
Posts: 0 nick vendetta
CHRIS SHORT WORKED AT BALLANTINE BEER DURING THE OFF SEASON ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER PHILLIES.
Posted: 12:07 PM on August 1, 2009
Posts: 0 Jim F. from Downingtown
Yes, Bunning and Short each started 4 of the last 11 games:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1964-lineups.shtml
Posted: 07:07 PM on September 18, 2009
Posts: 0 BceмиpныйAнгeл
Радует, что блог постоянно развивается. Подобные посты только прибавляют популярности.
Posted: 05:31 PM on December 27, 2009