100 Greatest Phillies: 95 – Phil Collins

Phil Collins
Relief Pitcher
1929-1935

Career w/Phillies: 1236.2 IP / 72-79 / 4.67 ERA / 403 K

Pitching in the live ball era, Collins — not the musician — was a pretty decent arm for some dreadful Phillies teams. He went 16-11 for a 1930 Phillies team that finished 52-102. And in 1934, his 4.18 ERA was very good, considering the league averaged a 4.71 ERA. Shuttling between starting and relieving throughout his Phillie career, Collins was nicknamed “Fidgety Phil,” probably for his horrible command (he walked 497 while striking out 423 during his career).

Comment: An underrated arm in the live ball days, Collins won’t be remembered for being dominant. Instead, he’ll be remembered for being the best pitcher during a string of bad Phillie teams. While Chuck Klein was drilling the ball all over Baker Bowl, Collins was keeping it steady on the mound.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.