100 Greatest Phillies: 96 – Chick Fraser

Chick Fraser
Staring pitcher
1899-1900, 1902-1904

Career w/Phillies: 1270 IP / 74-75 / 3.53 ERA / 454 K

Charles Fraser was “Chick” for short. He was a member of the 1908 Cubs team (you know, the last that won a World Series), but had his best seasons in Philadelphia. Fraser spent five seasons with the Phillies, throwing an average of more than 250 innings per season. Still, pitching in the dead-ball era, his somewhat low ERAs were actually league-average, for the most part. He walked a slew of batters, too. But for his stamina and first two strong seasons in Philly (1899 and 1900), Fraser remains a bright spot of the team’s early days. In 1901 he left the Baker Bowl for Columbia Park, going across the city to play for the Athletics.

Comment: Again, his hard work paid off for this spot. While never a really above-average pitcher, Fraser was always good for his workmanship.

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.