100 Greatest Phillies: 42 – Dolph Camilli

Dolph Camilli
First Baseman
1934-1937

Career w/Phillies: .294 AVG / 92 HR / 333 RBI / 22 SB

The 1941 National League Most Valuable Player, Dolph Camilli was one of the top power hitters of his day. With the Phillies he hit 92 home runs in 3.5 seasons, breaking the 25-homer mark in all three of his full seasons. In 1936, Camilli hit .315 and drove in 102, having a better season than a 31-year-old Chuck Klein. But Camilli was also one to strike out a lot, setting the National League mark in 1935 when he K’d 113 times. Still, he led the NL in on-base percentage in 1937, reaching a .446 OBP. He was always among league leaders in home runs, runs batted in, slugging percentage and walks, among other statistics. A real modern-day Ryan Howard.

Comment: Okay, maybe not as life-threatening as Howard, but certainly a prodigious home run hitter who sometimes tried a bit too hard to wallop one out of the park. He attained more success with the Dodgers, but absolutely deserves placement comfortably in the list. Plus, he’s one of the few names you can put a hip hop beat to, that’s if you’re Lil Wayne.

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.