100 Greatest Phillies: 45 – Dick Sisler

Dick Sisler
Outfielder
1948-1951

Career w/Phillies: .286 AVG / 39 HR / 241 RBI / 3 SB

“But then I think of Dick Sisler and those great drives In the old park.” That’s a famous line in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” Sisler’s epic home run to win the 1950 Phillies the National League pennant was given a romantic spin, which is fitting — it was clearly the highlight of Sisler’s life and one of the greatest moments in Phillies history. Sisler himself was a very solid player, albeit a journeyman who found some fitting with the Whiz Kids of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He steadily hit in the higher end of the .200s his entire time in Philadelphia, while hitting over 10 home runs twice.

Comment: Sure, Sisler doesn’t have the sexy numbers, but he was an incredibly solid player for his entire Phillie career, hitting with an OPS+ above 100 each season. And of course, his big moment didn’t hurt. In fact, it very much helped.

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.