The Phillies Nation Top 100: #45 Fred Luderus
The Phillies Nation Top 100 continues today with #45. Our mission is to assess the Top 100 Phillies players of all time using impact to the Phillies, individual achievement, team achievement, traditional stats, and analytics as our criteria. The list was compiled by Ian Riccaboni and Pat Gallen with input from the rest of the Phillies Nation staff.
From this point forward, each weekday, we will reveal two Phillies from the PN Top 100 in separate posts. To view the 2008 iteration of the list of Greatest Phillies of All Time as compiled by Tim Malcolm, please click here.
Please check back tomorrow morning for #44.
Years: 1910-1920
.278/.340/.403, 83 HR, 55 SB in 5304 PA
Previous Rank: 30 (-15)
fWAR Phillies Rank: 30th among position players, 44th among Phillies
Signature Series: Hit .438/.500/.750 with two 2B and a HR in the 1915 World Series
The pride of Three Lakes, WI, Luderus was a fixture at first base on the 1910s Phillies clubs that would be in regular contention for the pennant. Acquired in 1910 for starting pitcher Bill Foxen, Luderus would spend eleven power-filled seasons with the Fightin’ Phils. The trade would end up being one of the best in Phillies history as, with the aid of the short right field porch at the Baker Bowl, Luderus would appear in the Top 10 in the NL in homers from 1911 through 1919, finishing second in batting average and slugging in the pennant-winning 1915 season.
Luderus retired with several Phillies records for first baseman, including being the clubs’ all-time leading home run hitter at first (82), as well as the leader in runs, RBI, and slugging, beating out such Phillies notables as Kitty Bransfield and Klondike Douglass before him. Luderus would be just about the only Phillie to show up in their first appearance in the Fall Classic in 1915, hitting the club’s first World Series homer as well as batting .438/.500/.750, leading the team in every triple-slash category, as well as doubles, homers, and OPS. Luderus was one of the earliest in a line of boppers at first for the Phillies and ranks among the teams’ best first baseman in history.
