The Phillies Nation Top 100 continues today with #56. 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 later this afternoon for #55.
#56 – Jim Fogarty
Years: 1884-1889
.247/.331/.341, 16 HR, 289 SB in 2849 PA
Previous Rank: New to Rankings
fWAR Phillies Rank: 39th among position players, 56th among Phillies
Signature Accomplishment: Last Phillie to steal 100 or more bases (1887), retired as All-Time Phillies steals leader (currently fifth)
Signature Season: Hit 12 triples, 8 homers, stole 102 bases with .261/.376/.410 line while leading NL in plate appearances and outfield assists, and second in put outs.
Outfielder Jim Fogarty may have only played six seasons with the then-Philadelphia Quakers but he certainly left his mark. Fogarty made his debut with the club at age 20 in 1884 and hit a poor .212/.251/.283 but would become one of the early stars of the Quakers. In his signature season, 1887, Fogarty would lead the National League in plate appearances with 587, hitting 12 triples, eight homers, and stealing 102 bases with a .261/.376/.410 line.
From 1884 through 1889, Fogarty ranked sixth in baseball in steals, 22nd in BB%, and fifth in FanGraphs’ version of base running value. According to FanGraphs’ defensive metrics, Fogarty was the most valuable defender from 1884-1889, leading the National League in assists in 1887 and 1889, put outs in 1885 and 1889, range factor in 1884 and 1885, and fielding % in 1889. Fogarty was a speedy outfielder that has seemingly been lost to the hands of time but was one of the club’s best defensive outfielders and one of the best on the base paths.
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