The best Phillies up-the-middle combos of all-time

There’s an old axiom that World Series champion baseball teams need to be strong up the middle. Translated: catcher, second base, shortstop and center field are key.

Here’s a look how the different Phillies champions lined up — up the middle. Which quartet is the best?

1915 National League champions 
The Phillies’ first pennant winners featured catcher Bill Killefer, second baseman Bert Niehoff, shortstop Dave Bancroft and center fielders Dode Paskert and Possum Whitted.

Killefer, 27, was considered the best defensive catcher of his era. Niehoff, 30, moved to second after playing third for Reds in 1914. Bancroft, 24 and nicknamed “Beauty”, was a rookie switch-hitter who led the club with 153 games and eventually became a Hall of Famer. Paskert, 33, played the most games (73) in center field. Whitted, 25, played 67 games there.

1950 NL champions 
The “Whiz Kids” lined up with catcher Andy Seminick, second baseman Mike Goliat, shortstop Granny Hamner and center fielder Richie Ashburn.

Seminick, 29, was an All-Star in 1949, a power-hitter and a rock behind home plate. He also played on a broken ankle late in the ’50 season. Goliat, 28, was a regular only in ’50. Hamner, 23, was known as a clutch hitter, a club leader and a solid defensive player. He was a three-time All-Star, too. Ashburn, 23, was a premier leadoff hitter, a basestealer, a .300 hitter and a five-time All-Star who led center fielders in putouts nine times, sharing an MLB record. And he was a Hall of Famer.

1980 World Series champions
The team’s first Fall Classic winners had a solid, experienced foursome: catcher Bob Boone, second baseman Manny Trillo, shortstop Larry Bowa and center fielder Garry Maddox. They had a combined 14 NL Gold Glove Awards and 10 All-Star appearances in a Phillies uniform between them.

Boone, 32, was a strong defender and, like Seminick, a rock behind home plate. Trillo, 29, had 2 Silver Slugger Awards to go along with his outstanding defense and his rocket arm. Bowa, 34, was steady and exceptional on defense, with only 211 errors in 19,058 1/3 Major League innings. Maddox, 30, was nicknamed “Secretary of Defense,” and that says it all — he was a solid hitter and basestealer.

1983 NL champions
The “Wheeze Kids” featured catcher Bo Diaz, second baseman Joe Morgan, shortstop Ivan de Jesus and center fielder Maddox.

Diaz, 30, was a fixture behind the plate from 1982-83 with the Phillies, earning a pair of All-Star nods in his career. Morgan, 39, played his lone season with Phils that year, his 21st of 22 big league seasons. He became a Hall of Famer with the Reds. DeJesus, 30, was a steady shortstop who spent three of his 15 years in the Majors with Philadelphia. Maddox, 33, won Game 1 of the World Series with a homer in Baltimore.

1993 NL champions
This bunch of misfits included catcher Darren Daulton, second baseman Mickey Morandini, shortstop Kevin Stocker and center fielder Lenny Dykstra.

Daulton, 31, was a leader on the field and in the clubhouse and a three-time All-Star. Morandini, 27, was a steady defender and an All-Star in 1995. Stocker, 23, debuted on July 7 and hit .324 in 70 games. Dykstra, 30, was a premier leadoff hitter, a three-time All-Star and the runner-up for the NL Most Valuable Player Award in ’93.

2008 World Series champions
This group was as solid as you could be up the middle. Catcher Carlos Ruiz, second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and center fielder Shane Victorino had a combined 11 All-Star nods between them.

Ruiz, 29, was another rock behind the plate who caught four no-hitters in career. Utley, 29, was the greatest second baseman in club history. He made the top 10 in NL MVP Award voting three times, and he was a four-time Silver Slugger. Rollins, 29, was a lineup catalyst and the greatest shortstop in club history with four Gold Glove Awards and a Silver Slugger Award. He was also the NL MVP Award winner in 2006. Victorino, 27, won four Gold Glove Awards in his career.

2009 NL champions
This foursome is a repeat of the 2008 group. They lost the World Series to the Yankees, 4-2.

Larry Shenk is author/editor of the Phillies.com Alumni section. Articles re-printed at Phillies Nation by permission of MLB and the Philadephia Phillies. 

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