An Insight Into the Phillies
Short History
Let’s start from the beginning. The Phillies were established in 1883 by sporting goods manufacturer Al Reach and John Rogers, who was an attorney. After gaining a spot to replace the Worcester baseball team, they named themselves as the Quakers. 1884 was the year when they hired Harry Wright as their manager and renamed themselves into the Philadelphians.
During the late-80s, the team accepted the shorter nickname Phillies and that name formally replaced the Quakers in 1890. In its inception, the Phillies had many unsuccessful years, especially from 1918 to 1948. But, all of that changed in 1971.
The Phillies opened the new Veterans Stadium in 1971 and marked the first time the time was located in North Philadelphia. The stadium was located in South Philadelphia. During these years, the team managed to get their hands on numerous trophies for which we’ll talk about later in this article.
After the glory days ended in 1984, the team had a few ups and downs as it tried to rebuild itself. The process of rebuilding started in 1996 and it lasted until 2002. The golden era of the team lasted from 2003 to 2012 when they managed to solidify themselves as one of the most respected teams in MLB.
The current era has the Phillies facing some challenges. In the past couple of years, they had a rocky relationship with their managers but finally hit stability after they signed Joe Girardi on a 3-year deal. The Phillies are among the biggest favourites to win the NL East and among top 10 teams to win the World Series. The MLB lines for the team are fantastic and if you are planning to place a bet on them, now’s the time.
Titles
Like we mentioned earlier, the Phillies are a well-decorated team when it comes to the trophies won across the years. They’ve been NL Pennants on 7 occasions with the most recent one being in 2009. Furthermore, they’ve won the NL East Division 11 times. Their last 5 trophies were consecutive and won from 2007 to 2011.
The biggest achievement that the Phillies have is them being crowned as champions of the World Series. They’ve managed to achieve this prestigious milestone on 2 occasions – in 1980 and 2008. As you can see, most of the titles came during the glory days (1971-1984) and the golden era (2003-2012). Right now, the club’s mission is to regain that power and be on top once more.
Wall of Fame
Ever since 2004, the Phillies added one player on their Wall of Fame each year. The first entry was Robin Roberts, while Manny Trillo is the most recent player to be inducted. It is interesting to mention that in 1983, the team selected their Centennial Team instead of inducting a player in their Hall of Fame. The team commemorated the best players of the first 100 years in its history.
Rivalries
As with any other team, the Phillies have rivalries with a few other teams. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets are the most notable mentions. The Phillies-Mets rivalry has been said to be among the hottest rivalries in the National League.
