Whenever one considers the top players in a given franchise’s history, a big part of the equation is longevity. Not only do you have to be great; you have to be around for a while.
The good thing about average stats — that is, the opposite of counting stats — is that you don’t necessarily need to be a longtime member of the team to be among its greats in that regard. You just have to make an impact while you’re there.
With that in mind, here are the top-10 OPS leaders in franchise history, per Baseball Reference.
10. Dick Allen — .902
Allen was a Phillie for nine seasons: 1963-69 and 1975-76. He earned three All-Star nods and a Rookie of the Year Award, with his best season coming in a .317/.396/.632, 40-homer 1966 — good for a 1.027 OPS.
9. Dolph Camilli — .905
Does the name ring a bell? Perhaps not. Camilli came over to Philadelphia from Chicago early in the 1934 season, and his first two seasons as a Phillie were solid, but not spectacular, posting OPSes of .779 and .776. The next two, however, were dominant: 1.018 and 1.034 seasons vaulted him into this list.
8. Elmer Flick — .907
Flick is a member of the Hall of Fame, but only the first four (1898-1901) of his 13 seasons came with the Phillies. The outfielder led the league with 110 RBIs and posted a .986 OPS in the first year of the 20th century, which wound up the best season of his career.
7. Mike Schmidt — .908
It may be surprising how relatively low Schmidt is on this list, given his status as the clear-cut greatest player in franchise history. But he was a Phillie for all 18 years of his career, and to put up a .908 clip across nearly two decades is legendary stuff. His best two seasons by OPS were 1980 and 1981 (1.004 and 1.080, respectively), but with three MVPs, 12 All-Stars and six Silver Sluggers, well, there weren’t many bad years.
6. Ed Delahanty — .923
Much of the same can be said for Delahanty, who OPSed above 1.000 a whopping five times in his 13-year Phillies career, including four straight from 1893-96. (The latter two of those four seasons were each above 1.100.) He became one of the best few players in Phillies history before joining the Washington Senators in 1902 and suffering a strange death the next year.
5. Jim Thome — .925
Thome is largely who the introduction of this list refers to. He spent just two full and healthy seasons in Philadelphia, but he made them count: combining for 89 homers those seasons and compiling OPSes of .958 and .977. He played a total of 89 games as a Phillie in 2005 and 2012, but the 2003-04 seasons are what put him in the top five.
4. Billy Hamilton — .927
The Phillies’ franchise record holder in batting average, Hamilton didn’t have the most power in the world (his career-high in homers was seven; granted, it was the late 19th century). Still, hitting .360 will help the OPS out a bit. So did his 1893 and 1894 seasons, in which he OPSed 1.014 and 1.044.
3. Bobby Abreu — .928
A Hall of Fame hopeful while currently in year No. 5 on the ballot, Abreu was above a .900 OPS in six of 13 seasons as a Phillie (something he did once in seven years elsewhere). He made his two All-Star teams and won his Silver Slugger while a Phillie, a stint that came from 1998-2006.
2. Bryce Harper — .931
The only active player in the Phillies’ top 10, Harper is still less than halfway done with his current Phillies contract, so there could be quite a bit of movement from here on out. If Harper can stay healthy over the next eight (or maybe more?) years — and his switch to full-time first baseman could help him do so — Harper could vie for the top spot on the list. Even if he doesn’t, unless his remaining Phillies tenure goes awfully awry, it’s hard to see Harper finishing anywhere below No. 2 on the list of the greatest position players in franchise history. To date, his best season in Philadelphia has been his 1.044 MVP campaign of 2021.
1. Chuck Klein — .935
Klein spent 15 seasons as a Phillie, from 1928-33 and 1936-44, and hit for an OPS above 1.000 four times. That includes his MVP 1932 season and his runner-up finishes in 1931 and 1933 (when he won the National League Triple Crown). Klein played only 80 games across his last four seasons, and they were not effective, but the sample was too small to bring him down from the top spot — so that’s where he sits all-time in Phillies career OPS. For now, at least.
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