The Fightin' Phillies: 100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits by Larry Shenk, Paperback

Read an Excerpt

The Fightin's Phillies

100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits

By Larry Shenk

Triumph Books LLC

CHAPTER 1

1. Historic Performances

Since being established as a National League franchise in 1883, the Phillies have played more than 20,300 games. There have been many great performances and plentiful ones that can be described as duds. History shows the Phillies played their first game on May 1, 1883, losing to the Providence Grays 4–3 at Recreation Park.

No one, including the new management, headed by Alfred J. Reach, made a fuss about that first game. There was no band, no flag raising, no mayor on hand to throw out the first ball. Perhaps it was all old hat to the fans — for many had seen the team do its spring training at home.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer game story of May 2: "The fielding was good on both sides, but the batting was weak." Each team had six hits. The Grays made five errors; the Phillies made three. (So much for good fielding.) Another newspaper reported, "The Phillies started well against Frank Bancroft's crack Providence Club, which had Ole Hoss Radbourne pitching. They got three runs off Radbourne, while, until the eighth, John Coleman, the Phillies hurler, had held the Grays scoreless. But in that eighth, three singles and a double, with a base on balls, brought four runs across, and Providence won the ball game." The Philadelphia Record reported "four balls were used up in the game!"

Left fielder William (Blondie) Purcell got the Phillies' first hit and scored the first run. He singled to left center in the first inning and scored on a ground-out. After 17 games (4–13 record), the Phillies replaced manager Bob Ferguson with 29-year-old Purcell. John Coleman, who was 20 years old, went the distance in the season opener and took the loss. The right-hander finished the season with a 12–48 record in 65 games (61 starts) and a 4.87 ERA. Even though his record produced a measly winning percentage of .200, Art Hagan, the No. 2 starter, finished 1–14 for a .067 percentage.

The Phillies began the season 0–8, a start that remains a club record. The first win came on May 14 in Chicago by a 12–1 score. They ended their inaugural season with six losses and a tie and finished last, 17–81, and 46 games out of first place. Their longest winning streak was two games, which occurred three times. Their longest losing streak lasted 14 games.

Some interesting rules and practices were in effect in 1883:

• Gloves were made of thin leather and did not cover the fingers.

• The pitcher's "mound" was a flat surface 50 feet from home plate. (It became 60'6" in 1893.)

• Home plate was a 12-inch square (instead of the present-day five-sided figure, which is 17 inches wide).

• Catchers were positioned 20 or more feet behind the batter and caught the balls on a bounce. They did not wear chest protectors (until 1885) or shin guards (1907).

• Batters were permitted to ask for a high or low pitch. (The rule was abolished in 1886.)

• A pitcher had to throw seven balls in order to issue a walk. Pitchers were required to throw underhanded. (Overhanded began in 1884.)

• Rules prohibited the use of a new ball until the beginning of a new inning, no matter how worn or disfigured the ball might have been.

• Games were not played on Sundays.

• There was one umpire a game. He was paid $5.

• Players had to pay $30 for their uniforms. (Clubs began paying for them in 1912.)

• Player salaries were limited to $2,000 annually. Team rosters only included 11 or 12 players.

LONG AGO NO-HITTERS

Four Phillies tossed no hitters in the first 23 years of the franchise in 1885, 1898, 1903, and 1906. There was a long dry spell until Jim Bunning's perfect game in 1964. Since then there have been seven, including a gem in 2014, in which four pitchers combined on a no-hitter. Through social media the entire world knew in seconds about that gem. Little was known about the first four Phillies no-hitters until newspaper accounts the next day. With the help of the Baseball Hall of Fame library, the following provides more information about those first four.

August 29, 1885

RHP Charlie Ferguson won against the Providence Grays at the Phillies' home field, Recreation Park.

Score: 1–0

Season record: 26–20, 2.22 ERA.

Age: 22

Catcher: Jack Clements

Account from The New York Times (August 30, 1885): "Ferguson, the Philadelphia pitcher, accomplished the feat today by retiring the Providence team without a hit in a full nine inning game. Eight of the visitors went out on strikes, one on a foul tip, and seven on short infield flies, only five balls being hit by them to the outfield, all of which were caught. His pitching was very steady, except in the fourth inning when he gave two men their bases on balls. The only run of the game was made by Mulvey in the ninth inning, when he reached first on a hit, stole second, went to third on Fogarty's out and came home on a wild pitch."

July 8, 1898

RHP Red Donahue won against the Boston Beaneaters (Braves) at Baker Bowl. Mound was at current distance, 60'6".

Score: 5–0

Season record: 17–17, 3.55

Age: 25

Catcher: Ed McFarland

Account from The Cincinnati Enquirer (July 9, 1898): "Pitcher Donahue today performed the remarkable feat of shutting out the Boston Club without a hit. Donahue did not seem to exert himself in the least in making his great record against the Beaneaters, but he made excellent use of the gray matter beneath his auburn locks. First it was a tantalizing slow one, and then a very speedy curve. His change of pace could not have been excelled, and his opponents were 'shooting ducks' from start to finish. There was not the semblance of a base hit and had it not been for errors by Cross and Lauder only two visitors would have reached first base, these being given bases on balls. Seventeen Boston men were retired on fly catches, 14 of which went to the outfielders."

The first batter he faced reached base on an error. A similar play began the seventh. Overall, he walked two and struck out one, and Boston left four runners on base. The game took one hour, 50 minutes. It was his only shutout of the season and second of his career.

Donahue, a Villanova University product, pitched 13 years in the majors with the New York Giants, St. Louis (NL), Phillies (1898–1901), St. Louis (AL), Cleveland, and Detroit. He was acquired from St. Louis (NL) on November 10, 1897, with Monte Cross and Klondike Douglass for Jack Clements, Lave Cross, Tommy Dowd, Jack Taylor, and $1,000. He compiled a 72–48 record with the Phillies, winning 20 or more games twice.

September 18, 1903

RHP Chick Fraser won at the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a Friday doubleheader and the second of six consecutive twin bills. It was the largest margin of victory for a Phillies no-hitter.

Score: 10–0

Season record: 12–17, 4.50 ERA

Age: 30

Catcher: Red Dooin

Account from The Chicago Daily Tribune (September 19, 1903): "'Chick' Fraser of the Zimmerites shut the Colts out without a run or hit in the second game of the two games played on the west side grounds yesterday, pitching the first full game without a hit in either big leagues this season."

Backed by a 14-hit attack and a four-run first inning, Fraser still had to overcome a shoddy defense as his teammates committed four errors, including three by shortstop Rudy Hulswitt. That's the most errors for any player in a no-hitter. Fraser walked five and struck out four. The game took one hour, 40 minutes. The losing pitcher was Peaches Graham, and it was the only game he pitched in the majors.

Fraser pitched 14 seasons in the majors with Louisville (NL), Cleveland (NL), Phillies (1899–1901 and 1902–04), Philadelphia (AL), Cincinnati (NL), and Chicago (NL). He was purchased from Cleveland on December 16, 1898, for $900 or $1,000. He compiled a 175–212 record, including 74–75 with the Phillies.

May 1, 1906

LHP John Lush won at Brooklyn's Washington Park. He was the youngest Phillies pitcher to toss a no-hitter (20 years, 8 months) and shortest (5'9") to do so.

Score: 6–0

Season record: 18–15, 2.37 ERA

Age: 20

Catcher: Jerry Donovan

From the Detroit Free Press account (May 2, 1906): "The most notable pitching performance of the year in the major leagues — the first no hit and no run game recorded — was played this afternoon at Washington Park, Brooklyn. Hugh Duffy's Philadelphia Nationals, meeting the Superbas, performed the shutting out process, and Johnnie Lush, of Duffy's staff, did the record pitching. Lush is a left-hander who has been doing some remarkable work this spring. Already he had pitched a two-hit game, but today he pulled off the hitless stunt without anything occurring in the way of doubtful decisions on hits or errors that could cast the slightest reflection on his right to his record. Lush's feat was the more remarkable from the fact that he further contributed to his record performance by striking out eleven of the locals. He passed three men to first on balls, two of these being in succession, in the second inning. This was as far as any of the Brooklynites got."

With a 2–3 record, Lush faced Mal Eason, who would throw a no-hitter two months later. The Phillies scored twice to start the game and finished with 11 hits and three errors. Lush walked three and struck out 11. The game lasted one hour, 45 minutes.

Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lush attended Girard Prep in Philadelphia. He pitched seven seasons in the National League for the Phillies (1904–07) before being traded to the Cardinals on June 10, 1907, for Buster Brown. During his Cardinals career (1907–14), he tossed a six-inning no-hitter on August 6, 1908, vs. Brooklyn to win 2–0. He compiled a 66–85 career record, including 23–26 with the Phillies.

ALEXANDER'S 16 SHUTOUTS IN '16

"A shutout is a statistic credited to a pitcher who allows no runs in a game. No pitcher shall be credited with pitching a shutout unless he pitches the complete game, or unless he enters the game with none out before the opposing team has scored in the first inning, puts out the side without a run scoring, and pitches the rest of the game without allowing a run. When two more pitchers combine to pitch a shutout, the league statistician shall make a notation to that effect in the league's official pitching records." — Major League Baseball rule 10.18.

That's the rule, and the pitcher who rules the world for most shutouts in a season is right-hander Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Phillies in 1916. At age 29 he did it 16 times, breaking his own club record of 12 set the previous season. Almost half of the 33-game winner's victories were shutouts, a very rare feat.

Along the way, he broke the major league record of 13 by Jack Coombs (a 31-game winner with the Philadelphia A's in 1910). Alexander's 30th win came in the first game of a Saturday, September 23rd doubleheader against Cincinnati, which the Phillies won 7–3. Manager Pat Moran approached his ace after that game and said, "I'll have to ask you to pitch the second game. We have only a little more than an hour to catch the train. Get it over fast." He did winning 4–0 in two hours and seven minutes.

• The 16 shutouts were split evenly between the road and Baker Bowl.

• In addition he had six games (all wins) in which he allowed one run. On June 12 Pittsburgh scored its run in the top of the ninth inning.

• He was shut out four times, and three of them were 2–0.

• He pitched back-to-back gems three times, including three consecutive once.

• By opponent his shutouts were: Cincinnati (five), Boston (three), Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, and St. Louis (two each), Chicago and New York (one each). The five against Cincinnati tied a major league record for the most against one team.

• His best months were May and August with four each.

• Four were 1–0 decisions, including a 12-inning game vs. Chicago.

• His fastest shutout took one hour, 22 minutes.

• He pitched 144 total innings in the shutouts while only issuing nine walks.

Alexander also owns the club record for consecutive shutouts (four), which took place on September 7, 13, 17, and 21. This feat didn't occur in 1916 — but in his rookie season in 1911 when he posted seven shutouts. During that streak he had 41 consecutive scoreless innings — yet another Phillies record that hasn't been matched. Cliff Lee came the closest with 34 innings in 2011.

When the Phillies won the pennant in 1915, Alexander was the ace, throwing a club-record 12 shutouts with four being one-hitters. Right-handed pitcher Joe Oeschger was a teammate. Rich Westcott wrote a story about the 91-year-old Oeschger in Phillies Report in December 1983, in which Oeschger discussed Alexander. "The key feature of the 1915 club was hitting," Oeschger said. "We had power hitters in Cravath and Luderus. We won a lot of close games. Of course, Alexander was our top pitcher. If you got him one or two runs, you would win the game. He was a stopper and could prevent a long losing streak. If I were to classify all the pitchers that I had contact with or witnessed, I would say Alexander was the greatest ... He was fantastic. In a way, he was just a natural pitcher, had wonderful control, his stuff was sharp and he was very difficult to hit safely. Alexander never threw the ball over the heart of the plate. It was either a little inside or outside. When you batted against him, you better start swinging or he would have a couple of strikes on you before you knew it. He worked every fourth day. He never had to be relieved. In those days if you couldn't pitch nine innings, you better start looking for another job."

In Alexander's career that also included stints with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, he amassed 90 shutouts — second only to Walter Johnson's 110. Sixty-one came in a Phillies uniform, a club record that will never be broken. Steve Carlton's 39 are a distant second. So how do three Phillies Hall of Fame pitchers stack up for most shutouts in a season? Carlton's high mark was eight in 1971, Jim Bunning's was seven in 1965, and Robin Roberts' was six in 1951.

YOUNGEST TO WIN A GAME

Roger McKee, a left-handed pitcher, did something special, something that no one else has done in the modern era of Major League Baseball on October 3, the last day of the 1943 National League season. McKee beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader. His pitching line was: nine innings, five hits, three runs, five walks, one strikeout, and two wild pitches. It was his only decision in a five-game big league career, but that's been done many times.

What separates him from thousands of other pitchers is that he was the youngest pitcher to win a game. He was 17 years, 17 days old when he took the mound at Forbes Field. His uniform number? 17.

The feat wasn't recognized in record books or Phillies archives. McKee wasn't even aware of it for a long time. "Many years later, a fan from New York state sent me a letter asking for an autograph," the late McKee once said. "The letter said, 'By the way, you are the youngest pitcher to win a game in the 20th century.' I hadn't thought about it."

The Phillies were notified of the feat by a friend of McKee's. Unable to locate any information, the club turned to the research department at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum library in Cooperstown, New York. Freddy Berowski, a research associate, confirmed the fact after some digging. "He is the youngest to win a game in the modern era and second youngest in Major League history," Berowski said. "Willie McGill, age 16, won 11 games in 1890. The only possible person who could have been younger is Ed Knouff, who pitched in 1885. His exact birth date is unknown."

So there you have it. Roger McKee stands alone, and very few people knew. Imagine if that happened in today's world of multimedia outlets and social media.

McKee was an outstanding high school and American Legion (Post 82) pitcher in Shelby, North Carolina. "We won the legion state championship in 1942. We were eliminated in the semifinal round the following summer," he said. "That night Cy Morgan, a Phillies scout, wanted to see my dad and me. We met at a hotel in town. He offered $3,000 to sign with the Phillies. When he said I would report right away to Philadelphia, pitch some BP, perhaps an exhibition game, and make the final road trip. That was the selling point."

His debut came on August 18 when he was 16 years of age at Shibe Park. He threw three relief innings and allowed one run. He turned 17 on September 16 and won his historic game 17 days later, a game that took one hour, 48 minutes.

Because of World War II, big league clubs didn't hold spring training in the South. "We had spring training in Wilmington, Delaware, the next year [1944]," McKee said. "It was cold, and there was snow on the ground. We worked out every day in a big fieldhouse for a couple of weeks. Finally, we got to go outside one day. I don't know what it was, but the speed of my pitches wasn't there anymore. I had thrown a lot of American Legion innings with little rest the year before. That could have been it. Maybe I threw too hard the first time we worked outdoors."

McKee pitched in one game for the Phillies in 1944 (September 26) after spending the season with the Wilmington minor league team, pitching and playing first base. He wound up bouncing around the minor leagues until 1957 or 1958. He returned to Shelby, helped coach his high school and American Legion teams, worked in the fiber industry briefly, and retired after 30 years with the postal service. During the 2009 alumni weekend, he and his family were guests of the Phillies. McKee passed away on September 1, 2014, at age 87.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Fightin's Phillies by Larry Shenk. Copyright © 2016 Larry Shenk. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

The Fightin' Phillies: 100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits

Paperback

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Customer Reviews

Read an Excerpt

The Fightin's Phillies

100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits

Triumph Books LLC

Table of Contents

Contents

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Recently Viewed

The Fightin' Phillies: 100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits

Paperback

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Customer Reviews

Read an Excerpt

The Fightin's Phillies

100 Years of Philadelphia Baseball from the Whiz Kids to the Misfits

Triumph Books LLC

Table of Contents

Contents

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Recently Viewed

Related Subjects