It took a team effort to rack up Phils' early losses
It is well documented that the Phillies have lost more games than any other team in Major League Baseball (10,112 wins; 11,259 losses).
How did all of this happen?
Richie Ashburn’s career ended with the 1962 Mets who lost 120 games. Richie referenced that season in his 1995 Hall of Fame speech, “As we walked into the clubhouse, Casey Stengel was standing there, and he said to us, ‘Fellas I don’t want anybody to feel bad about this. This has been a real team effort. No one or two people could have done this.’”
Well, chances are the most losses in baseball are a real team effort.
The Phillies joined the National League in 1883, replacing the Worcester (Mass.) franchise. No players were included. Instead, ownership had to find players. Over the course of the season, 29 different players wore the uniform. They began the season 0-8 and ended 17-81, a .172 percentage. The 0-8 start, final record and percentage are all club records that have withstood time. And a 0-13 August road trip remains the franchise’s worst. Not a very solid foundation on which to build.
Dissecting the numbers reveals most of the damage was done a very, very long time ago. Some ugly numbers during the first 60 seasons:
- 1901 Phillies had a 10-game winning streak. Never matched that until 1955, when they won 11 in a row.
- One pennant (1915); 13 100-loss seasons.
- Three worst decades in franchise history -- 1920s (556-962), 1930s (581-943), 1940s (584-951). Included were 12 100-loss seasons and two winning seasons (1932 and 1949).
- During the 1920s and 1930s, a large right-field advertising sign at Baker Bowl read, “The Phillies Use Lifebuoy”, a popular brand of soap. This led to the oft-reported sour retort, " ... and they still stink!"
- May 14, 1922: A 5-1 win in St. Louis evened the Phillies' all-time record, 2,827-2,827. A 12-game losing streak followed. A .500 record has never been seen again.
- During a 21-7 blowout at the hands of Cincinnati, July 13, 1923, Red Miller, a former Phillies batboy, clubhouse attendant and batting-practice pitcher, was called out of the stands to pitch the 8th inning. The 26-year-old, who had been pitching in semi-pro ball at the time, gave up 6 runs in 1 2/3 innings. Best news of the day, the game only took 1 hour, 56 minutes.
- The 1930 club finished 52-102. Team batting average of .315 is still a club record as is the ERA, 6.71. Defensively, 239 errors. Nine players had double figures in errors.
- Longest streak of consecutive losing seasons: 16 (1933-1948).
A lack of talented players wasn’t the only issue. Instability with ownerships/presidents existed. One example: Bill Shettsline, the club’s business manager since 1896, managed the club from 1898-1902, returned to his previous role before becoming the team president from 1904-09. He survived two ownership changes before returning to business manager from 1913-26.
One owner was forced to sell because of financial difficulties, a president was forced to resign for insinuating that the 1912 pennant race was fixed, and an owner was banned for betting on baseball. Then there was a president who wanted to change the name of the team from the Phillies to the Live Wires. In 1942, management decided to change the name to “Phils.” That lasted one season.
Because of financial strains, future Hall of Famers Grover Cleveland Alexander and Chuck Klein were traded. Alexander, a 30-year-old right-hander who pitched the Phillies to their first pennant in 1915, went to the Cubs in a four-player deal after the 1917 season -- his third straight season of winning 30 or more games. The Cubs included $55,000 in the deal. Klein, a 28-year-old slugging outfielder, won the Triple Crown in 1933 and was traded to the Cubs after the season for three players and $65,000.
Front-Office Stability
A parade of owners and presidents ended following the 1943 season, when the Carpenter family of Wilmington, Del., purchased the club from William Cox, who bought the team in March of that year. He was banned at the end of the season for betting on baseball.
R.R M. Carpenter Sr. designated his son, Bob, as president. Bob hired Herb Pennock, a Hall of Fame pitcher, as the general manager, the first in franchise history.
Losing seasons continued in the first five years under the new ownership. The Phillies' Minor League system in 1943 consisted of two teams, the Trenton Packers and Utica Braves. Carpenter began signing the likes of Granny Hamner, Richie Ashburn, Curt Simmons and Robin Roberts. When 1948 rolled around, the farm system had increased to 15 teams.
The Carpenter family owned and operated the team longer than any other single entity (1943-81).
Bill Giles organized a limited partnership to purchase the club from the Carpenters in 1981. David Montgomery replaced Giles in 1997 as president/limited partner. Basically, the 1981 ownership structure had some tweaks along the way until November 2016, when John Middleton was designated the team’s control person and managing partner. In those roles, he is responsible for the overall operation of the club and its compliance with the rules of Major League Baseball.
On June 6, 2023, the team announced that South Jersey businessman Stanley C. Middleman joined the ownership group as a limited partner. It is only the second time in more than 40 years that the Phillies have added a new partner, according to Middleton.
Since 1944
- The most consecutive winning seasons in franchise history, 9: 1975-83 and 2003-11.
- Three of the four winningest decades: 2002-2011 (898-721), 1975-84 (872-693) and 1949-58 (784-756). Only one in the first 65 years: 1908-17 (817-709).
- 15 postseason appearances: 1950, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1993, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2022, 2023. Prior to the Carpenter ownership: one (1915).