(This is the second story in a series of 13 Unsung Phillies Legends, fellas who played a long time ago. None are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame or on the team’s Toyota Wall of Fame, but each has a small place in franchise history.)

• Phillies Alumni

RHP-2B Kid Gleason

William "Kid" Gleason, a native of Camden, N.J., had two stints with the Phillies, and they were very different. Gleason got the nickname because of his 5-foot-7 stature and 158-pound frame.

As a 21-year-old rookie starting pitcher in 1888, Gleason finished 7-16. Two years later, he won 38 games while pitching 506 innings. (Keep in mind that the distance from the pitching rubber to home plate was 50 feet back then.)

Gleason compiled a 78-70 record in his first four years before being traded to the St. Louis Browns. Including the Browns, he played for four teams across the next 11 seasons. With his pitching arm gone bad, Gleason returned to the Phillies in 1903 as the club’s regular second baseman for the next four seasons. His Phils career ended in 1908 (.246 average in 769 games). Out of uniform for four years, Gleason came back with the Chicago White Sox for one game in 1912.

As the White Sox manager (1919-23), he won the pennant in his first season, the year of the gambling scandal that dubbed the team, the “Black Sox.” Gleason’s career ended as a coach with the Philadelphia Athletics (1925-31). Bedridden from a heart ailment in 1932, Gleason died a year later at age 66.

Next up: George McQuillan