The history of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball's National League began on November 1, 1882, with the organization of the Philadelphia Ball Club Limited. In 1883, this organization won the franchise rights to Philadelphia when the city was selected to replace the Massachusetts-based Worcesters, who had folded after the 1882 season.
The franchise made its first post-season appearance in 1915, losing to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. The Phillies franchise also has the second-longest streak of consecutive losing seasons in American professional sports, 16 straight from 1933 to 1948;[1] the record stood until 2009, when it was broken by the Pittsburgh Pirates. After another National League pennant in 1950, the Phillies did not return to the postseason until 1976, beginning a period of extended success for the franchise. From 1975 to 1983, they won five East Division championships as well as the first-half championship in the strike-shortened 1981 season.[2] The team made the playoffs five straight seasons from 2007 through 2011.
The Phillies currently compete in the National League East division. Since 2004, the team's home has been Citizens Bank Park in the South Philadelphia section of the city. The franchise has won two World Series championships (against Kansas City in 1980, Tampa Bay in 2008), and eight National League pennants.
In its 127-season history, the franchise has employed 51 managers and 10 general managers (GMs).[3][4] Dallas Green and Charlie Manuel are the only Phillies managers to win a World Series: Green in 1980, and Manuel in 2008. Manuel is also the only Phillies manager to win two pennants,[5] and on the last day of the 2011 regular season, surpassed Gene Mauch's 644-win record as the winningest manager in franchise history, taking two fewer seasons than Mauch to accomplish that feat. The longest-tenured general manager is Paul Owens, with 11 years of service to the team as the general manager, from 1972 to 1983.[4] Owens also served as the team manager in 1972, and from 1983 to 1984.[3] After this time, he served as a team executive until 2003, and was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in recognition of his services.[6] The manager with the highest winning percentage over a full season or more was Arthur Irwin, whose .575 winning percentage is fourth on the all-time wins list for Phillies managers.[3]
- ^ Dvorchak, Robert (March 30, 2008). "Losing has lost its luster". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Philadelphia Phillies". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Philadelphia Phillies Managerial Register". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "Executive Database". Baseball America. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Team History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
- ^ "Phillies Wall of Fame". Philadelphia Phillies. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2008.