Philadelphia Phillies Franchise History - A Fan's Essentials

 

Fall 2022: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Philadelphia Phillies poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.

1. Philadelphia Phillies – The Team Name 

This franchise was established in 1883. 

The team has been known by a number of names as follows: 

Philadelphia Phillies/Quakers 1883-1889 

Philadelphia Phillies 1890-1943 

Philadelphia Phillies/Blue Jays 1944-1949 

Philadelphia Phillies 1949-Present 

Note 1: The history of the Phillies’ Quakers nickname prior to 1890 is the subject of a bit of debate, largely because nicknames were somewhat unofficial in baseball’s early years.  The franchise was founded in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers (although a pre-season newspaper report in April 1883 referred to the team as the Phillies). In 1884 the team had formally changed their name to the Philadelphians, but many reporters and fans shortened that to the Phillies very quickly. And in 1890 the team officially changed its nickname to the Phillies. Between 1884 and 1889, some people still referred to the team as the Quakers, as well as the Philadelphians and the Phillies.

Note 2: And in an odd move, in 1944 and 1945, and right up to 1949, the Phillies experimented with giving the Phillies an additional nickname (see below), and went so far as to add a Blue Jay on the sleeve of the jersey in 1944 and 1945, but the additional nickname never caught on. Thus it is generally acknowledged that the Philadelphia Phillies are the longest standing same-named, same-city team in American professional sports - 1883 or 1884 or 1890 (see above) to the present. 

Here's a bit more detail about the Blue Jays name.

Prior to the 1944 season, the Phillies franchise held a fan contest soliciting a new nickname. Management chose "Blue Jays" which hung around from 1944 - 1949. In the 2000's the Phillies claimed that the Blue Jays nickname was never official, however news reports in 1944 note that Phillies management said that the Blue Jays name was as an official "additional nickname", meaning that the team had two official nicknames simultaneously, the Phillies and the Blue Jays. The Philadelphia team added three minor league clubs before the start of the 1946 season and named them all Blue Jays: the Class C Salina Blue Jays, Class C Schenectady Blue Jays and Class D Green Bay Blue Jays. However, the Blue Jays nickname was ultimately unpopular, and news reports indicate that the nickname, which "never caught on anyway", was officially dropped by the team in January 1950.

2. Philadelphia Phillies – The Championship Record 

Two World Series Championships: 

1980 defeated Kansas City Royals 4 games to 2 

2008 defeated Tampa Bay Rays 4 games to 1 

Eight National League Pennants: 

1915 90 wins - 62 losses: Boston Red Sox defeated Phillies 4-1 in World Series

1950 91 wins - 63 losses: New York Yankees defeated Phillies 4-0 in World Series

1980 91 wins - 71 losses: Phillies won World Series

1983 90 wins - 72 losses: Baltimore Orioles defeated Phillies 4-1 in World Series

1993 97 wins - 65 losses: Toronto Blue Jays defeated Phillies 4-2 in World Series

2008 92 wins - 70 losses: Phillies won World Series 

2009 93 wins - 69 losses: New York Yankees defeated Phillies 4-2 in World Series

2022 87 wins - 75 losses: Houston Astros defeated Phillies 4-2 in World Series

3. Philadelphia Phillies – Home Stadium History 

1. Recreation Park, Philadelphia 1883-86 

2. Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds / National League Park / Huntington Avenue Grounds / Baker Bowl, Philadelphia  1887-94 

3. Baker Bowl II, Philadelphia 1895-1938 

4. Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia 1938-1970 

5. Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia 1970-2003 

6. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia 2004-Present 

  4. For more information on the Phillies, you should bookmark these two great websites: 

For a huge amount of great historic information: www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/phillies.shtml 

For great information about the team's ballparks: www.ballparks.com 

5. Celebrate the Phillies' uniform history by owning a piece of history: 

If you love the Philadelphia Phillies and the history of the Phillies franchise, you might really love to own an original piece of artwork celebrating the team's historic uniforms as seen in the poster at the top of this blog - you can actually own one of those original pieces of art! There are only 17 pieces of original art available for sale, and when these 17 are sold, that's it, they're all sold out. 

These original watercolor paintings would make a great gift (birthday gift, anniversary gift, retirement gift, Christmas gift, etc.) for someone you love or even a great gift for yourself (one of these framed pieces would look fantastic in your home or office). 

Each piece can be bought one of three ways: 

1. As unframed art that you could have framed or mounted yourself (the one on the left) 

2. Framed in our "Classic" framed version (the middle version) 

3. Framed in our "Deluxe" framed version (the version on the right)  

If you would like more information about this great artwork including the three ways you could purchase each piece, please visit our Philadelphia Phillies YouTube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_bWnC8IPas or go directly to the artwork website www.heritagesportsart.com/Philadelphia-Phillies-c153/ where you can see and purchase the artwork. 

And if someone you know loves the history of sports uniforms (but maybe another team) and loves great art, please let them know that we have over 1500 pieces of great original artwork for sale at www.heritagesportsart.com (all NFL teams, all MLB teams, all NHL teams, all CFL teams, select NCAA football teams) or check out each team's video at the Heritage Sports Art YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/user/ssillcox 

And please search my blog archive http://heritagejerseys.blogspot.com/ for other blogs on the history of the Phillies. 

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This text was written by Scott Sillcox and was last updated November 8, 2022. I have tried to ensure the accuracy of the information, but I am human and can make mistakes. If you believe I have made a mistake, please let me know by email at ssillcox@rogers.com ! 

Many thanks!!! 

Scott