Friday, May 6, 2016

Top 9: The Best Philadelphia Phillies Players

Last season was not the best time to be a Phillies fan, with the team finishing with the worst record in the 2015 Major League Baseball season and missing out on the playoffs for the fourth straight time. After bottoming out last year, there is no way but up for the team (fingers crossed!). And it does seem that the team is heading in that direction after five weeks of baseball! Contending for a division title looked like a farfetched idea just a couple of months ago. As we watch Phillies fight hard to make the playoffs this season, let us look back at the all-time best Phillies player at each position.

 Pitcher – Steve Carlton: A four-time Cy Young winner, the lefty won 329 games throughout his career, and pitched the Phillies to the World Series title in 1980.

Image source: visitphilly.com
Catcher – Mike Lieberthal: The Phillies do not have many prolific names to play the catcher position, but Lieby is the best among them, providing solid offense to the Philly teams he was in.

First baseman – Ryan Howard: One of the game’s greatest sluggers, the 2006 MVP hit home runs at a historic pace and helped the team to a championship in 2008.  

 
Image source: nytimes.com

Second baseman – Chase Utley: Utley was a great guy on and off the field. He hit the home runs when it mattered and tugged the heartstrings where it matters as an animal activist.  

Shortstop – Jimmy Rollins: Rollins, who, together with Howard and Utley, was part of the potent infield triumvirate, was touted by many as the best Phillies shortstop ever. He was a picture of consistency and even won the MVP in 2007.  

Third baseman – Mike Schmidt: There’s no question here that this position will be occupied by Schmidt, who for fans was the best Phillies player ever – gave the team its first ever World Series title – and probably the greatest third baseman of all time.

Left field – Ed Delahanty: Big Ed is one of baseball’s first power hitters, making batting records even before the 20th century started.

Center field – Richie Ashburn: The outfielder-turned-broadcaster never turned heads with power hitting, but his accurate batting gave him 2,500 hits in 15 years of play.

Right field – Sam Thompson: At 6’2”, he was one of the larger players back in his day. He produced runs like no other player did, defended well and ran fast, making him a complete player.

Christopher J. Keehner avidly supports Philadelphia sports team, particularly the Eagles and Phillies. To know more about what he is passionate about, subscribe to his website.

4 comments:

  1. Yey! Another Phillies fan here! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I heard that Mike Lieberthal will represent Phillies at MLB Draft. Is it true?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete