PHILLIES HISTORY

The Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest, continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional sports. Al Reach, who in 1866 had become the first professional baseball player and was later a successful sporting goods dealer, became the Phillies first owner along with attorney John Rogers. Hall of Famer, Harry Wright was named Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1884, Wright changed the Phillies fortunes and lead them to respectability during the next decade. The Phillies finished out of the first division only once during his reign. Found in 1883 as Philadelphia Quakers (1883-1889), the Philadelphia Phillies is a Major Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are among the five teams in the East Division of the National League (NL). Phillies have their home ballpark is Citizens Bank Park. The Park was opened on April 9, 2004. Constructed at a cost of $326 million the stadium has a seating capacity of 43,000. The Philadelphia Phillies won their first National League pennant in 1915 with a great performance by infielder Dave Bancroft. Philadelphia Phillies came out as a powerful team in the 1970s, winning five division titles from 1976 to 1983, including three straight under Manager Danny Ozark. In 1980 the team won their first World Series, defeating the Kansas City Royals. The Phillies won the Series with the help of superstars Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt, outfielder Greg Luzinski, and pitchers Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw. In 1983 the Phillies included two former players from Cincinnati Reds; second baseman Joe Morgan and first baseman Tony Perez. After a long pause, in 1993 Philadelphia won another pennant. But the team had little success in the late 1990s. The uniform colors worn by the Philadelphia Phillies players are, red and white. The logo design for the Phillies is a stylized "P". Some of the Hall of Famers of the Philadelphia Phillies includes players such as Pete Alexander, Sparky Anderson, Richie Ashburn, Dave Bancroft and Chief Bender. George Lee "Sparky" Anderson has a lifetime record of 2194-1834, for a .545 percentage. He was inducted to the United States Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2000. Philadelphia Phillies have won seven Division titles in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1993; won five National League pennants in 1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, and 1993 and won the World Series championships in 1980. With that season's (1994) players' strike, most of the Phillies' fan base was greatly offended, and since then the Phillies have had little success either on the field or at the gate - the realignment of the Atlanta Braves into the National League East in 1994 having had a negative effect on both as the Braves have won the division every year since joining it, often by lopsided margins. In 2004 the team was second in the National League East, only the third time the Phillies have finished that high since the 1994 realignment.