Philadelphia Phillies - The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)

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1920

1923

104

1927

103

Decade

1921

103

1924

1928

109

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Titles:

Top Phillies Players of the Twenties

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

Jimmy Ring (16.44) - 41

Baker Bowl

Lee Meadows (8.38) - 26

Hal Carlson (13.95) - 23

Team Name:

Bill Hubbell (0.51) - 19

Phillies

Claude Willoughby (2) - 13

Clarence Mitchell (8.53) - 13

Owners:

George Smith (3.28) - 13

William F. Baker

Dutch Ulrich (8.37) - 8

Huck Betts (4.67) - 3

General Managers:

None

Catchers:

Butch Henline (9.28) - 34

Managers:

Jimmie Wilson (3.59) - 19

Gavvy Cravath (1920)

Wild Bill Donovan (1921)

First Basemen:

Kaiser Wilhelm (1921-1922

Don Hurst (4.57) - 18

Artie Fletcher (1923-1926)

Stuffy McInnis (1927)

Second Basemen:

Burt Shotton (1928-1929)

Fresco Thompson (1.53) - 16

Bernie Friberg (0.88) - 11

Hall of Famers:

Dave Bancroft

ShortStop:

Eppa Rixey

Heinie Sand (0.24) - 20

Artie Fletcher (4.81) - 13

MVP

None

Third Base:

Russ Wrightstone (5.94) - 35

No Hitters:

Pinky Whitney (4.86) - 14

None

Outfield:

Notable Events:

Cy Williams (27.36) - 84

Fred Leach (4.93) - 27

1920 - A horrific decade for whatever few Phillies fans are left around. The

Johnny Mokan (1.06) - 20

Phils went 47-90 in '19 and proceed to lose 90 or more for the first nine years

George Harper (6.4) - 19

of the Twenties including four hundred loss seasons. Owner William Baker is a

Cliff Lee (2.13) - 18

pox on Philadelphia baseball.

Irish Meusel (5.38) - 16

Chuck Klein (7.21) - 16

1920 - Baker sells Hall of Famer Dave Bancroft to the Giants for $100K

Lefty O'Doul (7.42) - 15

Curt Walker (2.63) - 11

1920 - Baker trades Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey to the Reds for

Jimmy Ring - One suspects that there must have been a significant amount

Notable Events:

of cash involved in this lopsided deal, as well

1923 - An absolute low point in this horrific decade. The Phillies

1921 - Baker sells slugger Irish Meusel to the Giants for $30K

have an eleven year old fan arrested and put in jail (overnight)

for refusing to return a foul ball hit into the stands. The case

1921 - First baseman Gene Paulette is banned from baseball for

set the precedent for foul balls belonging to the fans.

associating with gamblers. Back in the teens and twenties gambling

was widespread and it wasn't until after the Black Sox scandal that

1927 - A section of the grandstand at Baker Bowl collapses

baseball dealt with it. Look at the steroids situation in recent times.

and a person dies. The penurious Baker hasn't maintained

Baseball officials turned a blind eye to what was obivous to everyone

the stadium bearing his name and it's falling apart and dangerous.

and didn't want to deal with it until they were absolutely forced to.

It's one thing for your cheapness to cause your team to lose games,

Then they become pious and conduct a righteous witch hunt for scapegoats

it's quite another when your cheapness causes lives to be lost.

Pretty much the same situation regarding gambling in the late Teens and early 20's.

1927 - Business manager, former manager, owner and team

1922 - Cy Williams wins his third straight home run title. The

president Bill Shettsline, a man of considerable girth, is chased

big reason that Williams isn't sold away is that nobody with $ wants him.

across Baker Field by a ram, one of three sheep that penurious

The old schoolers like John McGraw of the Giants don't like one dimensional

owner William Baker used to keep the grass trimmed rather than

sluggers, they still like defensive / speed / slap hitter types - the guys that they've

pay a grounds crew to do it. There's a wealth of jokes that were

won with all along. Too soon for them to have adjusted to the live ball era

probably made at the time relating sheep pies and the state of

that Williams was made for.

the Phillies organization

By the way, the Williams shift, where the shortstop ends up on the right side

of the diamond started with Cy Williams. A common misconception was that

1928 - Future Hall of Fame outfielder Chuck Klein, 23, is obtained

it was named for Ted Williams. Anyway, a hundred years later everyone was

in a trade from Ft. Wayne

thinking what an awsome new analytic innovation shifting was.

1928 - Promising young catcher Walter Peck Lerian is killed as

1923 - Lee Meadows is sold to the Pirates for 50K

a pedestrian on a Baltimore street corner

1928 - The Phillies have their worst year of the decade going 43-109