The 2008 and 1980 Philadelphia Phillies both won World Series. But neither may be the best team in Phillies franchise history. Let’s find out who is.
Historically the Philadelphia Phillies franchise has not been one of baseball’s best-performing. In 137 seasons of play, the Phillies have produced just two world champions, and the all-time franchise record is 275 games below .500.
Among the 15 current National League franchises, only three have a lower lifetime win percentage than Philadelphia.
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In recent decades, however, the Phils have been more of a force. Their second World Series win, in 2008, highlighted a five-season stretch of consecutive division titles that was decidedly the best sustained period in the franchise’s history.
All-time the team has made 14 post-season appearances. Twelve of those 14 have come since 1976, five since 2007.
Formation of an all-time bracket begins with the 1980 and 2008 World Series winners and focuses on those big years between 1976 and 2011.
The 1976 and 1977 clubs both won 101 games; the 1977 team is included for its slightly better post-season record.
The 1983 team also won the National League pennant, losing to the Baltimore Orioles in a five-game World Series. Aside from the 2008 champions, the 2011 club was the best of the modern era. It set a franchise record with 102 regular-season victories.
The 1993 Phillies also reached the World Series, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.
The bracket’s final two spots go to the only two plausible representatives of the franchise’s first 90 seasons, the 1915 and 1950 pennant winners. Both represented isolated moments of glory to success-starved fans of earlier generations.
The format is identical to previous bracket challenges. Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:
- Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
- Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
- Game 3: Team OPS+
- Game 4: Team ERA+
- Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
- Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
- Game 7 (if necessary): The standard for Game 7 is Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers.