Pennant-winning “Wheeze Kids”
Three years removed from being the World Champions, Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton were among seven players left from that 1980 team. Schmitty and Lefty, future Hall of Famers, were in their prime.
But the 1983 baseball cover for Sports Illustrated featured Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez, three members of the Big Red Machine who were now wearing Phillies uniforms. Pete came aboard in 1979 as a free agent, Morgan was acquired in a trade with San Francisco in December 1982, and Perez signed as a free agent in January of 1983.
Ironically, it was the last season that trio was together, as Rose and Morgan were released and Perez was sold back to the Reds following the World Series.
Another December trade brought Von Hayes to the Phillies, who sent five players to the Cleveland Indians. Rose immediately nicknamed Von “5-for-1.” Hayes was the only one in the starting eight under 30 years of age, prompting Stan Hochman of the Daily News to label the team the “Wheeze Kids.”
There have been some bizarre seasons in Phillies history, and this sure was one. They were inconsistent most of the season and bickered amongst each other.
From Opening Day through August 31, 40 different players appeared in a game. With the team in first place (43-42) on July 18, manager Pat Corrales was fired and replaced by Paul Owens, the second time the Pope left the front office for the dugout. In the end, the Phillies reached the postseason for the sixth time in the last eight years, but it wasn’t easy.
Owens took a page out of Dallas Green’s book, unafraid of ruffling feathers and benching big name players. In September, Len Matuszek (17 starts, 4 HR, 16 RBI, .286) played more games at first base than Rose.
Twelve different pitchers made starts, including two rookies, Charles Hudson and Kevin Gross, who combined for 12 wins.
The 40-year-old Perez was hitting .391 with 17 RBI in 19 games on May 1, fitting as that date was the 100th anniversary of the Phillies first game. Pitcher John Enzmann, the oldest Phillies alumnus at 93, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
When September 1 rolled around, the Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals and Expos were separated by two games. The next day, the Pope used Ozzie Virgil to pinch-hit for Morgan. Ozzie hit a game-winning grand slam. Wonder how many times Morgan was lifted for a pinch-hitter?
On September 5, the Phillies were 67-65 and in third place. On September 14, they took over first place for good. With Morgan swinging a hot bat, they won a club-record 22 games in the final month. Included was an 11-game winning streak (September 16-26), a modern club record that carried them from tied for first to 4 1/2 games up. Lefty’s historic 300th win came during the streak, ironically where his career began in 1965, in St. Louis.
The clincher came September 28 in a 13-6 win in Wrigley Field (game #160), finishing six games ahead of Pittsburgh. The win was the 7,000th in franchise history.
Under Owens, they finished 47-30. John Denny became the ace as Lefty had a losing season. Denny went 13-1 after the All-Star Game to finish with 19 wins and won the Cy Young Award. Closer Al Holland, who came in the Morgan deal, won another pitching award, Rolaids Relief Man Award, by recording a club-record 25 saves.
Schmidt led the N.L. in homers for the sixth time, was an All-Star for the eighth straight season, won his eight straight Gold Glove and fourth consecutive Silver Slugger.
NLCS
For the third time since 1977, the Los Angeles Dodgers stood in the way of a World Series appearance. During the regular season, the Dodgers completely dominated, winning 11 of 12 and holding the Phils to 15 runs (13 earned) and a .187 team batting average. The Dodgers' team ERA in the 12 games was 1.09.
Opening the best-of-five series in Dodger Stadium, the Phillies got a split, winning the first, 1-0, on a first-inning Schmidt home run and shutout pitching by Carlton and Holland.
Gary Matthews, nicknamed The Sarge by Rose, hit a homer in Game 2, the only run in a 4-1 defeat. The Sarge, who had 10 homers during the season, was just warming up. Homering in each of the next two wins and driving in seven runs, he walked off with the NLCS MVP and the Phillies with the NL Pennant. He keyed an offense that scored 14 runs in its last 15 innings. Holland struck out Bill Russell to end the series in Game 5 before over 64,000 raucous fans at the Vet. Sweet revenge.
“Winning the MVP was my individual memory,” said Matthews. “As a team, we were dominated by the Dodgers, and we got to beat them. I got bragging rights over my friend, Dusty Baker. Advancing to the World Series was special.”
World Series
The I-95 World Series followed, Philadelphia vs. Baltimore.
The Phillies won the first game at Memorial Stadium, 2-1, on solo homers by Morgan (6th inning) and Garry Maddox (8th inning). Denny and Holland combined on a five-hitter. A 4-1 loss the next day sent the Phillies back home, 1-1, as they had done in the NLCS. The next three games were at Veterans Stadium where the team went 50-31 during the regular season and 2-0 in the NLCS.
The home field advantage didn’t faze the Orioles who won three straight (3-2, 5-4, 5-0) to win the World Championship. The Phillies' offense was held to a .195 batting average and nine total runs.
“Bill Giles established a life-long relationship when I broke in with the Astros and he was the PR man,” Morgan said at the time. “In 1982, I’m living at home (Oakland) and playing for the Giants. Giles called me, said he wanted to bring me to Philly to add my leadership to that of Rose and Schmitty. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave home but finally Bill convinced me, and I was traded to the Phillies. I struggled most of the year, was hurt a couple of times but come September, I and the team got hot. With me and Garry [Maddox] hitting late home runs, we won the first World Series game in Baltimore, but lost the next four. To this day it still bothers me because I know we were the better team.”
At age 40, Ron Reed was the oldest pitcher on the staff. “It was an unusual season. We must have had six guys over 60 years of age. Lots of experience and it paid off in the end. I had a strange season. I’d come in a game behind by a run or tied. We’d go ahead and I wound up with a bunch of wins (9-1 in 61 appearances).” Laughing, “Matter of fact, I didn’t win another game the rest of my career, granted I only had one more season (0-6 with White Sox in 1984). The last pitch I threw for the Phillies was the last out we got against the Orioles in the Series.”
1983 Recap
Record 90-72
Attendance 2,128,339
Team Leaders
Hitting: Maddox .275
Runs: Schmidt 104
Hits: Schmidt 136
Doubles: Morgan, Joe Lefebvre 20
Triples: Lefebvre 8
Home runs: Schmidt 40
RBIs: Schmidt 109
Stolen bases: Joe Dernier 35
Walks: Schmidt 128
Games: Holland 68
Starts: Carlton 37
Wins: Denny 19
Innings: Carlton 283 2/3
Saves: Holland 25
Strikeouts: Carlton 275
ERA: Denny 2.37
Opening Day Lineup
Rose, RF
Morgan, 2b
Matthews, lf
Schmidt, 3b
Perez, 1b
Diaz, c
DeJesus, ss
Dernier, cf
Carlton, p