Phillies anniversary moments: Part II

March 8th, 2023

Since we are in 2023, how'd the club fare in their previous years ending in 3? Part II starts with 1963.

1963
87-75, fourth place

Manager: Gene Mauch
Attendance 907,141 (sixth in 10-team league)

Club more than doubles the 41 wins of the 1961 club. Houston’s Don Nottebart no-hits Phillies, 4-1 on May 17 -- a first for an expansion team. Twenty-one year-old rookie, RHP Ray Culp, is selected to NL All-Star squad. Twenty-one year old Richie Allen starts in LF in his Aug. 3 debut. Richie Ashburn is the first former player on the team’s broadcast team; he joins By Saam and Bill Campbell on WFIL radio and TV.

1973
71-91, sixth place

Manager: Danny Ozark
Attendance 1,475,934 (fifth in 12-team league)

Ozark is the first and only manager to wear No. 3. Larry Christenson, 19, wins Major League debut, 7-1 vs. Mets on April 13. In Mike Schmidt’s first year as a regular, he hit .196. Steve Carlton becomes the highest paid pitcher in the game ($165,000) in January. He never fully recovers from being ill in Spring Training and finishes 13-20 after going 27-19 in the previous season; Carlton, Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett and Wayne Twitchell lead the staff with 13 wins each. Brett sets a Major League record for a pitcher by hitting home runs in four straight starts.

1983
90-72-1, first place NL East

Managers: Pat Corrales, Paul Owens
Attendance 2,128,399 (fifth in league)

With four players age 40 or over and a starting lineup with one player under 30, the Phillies are dubbed the “Wheeze Kids” by Stan Hochman, Philadelphia Daily News sportswriter. Sports Illustrated’s baseball cover features Tony Perez, Pete Rose and Joe Morgan -- three members of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine now wearing Phillies red. On the 100th anniversary of their first game (May 1), the Phillies defeat Houston, 11-3, at home. Forty year-old Tony Pere drives in five runs. Ninety-three-year-old John Enzmann, oldest living alumnus, throws out the first ball.

With the Phillies in first place (43-42) on July 18, manager Corrales is replaced by general manager Owens. Carlton wins his 300th game on Sept. 23. Twenty-two wins in September puts the Phillies in the postseason for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. The division clincher is a 13-6 romp in Wrigley Field on Sept. 28 for the 7,000th win in franchise history.

John Denny (19-6) is chosen NL Cy Young Award winner. After an 1-11 season vs. the Dodgers, the Phillies get sweet revenge by defeating Los Angeles in the NLCS, 3-1. Al Holland (25 saves, a club record) records the last out before a boisterous 64,494 Veterans Stadium crowd on Oct. 8. Gary Mathews (.429, 3 HRs, 8 RBsI) is NLCS MVP. The I-95 World Series follows. The Orioles clinch the World Series (4-1) with an Oct. 16 win at The Vet.

1993
97-65, first place NL East

Manager: Jim Fregosi
Attendance, 3,137,674 (fourth)

The Phillies have had the Whiz Kids (1950), the Comeback Kids (1980) and the Wheeze Kids (1983). Along came a bunch that had more nicknames, mostly unflattering, “throwbacks,” “misfits,” “rejects," “outlaws,” “wild” and “crazy.”

The greatest turnaround in franchise history: last place in NL East with 70 wins in 1992 to 97 wins and a '93 season that ended in Toronto in Game 6 of the World Series on Oct. 23. The Phillies clinch the division with a win in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28. The team topples the heavily favored Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, 4-2, and clinch at The Vet on Oct. 13. The Phillies reach three million in attendance for the first time in franchise history.

Led the league in at-bats (5,685), runs scored (877), hits (1,555), doubles (297), walks (665), on-base percentage (.351) and total bases (2,422). Five starting pitchers, none homegrown, won 12 or more games. The closer, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, walked 44 in 62 innings but recorded 43 saves. He also got a 10thinning base hit at 4:40 a.m. to win a game on July 2.

General manager Lee Thomas is named Major League Executive of the Year. Curt Schilling is selected NLCS MVP. Lenny Dykstra’s 129 walks sets a club record that still stands.

2003
86-76, third place NL East

Manager: Larry Bowa
Attendance, 2,259,948 (tenth in 16-team league)

Farewell to Veterans Stadium features a season-long “Field of Memories” celebrations that include players from the 1970s, the 80s, the 1993 NL champions and wacky promotions weekends. Fans select an All-Vet team. The final three-game series against Atlanta is termed the “Final Innings.” Emotional closing ceremonies include 120 current or former Phillies who took positions on the field and stepped on home plate one final time. In addition, Tug McGraw (59), Owens (79) -- both ailing -- are able to participate in the closing ceremonies. With Harry Kalas on the microphone, Carlton mimed one last strikeout pitch, Schmidt took one last home run swing and trot around the bases and McGraw, battling brain cancer, mimed his historic final pitch. It was one final memory for 33 years of Phillies baseball in Veterans Stadium.

The last game: Sunday, Sept. 28 -- Atlanta 5, Phillies 2 -- 11,859 days after the first game, April 10, 1971, with 58,554 attendance.

Kevin Millwood tosses last no-hitter on April 27. Jim Thome hits last home run on Sept. 27. Real Cormier is the last Phillies pitcher with a win on Sept. 27. Chase Utley makes his debut on April 4, hits grand slam for his first hit on April 24 and drives in the winning run in the final victory on Sept. 27. He also grounds into a double play, thus becoming the final batter on Sept. 28. Pat Burrell gets the last hit on Sept. 28.

2013
73-89, fourth place NL East

Managers: Charlie Manuel and Ryne Sandberg
Attendance 3,012,403 (fourth in 15-team league)

First losing season since 2002 (80-81). Last time attendance topped three million. Manuel, who won his 1,000th Phillies game on Aug. 12, was dismissed four days later with the club in fifth place (53-67) and replaced by third-base coach Sandberg. Longest game in franchise history by time on Aug. 24 at home: seven hours, six minutes, a 12-7 loss in 18 innings to the D-backs.

2023

It will be the 141st season in franchise history and the twentieth season at Citizens Bank Park -- the oldest park in the National League East. Ring ceremony on April 9 for the 2022 National League pennant winners will be the first since 2009. New video board will make debut at home opener.