Best Decade in Phillies History

[Sgt PSN]

Anyone who has followed the Phils for more than the last few years knows all too well that the Phils have a history saturated in losing.  The first pro-sports team to accumulate 10k losses and in the 126 years of Phillies baseball, winning seasons have been far, few and in between.  In fact, the Phils have only posted winning seasons for 2 or more consecutive years 12 times in their history:  1885-1888, 1892-1895, 1898-1901, 1907-0908, 1910-1911, 1915-1917, 1949-1950, 1952-1953, 1962-1967, 1975-1984, 2003-2009. 

With losing seasons often coming in bunches, or dozens as is the case from 1918-1948 when the Phils had just 1 winning season (1932) during the 31 season stretch, prolonged stretches of winning baseball is something that the average Phillies fan just isn't used to seeing. 

So it's pretty easy to point to the last 10 years and say without a doubt that this has been the best decade in Phillies history and the 2nd best 10 year stretch in team history, falling short of the 1975-1984 Phillies who had 10 consecutive winning seasons, with 6 playoff appearances, 2 World Series appearances and 1 Championship. 

During the last 10 years, the Phils have had only 2 losing seasons, with 3 consecutive playoff appearances and 3 consecutive NL East titles to go along with winning the 2nd Championship in team history. 


2009:  93-69, 1st Place NL East, NL Champs
2008:  92-70, 1st Place NL East, World Phvcking Champs
2007:  89-73, 1st Place NL East, Lost NLDS
2006:  85-77, 2nd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2005:  88-74, 2nd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2004:  86-76, 2nd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2003:  86-76, 3rd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2002:  80-81, 3rd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2001:  86-76, 2nd Place NL East, Missed Playoffs
2000:  65-97, 5th Place NL East, Missed Playoffs

Total: 850-769, 3 NL East Titles, 1 NL Pennant, 1 World Championship

Individual Awards / Honors: 

MVP (2):  Rollins (2007), Howard (2006)
Gold Gloves (7): Rollins (2008, 2007), Victorino (2008), Rowand (2007), Abreu (2005), Rolen 2 (2001, 2000)   
All Star Selections (22): Lieberthal (2000), Rollins (2001, 2002, 2005), Rolen (2002), Padilla (2002), Wolf (2003), Thome (2004), Abreu (2004, 2005), Utley (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Howard (2006, 2009), Rowand (2007), Hamels (2007), Lidge (2008), Ibanez (2009), Victorino (2009), Werth (2009)
ROY:  Howard (2005)
Rolaids Relief Award:  Lidge (2008)
Manager of the Year:  Bowa (2001)
NL Silver Slugger (6):  Howard (2006), Utley (2008, 2007, 2006), Rollins (2007), Abreu (2004)
TSN Player of the Year:  Howard (2006)
Hank Aaron Award:  Howard (2006)
Lou Gehrig Award:  Thome (2004)

Stat Source

For a team that is associated with losing more than any other franchise in professional sports, this decade has been a much welcomed change not only for the Phils, but for all of Philly sports.  And unlike the other Philly sports teams who had their best years either before many of us were born (pre 1960 Eagles) or were busy having their best years when we were too young to grasp or appreciate it's significance (70's Flyers, pre 1983 Sixers), I'm glad to finally witness one of the few prolonged bright spots in Phillies and Philly sports history. 

[LBIggle]

still loling at abreus' gold glove

[Sgt PSN]

lol.  a few things suprised me, that being one of them.  rollins not being an all star in 07 is a bit odd since he won the mvp that year is one i couldn't beleive.  i hardly pay attention to the all star game or who goes so i was really suprised to see him off the roster.  i wonder if there's ever been an mvp not voted to the all star game. 

[ice grillin you]

this thread should be titled which phils decade was better 80's or aughts

and clearly the answer the is the aughts

close thread

[Sgt PSN]

the 80's was weak from 84-89.  in fact, the only year after 84 that they finished above .500 (1986) they still finished 20 games behind the mets.  the only thing the 80's phils have over the present is 2 ws appearances. 

but yeah, it's really no contest.  which just goes to show how bad the phils history is.  hell, even the pirates can point to a couple of different decades in their history and claim them to be superior than the best the phils have to offer. 

one thing that i wasn't aware of though is that the phils started off fairly well as a franchise.  i've never really gone back to look at their records pre-1900 but always figured that they were just a poorly run franchise from the start.  no true though.  they had losing seasons their first 2 years (to be expected), but then went on to finish with winning records for the next 4 years...including 2 consecutive years with a winning % above .600.

after 10 years, they finished with a winning record 6 times and 13 times at the 20 year mark.  i'm not sure exactly what happened in 1918 but that's when the futility set in and turned them into a bonafide laughing stock for 30 years. 

and to put it in perspective just how awful they were during that stretch, of the 13 times in franchise history that the phils have finished with 100+ losses, 12 of them came between 1918-1948. 

[Rome]

The A's happened, Sassy.

[QB Eagles]

The A's happened, Sassy.

That's most of it. The A's were the bigger team in town until around the time the Phillies got to the 1950 World Series.

The Phillies also played in the original bandbox, the Baker Bowl. Once the league transitioned from dead ball to live ball the place was a pitching nightmare. And for fans, it was a dump compared to Shibe Park -- to the point where the structure was collapsing and killing fans.

[Sgt PSN]

what do the a's have to do with anything?  this is a phillies thread. 

[Geowhizzer]

what do the a's have to do with anything?  this is a phillies thread. 

When the American League formed, they raided many of the better players in the league, and the Phils were no different. Nap Lajoie, Ed Delehanty and several other stars jumped to the American League.  Believe it or not, the Phils' ownership was perceived by the players to be cheap...

Either way, that took what was a pretty good club in the 1890s and turned it into a laughing stock, which it remained (with a few rare bright spots) for about three-quarters of a century.  The First Golden Era (1975-1983) was the first period of sustained excellence for the Phils in the modern (post-1900) era.

[Sgt PSN]

phils management and cheap do not belong in the same sentence.