1950 Philadelphia Phillies season

1950 Philadelphia Phillies
1950 National League Champions
Granny Hamner, Del Ennis, and Richie Ashburn of the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" in a promotional photo.
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1883)
Location
Shibe Park (since 1938)
Philadelphia (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
General manager(s)	R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
Manager(s)	Eddie Sawyer
Local television	WPTZ WCAU WFIL (Bill Campbell)
Local radio	WPEN (Bill Brundige, Gene Kelly)
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The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies won the National League pennant by two games over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Nicknamed the "Whiz Kids" because of the youth of their roster, they went on to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees in four straight games.

Previous off-season

• October 3, 1949: Schoolboy Rowe was released by the Phillies.^[1]
• November 17, 1949: Milo Candini was drafted by the Phillies from the Oakland Oaks in the 1949 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• Prior to 1950 season: Bob Bowman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.^[3]

On January 10, 1950, owner Bob Carpenter announced that the club had officially abandoned the nickname "Blue Jays" and would be the "Phillies". The club had adopted the nickname in 1944 but it never caught on among fans.^[4]

City Series

The pre-season 1950 City Series was planned for three games prior to Opening Day. Snow flurries and cold weather in Philadelphia caused the cancellation of the first game. The Athletics beat the Phillies 7–4 and the Phillies won the following game 11–2.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	91	63	0.591	—	48–29	43–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	89	65	0.578	2	48–30	41–35
New York Giants	86	68	0.558	5	44–32	42–36
Boston Braves	83	71	0.539	8	46–31	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	78	75	0.510	12½	48–28	30–47
Cincinnati Reds	66	87	0.431	24½	38–38	28–49
Chicago Cubs	64	89	0.418	26½	35–42	29–47
Pittsburgh Pirates	57	96	0.373	33½	33–44	24–52

Record vs. opponents

1950 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13	9–13	17–5	13–9	9–13–1	15–7–1	11–11
Brooklyn	13–9	—	10–12	12–10	12–10	11–11–1	19–3	12–10
Chicago	13–9	12–10	—	4–17	5–17	9–13–1	11–11	10–12
Cincinnati	5–17	10–12	17–4	—	11–11	4–18	12–10	7–15
New York	9–13	10–12	17–5	11–11	—	12–10	16–6	11–11
Philadelphia	13–9–1	11–11–1	13–9–1	18–4	10–12	—	14–8	12–10
Pittsburgh	7–15–1	3–19	11–11	10–12	6–16	8–14	—	12–9
St. Louis	11–11	10–12	12–10	15–7	11–11	10–12	9–12	—

Roster

1950 Philadelphia Phillies
Roster
Pitchers 20 Hank Borowy 41 Jack Brittin 18 Milo Candini 23 Bubba Church 30 Blix Donnelly 27 Ken Heintzelman 39 Ken Johnson 35 Jim Konstanty 34 Russ Meyer 19 Bob Miller 20 Steve Ridzik 36 Robin Roberts 28 Curt Simmons 39 Paul Stuffel 33 Jocko Thompson		Catchers 29 Stan Lopata 21 Andy Seminick 25 Ken Silvestri Infielders  5 Jimmy Bloodworth  3 Putsy Caballero  9 Mike Goliat  2 Granny Hamner  6 Willie Jones  4 Eddie Waitkus		Outfielders  1 Richie Ashburn 16 Johnny Blatnik 14 Del Ennis 17 Stan Hollmig 15 Jackie Mayo 12 Bill Nicholson  8 Dick Sisler 37 Dick Whitman		Manager 24 Eddie Sawyer Coaches 11 Benny Bengough 32 Dusty Cooke 38 George Earnshaw 40 Maje McDonnell 31 Cy Perkins

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Seminick, AndyAndy Seminick	130	393	113	.288	24	68
1B	Waitkus, EddieEddie Waitkus	154	641	182	.284	2	44
2B	Goliat, MikeMike Goliat	145	483	113	.234	13	64
3B	Jones, WillieWillie Jones	157	610	163	.267	25	88
SS	Hamner, GrannyGranny Hamner	157	637	172	.270	11	82
OF	Sisler, DickDick Sisler	141	523	155	.296	13	83
OF	Ennis, DelDel Ennis	153	595	185	.311	31	128
OF	Ashburn, RichieRichie Ashburn	151	594	180	.303	2	41

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Lopata, StanStan Lopata	58	129	27	.209	1	11
Whitman, DickDick Whitman	75	132	33	.250	0	12
Bloodworth, JimmyJimmy Bloodworth	54	96	22	.229	0	13
Nicholson, BillBill Nicholson	41	58	13	.224	3	10
Mayo, JackieJackie Mayo	18	36	8	.222	0	3
Caballero, PutsyPutsy Caballero	46	24	4	.167	0	0
Hollmig, StanStan Hollmig	11	12	3	.250	0	1
Blatnik, JohnnyJohnny Blatnik	4	4	1	.250	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Roberts, RobinRobin Roberts	40	304.1	20	11	3.02	146
Simmons, CurtCurt Simmons	31	214.2	17	8	3.40	146
Meyer, RussRuss Meyer	32	159.2	9	11	5.30	74
Heintzelman, KenKen Heintzelman	23	125.1	3	9	4.09	39

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Miller, BobBob Miller	35	172	11	6	3.57	44
Church, BubbaBubba Church	31	142	8	6	2.73	50
Johnson, KenKen Johnson	14	60.2	4	1	4.01	32

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Konstanty, JimJim Konstanty	74	16	7	22	2.66	56
Candini, MiloMilo Candini	18	1	0	0	2.70	10
Donnelly, BlixBlix Donnelly	14	2	4	0	4.29	10
Borowy, HankHank Borowy	3	0	0	0	5.68	3
Stuffel, PaulPaul Stuffel	3	0	0	0	1.80	3
Brittin, JackJack Brittin	3	0	0	0	4.50	3
Thompson, JockoJocko Thompson	2	0	0	0	0.00	2
Ridzik, SteveSteve Ridzik	1	0	0	0	6.00	2

1950 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (0)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Yankees – 1, Phillies – 0	October 4	Shibe Park	30,746
2	Yankees – 2, Phillies – 1 (10 innings)	October 5	Shibe Park	32,660
3	Phillies – 2, Yankees – 3	October 6	Yankee Stadium	64,505
4	Phillies – 2, Yankees – 5	October 7	Yankee Stadium	68,098

Awards and honors

• Jim Konstanty, Associated Press Athlete of the Year, National League MVP
• Eddie Sawyer, Associated Press Manager of the Year.^[6]
• Eddie Waitkus, Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year.^[7]

Records

• Jim Konstanty, Major league single-season record (since broken), most wins by a relief pitcher (16)^[8]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Jack Sanford
A	Utica Blue Sox	Eastern League	Leon Riley
B	Terre Haute Phillies	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Dan Carnevale
B	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Interstate League	Skeeter Newsome
C	Schenectady Blue Jays	Canadian–American League	Dick Carter
C	Vandergrift Pioneers	Middle Atlantic League	Don Hasenmayer
C	Salina Blue Jays	Western Association	John Davenport
D	Klamath Falls Gems	Far West League	Hub Kittle
D	Americus Phillies	Georgia–Florida League	Eddie Murphy
D	Carbondale Pioneers	North Atlantic League	Joe Glenn
D	Lima Phillies	Ohio–Indiana League	Frank McCormick
D	Bradford Phillies	PONY League	Barney Lutz

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Terre Haute, Wilmington

Vandergrift club folded, July 20, 1950^[9]

References

1. Schoolboy Rowe page at Baseball Reference
2. Milo Candini page at Baseball Reference
3. Bob Bowman page at Baseball Reference
4. "Blue Jay Nickname Junked by Phillies". Spokane Daily Chronicle. January 10, 1950. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
5. Roberts, Robin; C. Paul Rogers, Pat Williams (1996). The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant. Temple University Press. p. 214. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
6. "Eddie Sawyer Honored in Baseball Vote". Prescott Evening Courier. November 8, 1950. p. Section 2, Page 1.
7. "Waitkus, Who Beat Death Rap, 'Comeback King'". Ellensburg Daily Record. November 10, 1950. p. 3.
8. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 290, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
9. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Further reading

• Stan Hochman (November 1969). "Phillies Recall Year They Won Their Last Pennant". Baseball Digest. pp. 34–36.
• Joe O'Loughlin (November 2002). "1950: when Philadelphia's Whiz Kids won the N.L. pennant; memories still rich for those who brought Phillies their first National League title in 35 years – Turn Back The Clock". Baseball Digest.
• Van Lindt, Carson (1998). Fire and spirit: the story of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies. Marabou Pub. ISBN 0-9632595-1-2.
• Phillies Media Relations (October 26, 2009). "The 1950 Philadelphia 'Whiz Kids'". Phillies.com.

External links

• 1950 Philadelphia Phillies season at Baseball Reference