Phillies pitchers who clinched a post season Series: From Ruthven to Hamels

With Brad Lidge leaving Philadelphia for the Nationals today, I realized that exactly 1/2 of the pitchers who have clinched a World Series for the Phillies switched teams. The late Tug McGraw was the other one.

I asked the Phillies fans to pay to pay their respects to Lidge today. But later I realized that the fraternity of Phillies pitchers to clinch a post season series is actually very very small.

Despite being a member of the National League since the 19th century, the Phillies went from 1903, the year of the first World Series, to 1979, a World Series I remember watching, without a single post season series victory. They lost the 1915 and 1950 World Series. They lost the 1976, 1977 and 1978 NLCS. And less said about 1964 the better.

In fact if the Houston Astros got another hit in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the 1980 NLCS, their searched for post season victory would have been prolonged.

So like I did for The Red Sox, I decided to honor each and every Phillies pitcher who threw the last pitch of a post season series.

Here are the pitchers, the game they pitched, and how was the last out recorded.


DICK RUTHVEN
1980 National League Championship Series - Game 5
Phillies, 8, Astros 7

October 12, 1980
At The Astrodome, Houston

2 innings of relief of five pitchers for the win.
LAST OUT: Enos Cabell flew out to center fielder Garry Maddox.



TUG McGRAW
1980 World Series - Game 6
Phillies 4, Royals 1

October 21, 1980
At Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

Two innings of relief to save the game for starter Steve Carlton.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Willie Wilson.




AL HOLLAND
1983 National League Championship Series - Game 4
Phillies 7, Dodgers 2

October 8, 1983
At Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

1 2/3 innings of relief for starter Steve Carlton and reliever Ron Reed.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Bill Russell.




MITCH WILLIAMS
1993 National League Championship Series - Game 6
Phillies 6, Braves 3

October 13, 1993
At Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

One inning of relief and the save for starter Tommy Greene and reliever David West.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Bill Pecota.




BRAD LIDGE
2008 National League Division Series - Game 4
Phillies 6, Brewers 2

October 5, 2008
At Miller Park, Milwaukee

1 inning of relief for starter Joe Blanton and reliever Ryan Madson.
LAST OUT: Jason Kendall grounded to Jimmy Rollins at shortstop who threw to Ryan Howard at first for the out.

2008 National League Championship Series - Game 5
Phillies 5, Dodgers 1

October 15, 2008
At Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

1 inning of relief for starter Cole Hamels and reliever Ryan Madson.
LAST OUT: Nomar Garciaparra popped up foul to catcher Carlos Ruiz for the out.

2008 World Series - Game 5
Phillies 4, Rays 3

October 29, 2008
At Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

1 inning of relief for starter Cole Hamels and relievers Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Eric Hinske.

2009 Division Series - Game 4
Phillies 5, Rockies 4

October 12, 2009
At Coors Field, Denver

1/3 of an inning for the save in relief of Cliff Lee, Ryan Madson and Scott Eyre.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Troy Tulowitzki

2009 National League Championship Series - Game 5
Phillies 10, Dodgers 4

October 21, 2009
At Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
1 inning of relief for pitchers Cole Hamels, J. A. Happ, Chad Durbin, Chan Ho Park and Ryan Madson.
LAST OUT: Ronnie Belliard flies out to center fielder Shane Victorino.


COLE HAMELS
2010 National League Division Series - Game 3
Phillies 2, Reds 0

October 10, 2010
At Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

Complete Game five hit shutout.
LAST OUT: Strikeout of Scott Rolen.



So there you have it, Phillies fans. All 10 Post Season Series that the Phillies won are listed here.
And how about some more respect for Brad Lidge?

He clinched HALF of them!

I thought for sure they would have added to this list in 2011.
The window is slowly closing on this squad.

Maybe I'll add Papelbon.

But remember, they won't have Harry Kalas call it.
Let's savor his 2008 call.

Phillies Fans... who do you hate?

The question in the post title seems appropriate.

Philadelphia fans are having a bad time of it.
It's been a while since Philadelphia has seen a title.

Not counting Balboa/Drago, Philadelphia hasn't seen a title since the 1983 Sixers.

I argued last year that the Phillies should rebuild the dirty, unfriendly Veterans Stadium to bring back the glory times.

And the fans seem to be getting angry...
Bob Uecker once said about Philadelphia fans "I honestly liked Philadelphia. The fans there were smart and mean and you could count on them."

They booed Mike Schmidt.
The greatest player in Phillies history, the MVP of the only World Series the Phillies ever won and they booed him!

The same fans who booed Santa Claus are now celebrating the silver anniversary of a parade... and have seen Barkley, Schilling, Iverson and Lindross come and go ringless...

They've seen the Mitch Williams home run, McNabb getting sick in the Super Bowl, the Sixers being overwhelmed by Shaq and company, the Flyers getting swept by the Red Wings and the Phillies bounced in 3 last year.

I'll say it... Philadelphia has replaced Boston as the tortured traditional Northeastern metropolis near New York sports fan base.

Boston has had the Patriots as a powerhouse, the return to glory of the Celtics, a logic defying two World Series wins for the Red Sox, an Oscar winner for Martin Scorsese and thanks to the McCullough book and miniseries, Boston's John Adams is starting to steal some of Benjamin Franklin's thunder (but not lightning.)

All the while, the Philadelphia teams fail to deliver and even Philadelphia's favorite son, Bill Cosby, now primarily resides in Western Massachusetts.

Boston has become the Smurf Village while Philadelphia has devolved into the prison in Midnight Express.

The 2008 Phillies were not able to pull away from an over achieving Marlins and an in fighting Mets squad and now find themselves entering the stretch run in a 3 team heat with only 2 games between them in the loss column.

You know it isn't going to end well... Jimmy Rollins is already slacking off, Ryan Howard is becoming Dave Kingman and it's looking more and more like the Wild Card will be coming from the Central so it will be first or nothing for the Phils.

Which brings me to the question... where is the hate directed?

As a Red Sox fan I knew the anger was directed at the Bronx... until 2004 liberated us and now we can moon the Bronx.

Giant fans hate the Dodgers.
A's fans seem to hate the Giants.
Cub fans hate the guy who decided to stop selling beer after the 7th inning.

But there is a lot of anger in Philadelphia and I'm not sure where it is pointed.
So I ask you, Philadelphia fans... who do you hate?

Hey Justin at Phanatic Phollow Up, is it the Mets who get your goat? Before you get too mad, they seem pretty luckless themselves.

How about you Phillies Nation, do you just grind your teeth at the sight of Joe Carter?

Or does the name Mitch Williams make the Phillies Phollowers shudder with anger?

Do the folks at the Good Phight hate the Yankees? Is there THAT much bitterness over the 1950 World Series?

Let me ask you, Phillies Blog Net... Is it just general anger? Are you mad at everyone up to and including the Phillie Phanatic.

By the way, if you want a Philadelphia guy to win... let me recommend you buy Numbelievable co written by Philly fan and friend of Sully Baseball Michael X. Ferraro.