Profile
| Affiliation | NL East |
|---|---|
| Ballpark | Citizens Bank Park |
| World Series Title | 2 (1980 and 2008) |
| NL Pennants | 8 |
Introduction
The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park, located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.
The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008), eight National League pennants (the first of which came in 1915), and made 15 playoff appearances. As of November 6, 2022, the team has played 21,209 games, winning 10,022 games and losing 11,187.[10]
Since the first modern World Series was played in 1903, the Phillies have played 120 consecutive seasons and 140 seasons since the team's 1883 establishment. The Phillies were the last of the 16 pre-expansion teams to win a World Series, with their first championship coming in 1980. Since the start of the Divisional Era in 1969, however, the Phillies have emerged as one of MLB's most successful teams, winning 11 division titles (including five consecutive such titles from 2007 to 2011), eight National League pennants, and two World Series championships.
The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts, in the National League. The team has played at several stadiums in the city, beginning with Recreation Park (1883–1886) and continuing at Baker Bowl (1887–1938); Shibe Park (which was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953 in honor of the longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack) (1938–1970); Veterans Stadium (1971–2003), and now Citizens Bank Park (2004–present).
Because of, and in spite of, their longevity and rabid fan base, the Phillies are a team historically associated with futility. They were the first American sports franchise to amass over 10,000 losses; the team holds the world record for most ever losses by a single team in all of professional sports. Yet, also due in part to their longevity, the Phillies are one of only nine teams to have won over 10,000 games in their history. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt is widely considered the franchise's greatest player of all time. Over the team's history since 1883, 33 Phillies players have been awarded entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who play at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, who play in Reading. The Class-A affiliates are the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, who play in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, and the Clearwater Threshers, who play at BayCare Ballpark.
The team's spring training facilities are in Clearwater, Florida.
Rivalry
With New York Mets
The rivalry between the New York Mets and the Phillies has been said to be among the "hottest" rivalries in the National League. The two National League East divisional rivals have met each other recently in playoff, division, and wild card races.
Aside from several brawls in the 1980s, the rivalry remained low-key before the 2006 season,[ as the teams had seldom been equally good at the same time. Since 2006, the teams have battled for playoff position. The Mets won the division in 2006 and contended in 2007 and 2008, while the Phillies won five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011. The Phillies' 2007 Eastern Division Title was won on the last day of the season as the Mets lost a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining.
With Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos
The Phillies' rivalry with the Washington Nationals extends back during their original tenure as the Montreal Expos. The two teams repeatedly battled for control of the division in the early 1980s and mid 1990s. Following the franchise's relocation to Washington DC in 2005; the rivalry increased in geographic tension due to Washington's proximity to Philadelphia. The rivalry quickly spiked in intensity during the 2010s after Nationals team management introduced a campaign to block Phillies fans from overtaking home games. In 2019; star-outfielder Bryce Harper further fueled tensions after signing a 13-year $330 million contract with the Phillies as a free agent.[116][117] The Nationals later managed to win the 2019 World Series during the first year of Harper's absence. The Phillies currently lead the series 482-445, but the Nationals lead the postseason series; when the Expos managed a 3-2 victory over the Phillies during the 1981 NLDS.
With Pittsburgh Pirates (Battle of Pennsylvania)
The rivalry between the Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates was considered by some to be one of the best rivalries in the National League. The rivalry started when the Pittsburgh Pirates entered National League play in their fifth season of 1887, four years after the Phillies.
The Phillies and the Pirates had remained together after the National League split into two divisions in 1969. During the period of two-division play (1969–1993), the two National League East division rivals won the two highest numbers of division championships, reigning exclusively as NL East champions in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s, the Pirates nine, the Phillies six; together, the teams' 15 championships accounted for more than half of the 25 NL East championships during that span.
After the Pirates moved to the National League Central in 1994, the teams face each other in only two series each year and the rivalry has diminished. However, many fans, especially older ones, retain their dislike for the other team and regional differences between Eastern and Western Pennsylvania still fuel the rivalry. The rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League is also fiercely contested.
