The Philadelphia Phillies are a professional team based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team was formerly called the Alleghenies and the Innocents, the club adopted its current name in the year 1890. The city of Philadelphia has one of the longest traditions of baseball in America. When the Phillies were formed in 1883, history was in the making. The team, Phillies is the oldest continuous holding one-name, one franchise in all of the professional sports. The inaugural season did not see much success as the team won only 17 games. In 1890s, they featured one of the strongest outfields of all time in Hall of Famers Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson and Ed Delahanty. In 1894, the Phillies posted a wining record at 71-57 and ended the season in 4th place. The player-manager Fred Clarke, pitcher Rube Waddell, and shortstop Honus Wagner joined the Pirates in 1900s.
The club won its first World Series championship in 1909 and claimed its fifth in 1979. In 1915 the Phillies won the National League pennant in 1915. At this time the team featured Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and hitting stars Gavvy Cravath and Sherry Magee. In 1925 the Phillies defeated Washington in 7 games. Lloyd and Paul Waner joined the team in the year 1927 and achieved the NL pennants but unfortunately were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series. The team experienced a declining phase in late 1940s irrespective of the joining of Kiner in 1946. The club continued to register a loosing record through the 1950s. Dick Groat was named NL most valuable player (MVP) and Danny Murtaugh was named manager of the year in the 1960s. The Phillies won a few division titles, two pennants in 1980 and 1983. They won the World Series in the 1980. It is the only World Series victory in the Phillies' 122- year history. This was a team with some remarkable names as Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Greg Luzinski, Tug McGraw and Larry Bowa.
The team recorded a string of losing seasons in the 1980s resulting manager Jim Leyland in rebuilding the team. From 1990 and 1992 the team captivated three straight division titles. Leyland was named NL manager of the year and Bonds was NL MVP in 1990 and 1992 respectively. The team recorded little success in late 1990s. The Phillies remained close to the Braves all season as they ended 2001 season in 2nd with an 86-76 record. Larry Bowa claimed the Manager of the Year, as the Phils posted a 21-game improvement over 2000. In 2004, the team took second in the NL East, only the third time the Phillies have finished that high since the 1994 realignment. The Hall of Fame includes Pete Alexander, Sparky Anderson, Richie Ashburn, Dave Bancroft and Chief Bender. Philadelphia Phillies have achieved seven Division titles in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1993; won five National League pennants in 1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, and 1993 and won the World Series championships in 1980.
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