The 62-win Phillies had three Hall of Famers 100 years ago
Four members of the 1920 Philadelphia Phillies left to right, included Hall of Fame manager to be Casey Stengel, Grady Cravath, Fred Luderus and Hall of Famer Dave Bancroft. Photo: Bob Warrington collection.
Phillies of 100 years ago ... Guess who started in right field.
By Larry Shenk, The Baron
Philadelphia Phillies
Five years after their first National League pennant, the 1920 Phillies hardly looked like that World Series team when they opened spring training at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL.
The season
Not a very good one, 62-91, last place (eight-team league) ... Manager-player Gavvy Cravath ... Stadium: Baker Bowl ... Team batting average, .263 ... Team ERA, 3.63 ... Attendance: 330,998, seventh in NL but their highest for the next 22 seasons ... One coach, Jesse Tannehill.
1915 Champs
Cravath was the RF; led NL in runs (89), extra-base hits (62), homers (24), RBIs (115), walks (86), on-base percentage (.393) and slugging percentage (.510) and OF assists (28) ... Team Captain 1B Fred Luderus hit franchise’s first World Series homer ... Rookie SS Dave Bancroft led team in games played (153) . . . LHP Eppa Rixey, 11-12. 1920 record? 11-12.
1920 Phun Phacts
It was Cravath’s final year in pro ball. His 119 career homers were a major league record for one year, some guy named Babe Ruth.
Luderus was out of the opening day lineup, ending a club-record 533 consecutive game streak that stood until Richie Ashburn broke it the 1950s.
Bancroft and Rixey wound up being traded. Each wound up in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Opening day RF for Phillies was none other than 29-year-old Casey Stengel who became a Hall of Fame manager.
CF Cy Williams led the NL in home runs (15).
RH Lee Meadows was the only pitcher with a winning record (16-14) on the 11-man staff . . . As a rookie with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1915 he became the first major league leaguer to wear eyeglasses while playing, earning the nickname, “Specs.”
The season was considered the last of the dead ball era ... 261 homers were hit in the majors. The following season, 460 ... It was the last season in which the spit ball was legal for pitchers ... A rule change stated that balls hit over the fence in fair territory but landing foul were fair, and hence home runs rather than foul balls ... RBIs (Runs Batted In) became an official statistic.