C - Chooch
1B - Thome (and Howard)
2B - Trillo (and Utley and Stott)
SS - Rollins
3B - Schmidt (and Rolen)
LF- Burrell
CF - Maddox (and Vic)
RF - Abreu (and Harper and McBride)
DH - Harper
LHSP - Carlton (and Hamels and Moyer)
RHSP - Schilling (and Halladay)
Relief Pitchers - McGraw, Lidge, Reed, Madson, Alvarado
C: Chooch (Daulton is close, honorable mention Realmuto)
iB: Rose, despite himself (Kruk is real close)
2B: Trillo (Utley is close, honorable mention Samuel)
SS: Rollins (honorable mentions Bowa & Stocker)
3B: Schmidt (honorable mention Feliz and Charlie Hayes)
LF: Sarge (Burrell is close, honorable metion Jeff Stone)
CF: Victorino (Maddox is close)
RF: Harper (McBride is close while Werth and Glenn Wilson get an honorable mentions)
RHSP: Halladay (honorable mention Ruthven)
LHSP: Fellow St. Joe's Hawk Moyer (Carlton, Mulholland, Hamels and Cliff Lee are close)
Bullpen: McGraw, Reed, Willie Hernandez (sigh), Andersen, Tekulve, Madson and Romero (Kimbrel might earn himself an honorable mention by season's end)
RH pinch hitter off the bench: Unser
LH pinch hitter off the bench: Greg Gross
Power bat off the bench: Stairs
NL hasn't had a DH long enough to include one but I would say Luzinski since he played it in the 1980 WS and he was a good one in his second act with the White Sox.
I would name Von Hayes as my jack-of-all trades plays every day guy since he played all three OF positions and 1B.
Manager: Charlie
GM: Pope
I’m in my mid 30s so this list doesn’t include old legends that I didn’t get to see:
C - Chooch
1B - Howard
2B - Utley
SS - Rollins
3B - Franco (I named my dog after him as a result of his rookie year so I have a soft spot for him)
LF - Pat the Bat
CF - Victorino (Glanville was one of my first favorite players so he almost snuck in here)
RF - Abreu (Harper will probably eventually take over here)
RHSP - Vincent’s Padilla (Schilling was my favorite player as a young kid but finding out the man he is as ruined my fond memories of getting into baseball and anticipating a Schilling start)
LHSP - Cole Hamels
RPs - Neris, Lidge, Bastardo, J.C. Romero
Manager - Charlie Manuel
With the acknowledgement that my favorite players were not necessarily guys I saw play but were baseball cards I collected during that romantic period of youth when you believed these guys would be Phillies forever...and with the obvious slant I have for the 1963-64 and '77-78 teams here is my list. I suspect many phans have never even heard of a few of these guys.
C- Jim Coker [loved his Topps 1961 All-Rookie card.] Never saw him play with the Phils.
1b- Richie Hebner...this was a very solid player and was wayyy more valuable in '77-78 that ever given credit for. He, along with Schmidt and Luzinski formed a great 3-4-5 middle of the order group and his "who cares" attitude really calmed Michael Jack and the Bull down.
2b...Dave Cash...Yes We Can
3b...Dick [Richie] Allen...greatest player I ever saw on a baseball diamond from 1964-1965 Frank Thomas fight
SS...Larry Bowa...was the emotional catalyst for many of those great '76-80 teams.
LF...Tony Curry...see Jim Coker [loved his 1960 rookie card though it was 3 years old when I first got it.] Another 1961 Topps All-Rookie selection
CF...Tony Gonzalez
RF...Johnny Callison...my favorite player ever
RHSP...Art Mahaffey...first Phillie to EVER grace the cover of Sports Illustrated [1963]
LHSP...Chris Short
RHRP...Jack Baldschun...was forever getting himself into and then out of trouble. Called Six Pack by Gene Mauch because when he came into a game Mauch nervously smoked and smoked.
LHRP...Tug McGraw...striking out Willie Wilson to end 1980 WS sure exorcised a whole lot of Phillie phan demons, at least temporarily
Manager...Gene Mauch...should but never will be placed on Phils Wall of Fame.
Here is an eclectic list. None of the real old-timers except Whitey and that is as much for the broadcast booth. This is basically a list of players I like watching and rooting for (skewed towards the 1980s and later. And Larry Christenson let me put on his World Series ring. Juan Samuel's rookie year might have been the most exciting thing to root for even if he was flawed in other ways (patience, defense).
C - Daulton
1B - Hoskins
2B - Utley
SS - Rollins
3B - Schmidt
OF - Harper
OF - McBride
OF - Ashburn
DH - Samuel
Bench - Rolen, Bowa, Chooch, Victorino, Howard, Abreu
SP - Christenson, Lee, Hamels, Schilling, Suarez
RP - McGraw, Alvarado, Madson, Neris
1B Allen
2B Utley
SS Rollins
3B Schmidt
LF Luzinski
CF Maddox
RF Abreu
C Boone
DH Harper
SP Bunning, Short, Hamels, Carlton, Schilling
RP Lidge, Duran, Bottalico, Garber, McGraw
1B Deron Johnson
2B Trillo
SS Bowa
3B Schmidt
LF Luzinski
CF Greg Gross (gotta put him somewhere)
RF Rick Joseph (his granny against the Dodgers kept me up all night smiling)
C Lieberthal
RHP Twitchell
LHP Fryman
RP Garber
PH Tommy Hutton
1B - Thome, Hoskins
2B - Utley, Tony Taylor
SS - Rollins, Stott
3B - Schmidt, Allen
LF - Schwarber, McCutchen
CF - Victorino, Glanville
RF - Eisenreich, Pence
C - Chooch, McCarver
RHSP - Lonborg, Nola
LHSP - Moyer, Ken Brett
RP - McGraw, Reed
Manager - Manuel, Thomson
Trying to go with a few names not yet mentioned when they are close to others on my list:
1B The grave digger, Richie Hebner
2B Utley
SS Rollins, liked Stocker his rookie year and his trade
3B Schmidt
LF The Bull
CF Gary Maddox
RF Von Hayes, Abreu
C Loved the idea of Lance Parrish, but didn't work out....JT
DH Harper
Rotation (I get 5) Carlton, Ruthven, Underwood, Hamels, Nola
bullpen...Reed, McGraw, Lidge,
1B Howard
2B Utley
SS Rollins
3B Schmidt
LF Luzinski
CF Victorino
RF Harper
C Realmuto
Rotation: Carlton, Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Schilling
Bullpen: Lidge, McGraw, Madson, Reed, Alvarado, Williams, Mesa
Bench: C Boone, SS Bowa, 3B Rolen, CF Dykstra, 2B Polanco
All-Time:
C - Darren Daulton
1B - Deron Johnson
2B - Tony Taylor
SS - Bobby Wine
3B - Mike Schmidt
LF - Greg Luzinski
CF - Shane Victorino
RF - Jim Eisenrich
RH SP - Jim Bunning
LF SP - Steve Carlton
RH RP - Brad Lidge
LF RP - Tug McGraw
Somewhat Obscure (with some explanations added):
C - Gus Triandos (hit first HR I ever witnessed in person)
1B - Tommy Hutton (loved the slick fielding at first base)
2B - Terry Harmon (a member of the "super-subs" that helped fuel a brief winning streak for one of the Phillies teams that lost a bunch of games in the early 70s)
SS - Kevin Stocker (I saw his first MLB game, or most of it, as I left with my wife and 3 young kids after 15 innings)
3B - Don Money (thought he'd be a good one; local kid from Vineland, NJ)
LF - Milt Thompson (love seeing him play defense, reaching over the fence to rob a HR)
CF - Willie Montanez (I'll always remember the bat flip as he walked up to the plate each at bat)
RF - John Briggs (just impressed me as a powerful looking guy who could kill the ball)
RH SP - Lowell Palmer (witnessed one of his first games in person; flame thrower who flamed out)
LH SP - Woodie Fryman (seemed like a real down-to-earth guy; went back to farming after baseball)
RH RP - Dick Selma (found new life as a reliever with the Phillies in the early 70s)
LF RP - Joe Hoerner (teamed with Selma for a few years with the Phillies; had a lengthy MLB career)
I really remember loving Don Money. He had a 119 OPS+ in Philly in 1970 then stunk up the place in '71 and '72. Went to the Brewers and put up 9 of 10 years with OPSs over 800 and an OPS+ averaging 125. Wonder what was holding him back here for those two years?
Real curious how much people are going for "best" vs. "favorite" here, though obviously there is and should be overlap (as well as with team success). I'm only going with guys I saw play (and even then anyone before '75 is more just a name I remember).
1B Kruk
2B Morandini
SS Rollins
3B Schmidt
LF Burrell
CF Dykstra (despite himself, like PM said of Rose)
RF Werth
C Chooch (though I was tempted to say Coste)
SP: Underwood, Schilling (same caveat as Nails), Hamels, Lee, Nola
Bullpen: Tug, Lidge, Madson, Reed, Neris (I wonder if we'd think less of more of him if he'd been on good teams. Less if he'd been the closer, more if he'd had more help, I reckon).
Fun to see lots of other names here. I could toss a coin for plenty of them. Starting with Utley and Howard but also Vic and Eisenreich and Abreu and Bowa
Not surprising. We enjoy watching the best. I never understood the Phillies 'fans' who hated on Abreu, Dick Allen, and Rolen. Schilling and Carlton became major jerks after they left the Phillies, really after they left baseball, so that although I now think of them as awful human beings, it doesn't dim my affection for their time in :Philly. I saw Rose as a jerk when he was in Philly. People also pick 'favorite players; from the years they most actively followed the team. Thus, I could easily choose Callison in RF, except Abreut is among my all-time favorite Phillies, but couldn't list Ashburn, Roberts and Simmons, although my Dad surely would have. I think my nephew would list Thome and guys from last-year's team, because he is too young to have much attachment to my favorite players.
"Fun to see lots of other names here. I could toss a coin for plenty of them. Starting with Utley and Howard but also Vic and Eisenreich and Abreu and Bowa"
,
Very true. I liked Howard a lot, but was stuck with the quandary of both Schmidt and Allen at 3B, so put Allen at 1B, ditto Callison and Abreu in RF -- I liked both better than any LF we've ever had, but don't think either was ever a regular LF for us.. If I were just listing favorite guys who were position players, i wouldn't have a 2B or LF.
Zambo, the very same qualities that made Rose and Dykstra so endearing as players for your team are probably the same qualities that make them foul human beings.
As far as Rose goes, overpaid and on the way downside of his career when in Philly. He bet on baseball as a manager, and undoubtedly as a player when he was in Philly and is unrepentent with a 'get over it' attitude. I can understand Reds fans putting him as their favorite 2B, but even with great character, he wouldn't have cracked my top 3 of Phillies 1B.
Rose wouldn't be in my top three 1B either, but not because he was overpaid. I believe players should get whatever contract they can, and if they are giving their all, I don't care about their salaries. I didn't dislike Howard after 2011.
