Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2022 revision of our top 50 Philadelphia Phillies.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
The Phillies did not make the 2021 Playoffs, nor did anyone crack the top 50, however there was movement among one active Phillie.
As always, we present our top five.
1. Mike Schmidt
4. Ed Delahanty
You can find the entire list here.
The only elevation is Starting Pitcher, Aaron Nola, who advanced one spot to #38.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
Tony Pena signed with the Pirates as an Amateur Free Agent in 1975, and five years later, the Dominican Catcher made his first appearance for the parent club.
Pena became Pittsburgh’s lead Catcher in 1982, and he was an All-Star that year. Batting .301 with 15 Home Runs in 1983, Pena received the most MVP votes of his career, with an 11th place finish. Pena also won the Gold Glove, his first of three straight, and over the next two seasons he led the NL in Runners Caught Stealing. He would also finish in the top ten Defensive bWAR four times, including a league-leading 2.5 in 1984.
Pena went to three more All-Star Games as a Pirate and had five consecutive double-digit years in Home Runs (1982-86). He was traded to St. Louis after the 1986 Season, leaving the club with 821 Hits, a .286 Batting Average, and 63 Home Runs.
Gene Alley played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, debuting in 1963 until he retired after the 1973 Season.
Alley became Pittsburgh’s starting Shortstop in 1965, and though he was not a potent hitter, he proved to be an excellent defensive player. In Alley's best offensive year, 1966, he had career-highs in Hits (173) and Batting Average (.299), was 11th in MVP voting, and won the first of two Gold Gloves. Alley went to two All-Star Games (1967 & 1968), was twice the National League leader in Defensive bWAR (1965 & 1968), and aided the Pirates in their 1971 World Series win.
Alley had 999 career Hits with a lifetime Defensive bWAR of 14.7.
While Ring of Honor has seen better days, having announced they are moving forward without any contracted talents, they are still operating, and have announced they will be having their own Hall of Fame. The first inductees have been announced, Mark and Jay Briscoe, the most successful tag team in the promotion’s history.
The pair were with ROH when the organization started back in 2002. Winning 12 Tag Team Titles with ROH, as well as being the current champs, Jay Briscoe also won the ROH World Championship twice.
There will be inductees revealed over the next three Mondays.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the Briscoes for earning this accolade.