Steve Carlton did so much in his Hall of Fame career as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies that it is easy to forget that he already brought a decent resume before he became a member of the Phillies. His run with St. Louis saw him win a World Series, go to three All-Star Games and he already was a 20 Game winner. That is good, but with Philadelphia, he became a superstar.
In the first half of the 1950’s, Robin Roberts made a case as the National League’s top pitcher, and had the Cy Young Award existed then, Roberts very well could have won five in a row, whether or not sabremetircs were thought of back then!
Before we started this list, we were pretty sure that Mike Schmidt was going to land at number one on our list of the 50 all-time Philadelphia Phillies. As you can see, that is where he is ranked but as we poured through statistic after statistic, Schmidt was not just our number once choice, it was not even remotely close.
This one should be a little interesting.
There was a time when Tim Lincecum was considered the best Pitcher in the National League and rightfully so. Dubbed “The Freak” due to his powerful arm despite having a slender frame, Linceum is one of the few hurlers to record back-to-back Cy Youngs (2008 & 2009) in a stretch where he would also lead the National League both seasons in Strikeouts, FIP and SO/9. Lincecum would still receive Cy Young votes over the next two seasons but injuries would render him a fraction of what he was and realistically Lincecum was a player with two excellent seasons, two very good seasons, and a few horrible ones, the latter two of which was when he would become a three time World Series Champion.