December 1917: The Phillies Get a Christmas Present from the Cubs

Most dedicated Phillies fans know that the team has a history of terrible, one-sided trades with the Chicago Cubs. This history of poor trades dates back to the fall of 1917 when Phils owner, William F. Baker, always, it seems, in need of cash, traded the great Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander and his starting catcher Bill Killefer for two marginal players, catcher Pickles Dillhoefer and pitcher Mike Prendergast, and $55,000. In the 1960s, the Phillies traded away future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins for two over the hill Cubs pitchers, Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson. And then in 1982, of course, there was the trade that sent Larry Bowa and future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivan DeJesus. To add insult to injury, it was former Phillies pitcher and manager, Dallas Green, now working for the Cubs, who picked the Phillies pocket on that one.

Despite the sordid history, and despite the short-sighted ownership of William Baker, the Phillies did manage to pull off at least one trade with the Cubs that worked out very well for them. In late December 1917, the Phillies traded starting center fielder, Dode Paskert, to the Cubs for center fielder Fred "Cy" Williams. Paskert, a popular player with the home fans, was 37 years old and a veteran of 12 major league seasons. He was known as a fine defensive outfielder, and decent hitter with little power. Williams was 29, and though coming off a poor season, had shown great power potential and enough speed to be a fine outfielder.

Most baseball insiders thought the Phillies had gotten by far the best of the deal. Many believed that Williams could become one of the premiere power hitters in the game, especially in the friendly confines of Baker Bowl, with its short right field wall. The word was that Chicago Cubs manager, Fred Mitchell, had soured on the inconsistent Williams. While Williams was a superior "flychaser," he had a weak throwing arm, something Mitchell valued above all else in his outfielders. 

When the trade was first made, it was not met with universal approval in Philadelphia. Referring to the Phillies manager, Pat Moran, the headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer after the trade read, "Moran Gives Veteran Outfielder, Who Had Splendid Record This Year, For Man Who Played Erratically Last Season." The trade looked even worse when Williams, who was not pleased with the trade, informed the Phillies of his intention to retire rather than report to the Phillies.  Williams never did officially retire, however, and though he missed all of spring training and the first month of the season, he eventually reported and took his place in the Phillies starting lineup on May 29. He would be a fixture there for the next 13 seasons.

Cy Williams did indeed become the great power hitter that was predicted. A left-handed hitter he took full advantage of the Baker Bowl dimensions to become one of baseball's first great home run threats. As the Live Ball Era dawned, he led the league in home runs in 1920 (15), 1923 (41), and 1927 (30). He finished second or third six other times. During his years with the Phillies, he slashed .306/.380/.500. His 251 career home runs were the most in the National League, until Rogers Hornsby passed him in 1929. Williams ranks third on the all-time list of Phillies center fielders behind only Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn and turn of the century standout, Roy Thomas.

On August 5, 1927, Cy Williams became just the third Phillie to hit for the cycle. In a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Williams tripled in the first, doubled in the second, walked in the fifth, homered in the seventh, and singled in the ninth as the Phillies won 9-6. Wiliams finished 4 for 4 with six RBIs in one of his finest days in the major leagues. In 1923, he hit three home runs and drove in seven in a game at the Baker Bowl against the St. Louis Cardinals that the Phillies won 20-14.

Dode Paskert, by the way, had a couple of solid seasons for the Cubs, but his skills were fading, and he was out of the major leagues by 1921. He did have the satisfaction of playing with the Cubs' 1918 pennant winners.

Cy Williams retired in 1930 at age 42. His 217 home runs in a Phillies uniform still ranks 8th on the Phillies all-time home run list. He hit 141 (65%) of those home runs in the friendly confines of Baker Bowl. 

Before he ever signed a professional baseball contract Williams had majored in architecture and starred in three sports at Notre Dame, where he was a teammate of Knute Rockne. In retirement he put his architecture degree to work in his native Wisconsin, where he designed what his biographer Cappy Gagnon calls, "some of the finest buildings on Wisconsin's Upper Peninsula." Many of those buildings are still standing. In 1966 the city of Three Lakes, Wisconsin dedicated Cy Williams Park, which is also still there. Cy Williams died in Eagle River, Wisconsin in 1974 at the age of 86. In 1986, Williams was enshrined on the Phillies' Wall of Fame. 

After all the Phillies franchise has done for the Cubs, they certainly owed us this long-ago Christmas present.