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| Jack Sanford |
The collapse of the 1964 team has been well documented. But what of that 1957 team? I was by then a ten-year-old shortstop on the Food Fair Little League team, an avid collector of baseball cards, and a rabid Phillies' fan. The Phillies themselves were a collection of fading "Whiz Kids" from the 1950 pennant winners, five rookies having breakout seasons, and a couple of veterans brought in via trade. This bunch, under manager Mayo Smith, managed to make a run at the pennant that lasted into the summer, only to fade in a flurry of losses by summer's end.
The former "Whiz Kids on the team included Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Richie Ashburn. Granny Hamner, Bob Miller, and Stan Lopata. None of these players was yet 32 years old, but all of them, save perhaps Ashburn, was on the downside of his career. Roberts would have a particularly difficult season, going 10-22, just two years removed from having six consecutive 20-win seasons. Third baseman Willie Jones hit just .218. Whiz Kid shortstop Granny Hamner had been moved to second base. He hit .227. Slugger Del Ennis had been dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for another slugging outfielder, Rip Repulski. Repulski hit 20 home runs, but he was no Ennis as an RBI man.
The bountiful rookie crop included twenty-eight-year-old Jack Sanford, who had toiled for years in the Phillies minor league system, before suddenly discovering how to get his devastating sinker over the plate. Sanford mowed down National League hitters consistently throughout the season, finishing with a 19-8 record. He was named Rookie of the Year for his efforts, just outpointing the Phillies new first baseman, Ed Bouchee. Bouchee, a chunky left-hander signed out of Spokane, Washington, hit a strong .293 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. Delaware native and West Chester State College product Harry "The Horse" Anderson, took over leftfield for the Phillies and had a very solid rookie campaign, hitting .268 with 17 homeruns. The sweet swinging Anderson quickly became a fan favorite.
Flame-throwing Turk Farrell was another product of the Phillies farm system who had a breakout rookie season. He became the team's chief relief pitcher, recording a 10-2 record, 2.38 ERA, and 10 saves in 52 games. The new shortstop was rookie Humberto "Chico" Fernandez, who was acquired in a trade with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Fernandez played flashy defense and ignited the fans with his daring and dynamic baserunning. He hit a solid .262 and led the team with 18 stolen bases.
This mix of veterans and rookies started slowly, but by the end of May were winning consistently. On June 1, when Sanford shutout the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-0, at Connie Mack Stadium, the Phillies moved into second place 2.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. Repulski gave Sanford all the runs he needed with a two-run home run off Roger Craig in the first inning. Sanford struck out 11 and walked one. He moved his record to 6-1 on the season.
In his next outing, Sanford tossed a three-hit shutout, beating the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, at Connie Mack Stadium. This time he struck out 13. Fernandez plated the winning run with a sacrifice fly. The Phillies crept closer to the first place Reds. With five teams, (Cincinnati, Brooklyn, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and the Phillies) contending, the lead exchanged hands often and even a short losing streak could send one of the teams down to fifth place.
Finally, on July 15 the Phillies ascended to the top.
Jack Sanford was again on the mound for the Phillies. Again, the game was at Connie Mack Stadium. Attendance, which had been good all year, was 33,900, the largest crowd since opening day. The Phillies fans were again backing a (hoped for) winner. Sanford beat the St. Louis Cardinals. 6-2. Willie Jones' two-run homer was the big blow. The Phillies, 48-36, were in a virtual first-place tie with the Redbirds. Sanford's record was 12-2.
Unfortunately for the Phils and the fans, that was the team's high-water mark. The team lost seven of their next eight games. On July 17 against Milwaukee, Robin Roberts, who had lost six straight starts, was tossed from the game after pitching a scoreless first inning. He got into a heated argument with umpire Jocko Conlan, who had made a mysterious ruling on a phantom tag play that ended a possible Phillies rally in the bottom of the first. The umps got it wrong, but Roberts said he deserved to get tossed because he called Jocko. "a little Irish prick." Roberts, who had never been so angry on the ball field, had to be pulled away from Conlan by manager Smith. The Phillies filed a formal protest of the game, but to no avail. Jack Meyer replaced Roberts on the mound and the Phillies lost, 10-3.
The losses kept coming. Milwaukee's Bob Buhl beat Curt Simmons twice during this stretch, 4-2 and 1-0. The Phillies fourth starter, diminutive lefty Harvey Haddix, also lost two of those seven games, 6-2 to Milwaukee and 6-4 to Cincinnati. A little over a week after they ascended to first place the Phillies were in fifth place five games behind the surging Braves. A 9-18 month of August finished the Phillies off for good. They ended the season a .500 ball club, 77-77-2, in fifth place, 18 games behind the pennant winning Braves.
In many ways this season was a last hurrah for the Whiz Kids. While Roberts bounced back to have a good 1958 season and Ashburn won a batting title, the team finished in eighth place in the eight-team league. In fact, the Phillies finished in last place from 1958-1961, by the end of which all the former Whiz Kids had moved on. Ashburn to the Cubs, Roberts to the Yankees and then Orioles, Simmons to the Cardinals, Jones to the Reds. Hamner was with Kansas City trying to revive his career as a knuckleball pitcher. Bob Miller and Stan Lopata were retired from baseball. An era had ended.
