When your ball club isn’t just one of the oldest in the country dating from 1883  —  but in fact the oldest continuously operating sports franchise with the same name in all of America  —  you’d probably expect that it would take a little time to win a championship. No one knew, however, that it would take a century.

During the early 20th century the Athletics, not the Phillies, were all the baseball rage in the City of Brotherly Love. When in Philadelphia , you didn’t go to North Broad Street to see a Phillies game at the Baker Bowl, you went to Lehigh Avenue to see the Athletics at Connie Mack Stadium. The Athletics were in the World Series in 1902 and 1905 and won the Fall Classic in 1910, 1911, and 1913. But in 1915, things would be different.

The story of the 1915 Phillies started one hundred and ten years ago — the when they made an offseason trade of Sherry Magee for Oscar Dugey, Possum Whitted, and cash compensation. The result in 1915 was a collection of talent unparalleled in Phillies history to that point.

The Phillies pitching staff that year let in the fewest runs in the National League. Headlined by Grover Alexander  —  who would eventually be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame and who was the 1915 MLB leader in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. He would also lead all of baseball with twelve shutouts. Behind him was Erskine Mayer, who had 21 wins in 1915.

The Phillies lineup included Gavvy Cravath who led all of baseball with 24 home runs, one hundred fifteen RBIs, and eighty-nine runs scored. First baseman Fred Luderus was ranked second in batting average and slugging percentage, and shortstop Dave Bancroft was 3rd in the NL in runs scored.

The Phillies would finish the 1915 MLB regular season with the best record in the National League and the third-best record in all of baseball at 90–62. In Game 1 of the World Series  —  a series that would start on a Friday for the last time until 2022 and would be replayed in mechanical fashion on a giant scoreboard in Times Square  —  behind the pitching of Alexander the Phillies would win 3–1. In the next three games, the Phillies were outscored 11–7 and lost four games in a row and the series. In Game 5, the Braves broke a 4–4 tie in the 9th inning to close out the series 5–4. 

In the Boston dugout was a young, eager pitcher who did not have an opportunity to pitch in the World Series against the Phillies in that series. His name was Babe Ruth.

In October of 1915 at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, a celebration was held in recognition of Phillies first-ever franchise World Series appearance. Twenty-five years later before World War II in 1940, the Phillies welcomed back the 1915 team  —  still the franchise’s only pennant-winners to that point.

In 1950,  the Baker Bowl was demolished. That same year, the Phillies would return to the World Series as NL Pennant Champions for the first time in thirty-five years.

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township.