The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park,
located in South Philadelphia. The Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports.
The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008) and seven National League pennants, the first of which came in 1915. Since the first modern World Series was played in 1903, the Phillies played 77 consecutive seasons (and 97 seasons from the club's establishment) before they won their first World Series—longer than any of the other 16 teams that made up the major leagues for the first half of the 20th century. They are one of the more successful franchises since the start of the Divisional Era in Major League Baseball. The Phillies have won 11 division titles, including five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011; these are ranked sixth among all teams and fourth in the National League. However, they are one of only two teams without a wild card berth. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt is widely considered the franchise's greatest player of all time.
The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts, in the National League. The team has played at several stadiums in the city, beginning with Recreation Park and continuing at Baker Bowl; Shibe Park, which was later renamed Connie Mack Stadium in honor of the longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager; Veterans Stadium, and now Citizens Bank Park.
From 1883 to 2021, the Phillies' overall win–loss record is 9,935–11,112 (.472). Despite their longevity and their rabid fan base, the Phillies are a team historically associated with futility, being the first American sports franchise to amass over 10,000 losses. The team has only won two World Series titles, winning their first in 1980 (the last of the "Original Sixteen" Major League Baseball franchises to win a World Series), and their second in 2008. The franchise holds the world record for most ever losses by a single franchise in any professional sport.
The team's spring training facilities are located in Clearwater, Florida, where its Class-A minor league affiliate Clearwater Threshers plays at BayCare Ballpark.
Their other Class-A affiliate is the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, who play in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Phillies' Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, which play in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, playing in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
In 1883, sporting goods manufacturer Al Reach (a pioneering professional baseball player) and attorney John Rogers won an expansion National League franchise for Philadelphia, one of what is now known as the "Classic Eight" of the National League. They were awarded a spot in the league to replace the Worcester baseball team, a franchise that had folded in 1882. The new team was nicknamed the "Quakers", and immediately compiled a .173 winning percentage, which is still the worst in franchise history. Although many sources (including the Phillies themselves) claim that Reach and Rogers bought the Brown Stockings and moved them to Philadelphia, all available evidence suggests this is not the case. Significantly, no players from Worcester ended up with the 1883 Quakers.
In 1884, Harry Wright, the former manager of baseball's first openly professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was recruited as a manager in hopes of reversing the team's fortunes. Also in 1884, the team changed its name to the "Philadelphians", as it was common for baseball teams in that era to be named after their cities (for instance, the "Bostons" and "New Yorks"). However, as "Philadelphians" was somewhat hard to fit in newspaper headlines, some writers still continued to call them the "Quakers" while others began shortening the name to "Phillies".
Before the 1944 season, the team held a fan contest soliciting a new team nickname. Management chose "Blue Jays", the fan submission of Elizabeth Crooks, who received a $100 war bond as compensation. The Phillies would later claim in the 2000s that the Blue Jays moniker was never official, however news reports in 1944 note that Phillies management said that the Blue Jays name was as an official "additional nickname", meaning that the team had two official nicknames simultaneously, the Phillies and the Blue Jays.
It’s loaded with a handful of our dairy- and freezer-aisle favorites and is super easy to make.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 (6.4-ounce) packages fully cooked sausage links, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 1/2 cups liquid egg (see Tip)
- 1 (30-ounce) bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Cook sausage and onion 5 to 6 minutes or until onion is tender.
- In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients; stir in sausage mixture. Spoon into a baking dish.
- Bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until set and golden.
A grouch can be called by a number of names, some of which won’t be described here. However, a few that might come in handy are curmudgeon, crank, grump, sourpuss, bellyacher, grouse, crosspatch, malcontent, crab, and grumbler. If you manage to turn their mood around they might become known as the neighborhood idealist.
HOW TO OBSERVE
- Find out their favorite baked good and surprise them with it.
- Listen to their grumblings and grumble along with them, just for the day. You might find out some of the reasons why they’re such a grump.
- Just visit with them.
- Offer to help with a difficult project.
