Watching William Contreras’ pinpoint challenges last night made me think about how great Chooch would have been in the ABS era. That man knew the strike zone in and out. As if his pitchers could have loved him any more!

In 1899, the population of Philadelphia was 1.2 million people. That’s a lot of Phillies fans.

A baby born in 1899 into a household of generations of Phillies fans would have been 15 or 16 years old when the Phillies made their first ever playoff appearance. They even made it to the World Series that year, winning game 1 against Boston. However, after West Jersey resident Woodrow Wilson threw the ceremonial first pitch of game 2, the Phillies lost four straight to squander their massive series lead. A report in the Philadelphia Bulletin called the season a “collapse,” blaming the team’s overuse of computerized player projection models.

After witnessing that disaster in 1915, that baby had to live until age 50 to see their favorite baseball team play another postseason game. They lost all four games in that series.

Now at the age of 64 or 65, which is the average lifespan of a baby born in 1899 (who also reached age 18), the lifelong Phillies fan watched the team build a 6.5 game lead in the standings with only 12 to play before qualifying for another postseason appearance. Sadly, they did not make the playoffs, dooming the 1899 births to a lifetime of seeing only one Phillies playoff game end in a victory.

The babies who surpassed the lifespan average mostly died during the Reds dynasty of the mid-late 1970s.

This week we must think of those babies from 1899, who are long dead and buried, because they might reach through the ground and strangle you for complaining about seeing 5 playoff seasons in a row. Happy Halloween.

Around the League

MIL 2 @ TB 2 - Bottom 11, 2 Outs

^{Last Updated: 10/27/2026 11:55:10 PM EDT}

Jim Bowden of The Athletic named Jonathan Loáisiga as a good fit for the Phillies. Coming off a great 26 with the Dbacks it would make perfect sense for the Phillies.

Despite the sentiment on these boards, there appears to be a surprising number of renewals. Zero HOF club seats available for the Sunday plan.

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MIL 10 @ TB 1 - Final

^{Last Updated: 10/26/2026 11:12:50 PM EDT}

I was curious what the record was and it turns out it's game 6 of the 1980 series when the Phillies beat the Royals for their first WS championship.

A 40.0 rating and a 60 share. Baseball used to be #1 in the US.

Mike Schmidt could have fit in all of columns 1 and 2, so I filled in all of them until there was only one left.

Around the League: There are no other games!

^{Last Updated: 10/25/2026 5:00:00 AM EDT}

I am recruiting for a MLB-realistic 30T Salary Cap dynasty baseball league that is currently about halfway full. We are trying to fill the teams with owners who are fans of that team, and the Phillies are one of our open teams right now. We use real player salaries and have a hard cap as well as a salary floor. It's super active and tons of fun, so I hope you consider joining us and repping the Phillies! DM or comment below for more info.

Does anyone have a video copy to share of a video from the late 70's or 80's featurung Harry Kalas and Ritchie Ashburn along with a handicapped young boy that would say the words "Bike Hike" for an upcoming charity event in the Philly region?

These were broadcast on major local Philly TV networks on a regular basis.

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TB 4 @ MIL 5 - Top 9, 1 Out

^{Last Updated: 10/24/2026 11:44:15 PM EDT}

I recently found my collection of Phillies cards from the mid '60s to early '70s. I'm not looking to sell; just thought some other longtime fans might enjoy seeing these players' names and pictures.

See six photos here (scroll down from the first one). Sorry the lighting isn't better.

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TB 1 @ MIL 3 - Middle 9

^{Last Updated: 10/23/2026 11:24:15 PM EDT}

If you were a STH or PSTH and ordered the guaranteed giveaway box for this year, be on the lookout for it. I just got my UPS notice they created a tracking number so it should be here in the next few days, maybe even as early as tomorrow.

Around the League: There are no other games!

^{Last Updated: 10/22/2026 5:00:00 AM EDT}

grew up in philly and now live in nyc and 32 and cant stop reminiscing of my childhood chase utley days growing up