PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils are off today which means we can now finish our countdown of the Phils top 25 most memorable player nicknames No.s 5-1.

5. "The Secretary of Defense" aka CF Gary Maddox.
When you lead the NL in virtually every defensive category used to measure the play of an outfielder for a decade, you tend to get a nickname like this one. The truth is Maddux really was the best defensively at his position in the 70s and early 80s. From 1975 - 1982 he won 8 straight gold glove awards. From 1973 to 1980 He accumulated 300 or more putouts 8 straight times. Finally overall his career fielding percentage was an incredible .983 with just 78 career errors in 14 seasons(only about 5 a season) to his name. In fact, he never committed more than 10 errors in a season. Unfortunately, as good as his defense was, that's how bad his hitting could be. He was a serviceable hitter for the most part, generally about .280 or so per season, but that was never quite good enough for Maddox to earn the accolades he deserved. Thanks to his 2nd tier hitting he never did manage to get on an all-star team, and some say he's best player ever to never play in an All-Star game. At any rate while it couldn't get him into the midsummer classic, Maddox's hitting was enough to allow him to shine come fall. It was Maddox who raced under and squeezed the final out of the 1980 NLCS and it was Maddox who slapped the game winning hit in that same game. For those two indelible moments he will always be remembered.

4."The Met Killer" aka LF Pat Burrell.
No Phillie terrorized the hated Mets in the last 5 years or so quite like Burrell did. He could be in an 0 for 30 slump and still come in and get hit to bury New York. Whether he was getting the hit to put the nail in the Mets' coffin or delivering a dramatic late inning homer or hit to save his team, the Mets certainly saw there fare share of Burrell while he was here. They're probably very happy now that he is in Tampa. One man who must have been particularly happy to see Burrell go would be ex Phils closer Billy Wagner. Burrell owned Wagner in 2007 and 2008 with a couple of dramatic late inning homers to thwart Wagner save opportunities. Wagner wasn't the only Met pitcher to feel the sting of a Burrell homer. In his career against the Mets thus far Burrell has batted .246 with 42 homers, 104 RBIs, and 132 hits, simply remarkable numbers to have against one team. It really is thanks to the power of the Met killer, that the Phils were able to track down the Mets for the 2007 NL East crown. He was a big help again for the same reason in 2008. So it was tough to see him go in the offseasonn, but it's okay because there is a new Met killer in town and his name is Raul Ibanez. Thus far against the Mets in his career, Ibanez is batting .297 with 6 homers, 23 RBIs, and 30 hits. Behold the new Met Killer.


3."The Wampum Walloper" aka 1B/OF Dick Allen.
Okay so this one is pretty easy. Allen was born and raised in Wampum PA, not far from the city of the Philadelphia, and if you ever saw him play at old Connie Mack stadium you know he packed one heck of Wallop with every swing of the bat. If you think Ryan Howard hits long homers you should check out video of Allen. Right from the first time he stood at the plate as a rookie he and his titanic blasts were an awesome sight to behold. His rookie season in 1964 is arguably the greatest rookie season any Phils player has ever had. That year en route to rookie of the year honors, he batted .318 with 29 homers, 91 RBIs, 201 hits, 125 runs scored, 13 triples, and 38 doubles, all while carrying the team on his back as they pushed towards the playoffs. Then of course there was that monumental collapse and what could have been a long star-studded career here quickly dissolved into frustration and petty bickering. Allen continued to play on an unworldly level for the next 5 seasons in Philadelphia, bashing 40 homers in 1966, and joining the 20-20 club in 1967 with 23 homers and 20 stolen bases. None of it was ever good enough for the Philly faithful who expected ,perhaps unfairly after Allen's rookie season, to see him leading the team into the playoffs and to a championship. It wasn't Allen's fault the team didn't win in those years but the fans just wouldn't let him off the hook. Eventually after day after day of obscenities and trash being hurled his way, Allen just couldn't take any longer and left for St.Louis in 1969. Incredibly he came back in 1975, but he was no longer the same player and retired 2 years later.


2."Lefty" aka P Steve Carlton.
When you're a left handed pitcher and they simply call you Lefty there's not much else to say.

1."Micheal Jack" aka 3B Mike Schmidt.
What, you expected someone else at the top of the list? Okay so this a bit of cheat, since it's not really a nickname, it is his name, Micheal Jack Schmidt, but the way Harry Kalas always said it so perfectly, it has gotten to the point where all you have to say is those 2 words and everyone knows who you are talking about. I don't have to tell you how great a player he was. You already know him to be the greatest 3B who ever lived. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves here, 548 homeruns, 1595 RBIs, 2234 hits, 1506 runs scored, 1507 walks, 10 gold glove awards, 6 silver slugger awards, 12 all-star game appearances, 3 NL MVP awards, 1 World Series MVP award, #1 in our hearts.