An Athletics and Phillies World Series: How Close Did They Come?

Between the first World Series in 1903 and the Athletics departure from Philadelphia after the 1954 season, the A's and Phillies had over 50 opportunities to play each other in the Fall Classic. They never did, of course, but it's intriguing to wonder, "How close did Philadelphia ever come to hosting an intra-city World Series?" The short answer is, "Not very." However, the historical record is far more interesting than that answer suggests and is summarized in this article.

The Athletics Triumphant

The Philadelphia Athletics won the American League championship in 1902, 1905, 1910-11, 1913-14, and 1929-31. Some years, the A's were involved in close pennant races before winning, such as when they played nip and tuck with the Chicago White Sox for first place during the 1905 season. In other years, they jumped out in front early and never looked back, as was the case in 1931 when the team reached first in May and stayed there the rest of the season.

Technically, 1902 shouldn't be included in this comparison since the World Series didn't exist that year. The National Agreement, in which the American and National Leagues recognized the legitimacy of each other-thereby allowing the World Series to take place-wasn't signed until January 1903. But, including it allows some explanation of the relative fortunes of the Athletics and Phillies at the turn of the century, so it's discussed.

For those years when the Athletics finished in first place in the American League, the Phillies' final standings and number of games out of first place in the National League were as follows:

Year	Position	Games Behind
1902	7th	46
1905	4th	21.5
1910	4th	25.5
1911	4th	19.5
1913	2nd	12.5
1914	6th	20.5
1929	5th	27.5
1930	8th	40
1931	6th	35

In evaluating the Phillies performance during the early years of the century, it's important to remember that the team was devastated by the loss of several quality players who were lured away for more money by the newly formed American League. The latter, created in 1901, was not above raiding the older National League for its star players to attract customers and establish itself as a major league. Until the National Agreement was negotiated and signed in 1903, the National League lost a number of its better players to the higher salaries offered by the American League, and no team was injured more by these defections than the Phillies.

Ironically, it was Connie Mack, manager of the Athletics, who opened his purse strings enough to convince eventual Hall of Famers Nap Lajoie and Elmer Flick to jump from the Phillies to the A's. Coupled with the loss of another future Hall of Famer, "Big" Ed Delahanty, to a different American League team, the Phillies dropped from a respectable second place finish in 1901 to seventh place in 1902 and did not seriously contend for the National League title for over a decade.

As the above statistics show, 1913 was the closest the Phillies ever came to playing the Athletics when the latter were the American League representative in the Fall Classic. It was a dominant year for the A's as they reached first place in April and never relinquished it. The Phillies led the National League through much of April and from May 3rd to June 30th. On July 1st, however, the New York Giants took over first place and kept a comfortable lead ahead of the second place Phillies through the rest of the season. The Phillies fall to sixth place in 1914 was again caused by the loss of several key players (Otto Knabe, Mickey Doolan, etc.) to another rival league-this time the Federal League.

The Athletics coasted to the pennant during 1929-31. The team went over the century mark in wins all three years, including a remarkable 107 wins in 1931. At the same time, the Phillies were going through the worst period in the franchise's history. They finished in the National League's first division only once between 1917-1948, achieving a fourth place finish in 1932. The Phillies organization teetered on the brink of financial insolvency during the 1920s-30s, and players with talent were dealt away ruthlessly for money to keep the franchise afloat. Without going into all of the sad details of their plight, it is adequate for this article to simply note that the Phillies did not contend for the National League crown during the years of the Athletics last great dynasty (1929-31).

The Phillies in First

The Phillies won their first National league championship in 1915, largely on the pitching performance of Grover Cleveland Alexander and his 31 wins. The team pulled away from the rest of the pack in mid-July and led the rest of the way. The 1950 Phillies claimed the pennant with a win over Brooklyn on the last day of the season. Paradoxically, 1915 and 1950 were two of the worst years in the Athletics history. Looking at the A's standings when the Phillies won the National League title:

Year	Position	Games Behind
1915	8th	58.5
1950	8th	46

The Athletics misfortunes in 1915 mirrored those of the Phillies in that era-the departure of key players to another league for more money. Two aces from Mack's pitching staff-Eddie Plank and Chief Bender-jumped to the Federal League after the 1914 season. Mack decided to use their departure as the stimulus to dismantle his first dynasty and cut his payroll. Eddie Collins and Ed Murphy were sold to the White Sox because the greater paychecks that club owner (ironically, the notoriously penurious Charles Comisky) would give them would prevent their defection as well to the Federal League. Pitcher Jack Coombs was released and wound up with the Dodgers at a higher salary. Frank Baker decided to devote himself full time to farming and didn't play in 1915. Without these key players, the Athletics collapsed into last place in the American League-in doing so becoming the first major league team to achieve that infamous feat, "From First to Worst." The Athletics did not contend for the pennant in 1915 or for many years thereafter. In 1950, the Athletics were on the downhill slide as a franchise that would eventually take them away from Philadelphia. Money problems, poor trades, and a feeble minor league system combined to make the Athletics a perennial loser by the time the Phillies captured their second National League crown. For the Athletics that year, Bob Hooper was the only pitcher on the squad who won more games than he lost, the Athletics were never in the pennant race in 1950.

A Final Comparison

With one big exception, a look at the history of other cities with both American and National League clubs shows that the Phillies' and Athletics' experience is not that unusual. The exception, of course, is New York where the Yankees played the Giants or Dodgers in the World Series on numerous occasions between the turn of the century and the mid-to-late fifties when the Giants and Dodgers departed for the West Coast. It is interesting to note, nevertheless, that the Yankees have yet to play the Mets in a World Series although both teams have represented New York in the American and National Leagues, respectively, since 1962.

The Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves, like the Phillies and Athletics, never played each other in a World Series. The St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals played each other only once, in 1944. In Chicago, where the White Sox and Cubs have now had the opportunity to play each other in the World Series for nearly 100 years, they have done so only once-in 1906. Given that the Cubs haven't even been to the World Series since 1945, the wait for a rematch between the two Chicago clubs may well go on indefinitely.

As noted, the high water mark for those who hoped for a Philadelphia intra-city World Series came in May-June 1913 when the Phillies and Athletics were in first place in their respective leagues. It's unfortunate that the two teams never did get to play each other in the Fall Classic. To have done so even once would have given city bragging rights to the winning team while fans on the losing side would have to be content with claiming, "Wait 'til next time." But, there never was a first time, let alone a next.