Philadelphia Phillies: All-Time Defensive Team, Position by Position
For a team that has mashed the cover off of the baseball in recent memory, you would think at first glance that the Philadelphia Phillies' organization hasn't been built around solid defensive players, but around offensive juggernauts.
Not so fast. That isn't even close to being the case.
While the Phillies have had their good times, and very, very bad times in their history, they have always held one philosophy as golden—defense rules the day. Though that philosophy may not have been as clear as the "pitching and defense wins championships" motto that current general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. uses, the citizens of Philadelphia have always respected a team that plays a gritty, hard style of baseball, and those players just so happened to be of an elite defensive caliber.
Though I've done a few slide shows like this before, most notably the Greatest Phillies' in Team History, this one is going to be a bit different. I've taken a look at what made a player great during his tenure with the Phils', but never held the one thing that turns a great player into a fan favorite in Philadelphia—defense—in such a high regard.
With that in mind, we have to turn on the blinders a bit here. Sometimes, when a great player is mentioned, people tend to believe that his defense was stellar, but that isn't always the truth. I'll be looking at a number of criteria, including consistent, above average defensive play, to determine who comes out on time.
So here we go! Here are the best defensive players in Phillies' history, position by position.
Catcher: Bob Boone
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Because I'm a big fan of the here and now, Carlos Ruiz received a considerable amount of consideration from me. He's easily one of the top defensive catchers in the game right now, and while some would consider handling a pitching staff the caliber of the Phillies' easy, it's anything but. A few years from now, Ruiz could be the obvious choice for this list, but for now, it has to be this guy.
Bob Boone is widely regarded as the greatest Phillies' catcher of all time, and for a man that didn't do very well offensively here, you know that he had to be pretty darn good defensively to gain that honor and the hearts of the fans. After all, who could forget that infamous play in front of the dugout steps where he and Pete Rose fumbled the ball a few times before eventually making the play?
Boone had his best defensive years with the Phils' 1972-81, before he moved on to the California Angels. According to FanGraphs' fielding metric, Boone collected a rating of 106 over the course of his career—well above average for a catcher's career.
He had a great arm and natural defensive instincts behind the plate, leading to a very respectable caught stealing percentage of 40%.
First Baseman: Dolph Camilli
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For the first time in a while, I was honestly stumped in trying to uncover the best first baseman in the lengthy history of the Phillies. When you think about it, the Phils' have had an interesting cast of first basemen. Some of them have had a rare great defensive season, but none that I've thought of / researched have had proven, consistently good seasons.
So that said, if there is a better first baseman out there in history that I missed, please let me know.
Until then, I'm going with Dolph Camilli. Though he only played for three seasons with the Phillies, he matured into one of the better defensive first basemen of his day. He was never much of a hitter, but Camilli was a consistently above average defensive first baseman for several years, resulting in a fielding rating of 24 for his career, according to FanGraphs.
Second Baseman: Chase Utley
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Over the years, Chase Utley has become one of the most well known figures in baseball, but not for his defense. He brings excellent power and one of the best bats from the second base position to the game, and that was has garnered most of his attention, but not here in Philadelphia. People know that Utley's hard-nosed defense is one of the greatest aspects of his game.
Though he's never taken home a Gold Glove Award, which is vastly overrated anyhow, Utley's defense was recognized last season when the Fielding Bible awarded him as they top defensive second baseman in baseball. According to FanGraphs, Utley's fielding metric has climbed to 84.3 in just eight Major League seasons.
To date in his career, his total UZR of 80.1 puts him right in line with some of the greatest second basemen of all time, now enshrined in Cooperstown. Whether or not Utley is on his way there is a separate debate, but he is certainly the greatest defensive second baseman in the history of the Phillies' organization.
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Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins
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Sure, he's had his share of offensive woes over the last few seasons and keeping his legs healthy has become a huge problem, but if one thing is for certain, there's nothing wrong with his arm and there are few shortstops in the league better on the defensive side of the ball than Rollins—and none in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies.
His defensive prowess has certainly not gone unnoticed. Those around the game of baseball took note from 2007-09, when he was awarded with the Rawlings' Gold Glove Award as the National League's top defensive shortstop. He was also awarded with the Fielding Bible's Award for the same honor in 2008.
According to FanGraphs, his fielding metric has climbed to 33.5 over the course of his career, which he has spent wearing a single uniform. UZR also finds his play very favorable, placing him right alongside the other half of his double play combination, Chase Utley, with a career 44.5 mark.
Third Baseman: Mike Schmidt
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Having actually seen Scott Rolen play defense before in Philadelphia, before I looked up his competition's actual numbers, he had a preconceived vote in my mind. However, after looking up the defensive numbers of the greatest Philly of all time, Rolen, one of the game's premier third basemen, really can't even hold a candle to Mike Schmidt.
Of course, I've known about the offensive lore of "Michael Jack Schmidt" forever, having grown up in Philadelphia. That said, I never knew just how good he was defensively until I took an in depth look at some of the numbers. In his 18-year career, the three time MVP made 313 errors—not bad for someone who saw a majority of the chances. FanGraphs has him having collected a fielding rating of 127 over the course of his career, and a career .957 fielding percentage.
Along with his trio of MVP's, Schmidt won the Gold Glove Award a whopping ten times, including a streak of nine straight from 1976-84.
Outfielder: Shane Victorino
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This slide is going to get a big of a preface here. If you've seen other slide shows I've done like this one, you'll know that I've been pretty adamant about awarding players for playing their position well. For example, I've limited left fielders to left field and right fielders to right field, so on and so forth. This time, I'm going to do things a bit differently.
Instead of taking three outfielders from every position and putting them on the team, I'm taking the three best outfielders in the history of the Phillies. It just so happens that each of them played center field. So, in no particular order, I give you the three best outfielders in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies. First up, Shane Victorino.
It's hard to imagine that once upon a time, the Los Angeles Dodgers had all but given up on Victorino, leaving him off of their 25-man roster and eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, but the Phillies sure are happy that they did. After snatching him in that draft, Victorino has become more than just a fan favorite and offensive threat, but one of the league's premier defensive center fielders.
Through just five full big league seasons, Victorino has already collected a fielding rating of 30.5 from FanGraphs, and just about every defensive metric ever created loves the "Flyin' Hawaiian's" play. Though he's settled in as the every day center fielder at Citizens' Bank Park, he's shown the ability to play all over the outfield, registering a 30.5 UZR in the outfield for his career.
His play hasn't gone unnoticed by his peers either—he's taken home three consecutive Gold Glove Awards since 2008.
Outfielder: Garry Maddox
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For some reason, the first thing that comes to my mind when someone mentions Garry Maddox's name is that crazy hair / beard combo he was sporting during his career with the Phillies, and the second is BBQ. I'm kidding, of course. Labeled as the "Secretary of Defense" for his outfield heroics here in Philadelphia, Maddox will forever be remembered for just that—defense.
When I went to look up some of Maddox's stats on Baseball Reference, I was reminded of one of my favorite Phillies quotes of all time, left by a guy named "Funksteady." (Odd, I know.) "Two third of the Earth is covered by water. The other one-third is covered by Garry Maddox."
For a while, it seemed like it was true. In 1976 and 1979, he had two of the greatest defensive seasons in the history of baseball, and cemented his lore of one of the all time greats in center field (at least in my mind.) According to FanGraphs, he ended his career having compiled an incredible fielding rating of 101. He had 93 outfield assists over the course of his career .
When all was said and done, he had received eight Gold Glove Awards, including a streak of center field dominance in which he took home the award every year from 1976-82.
Outfielder: Richie Ashburn
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Regardless of everything that Garry Maddox accomplished, including his nickname and number of Gold Gloves hanging on his mantle, you'll have a hard time convincing me that Richie Ashburn isn't the greatest defensive outfielder in the history of the Phillies, if not, the greatest defensive player regardless of position.
In his 15 Major League seasons, 12 of which were spent with the Phils', "Whitey" dazzled the fans with his speed and glove work. Of course, he was also one of the best lead-off hitters of all time, retiring with a career .396 on-base percentage and leading the league in hits three times, but those are facts for another slide show.
According to FanGraphs, Ashburn was one of the most impressive defensive center fielders of all time, retiring with a total fielding rating of 77, including a rating of 21 in 1957. "Whitey" was a fan favorite and great defensive player long before he moved into the broadcast booth and became a legend.
Pitcher: Grover Alexander
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Personally, I'm not a huge fan of calling a pitcher a great "defensive" player unless they've established some sort of dominance at that position, a la Greg Maddux during the 1990's. Why? A pitcher's job is measured in how well he shuts down the opposition at the plate, and nine out of ten times, a "great" play by a pitcher is one made out of pure luck, a la Mark Buehrle's "web gem" on Opening Day in 2010. So with that in mind, my defensive requirement for a pitcher is a sustained amount of defensive prowess, with an emphasis on the routine plays, and Pete (Grover) Alexander wins out in that regard.
Since Alexander is already regarded as one of, if not the greatest Phillies' pitcher of all time, why not anoint "Old Pete" as the total package?
There weren't many advanced defensive metrics during his day, and though some people have made the attempt to go back and calculate some of those stats, they aren't very reliable. We'll have to use some of the more traditional stats to support the argument for Alexander.
In 20 Major League seasons, he was one of the better defensive pitchers in baseball, and the lowest fielding percentage he ever recorded was .953, when he appeared in just 23 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. When he retired in 1930, he had made just 25 errors in his career and recorded a fielding percentage .985.
Good Luck Hitting Against These Guys
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So there you have it. They may or may not put a ton of runs together, but at the very least, you know that this crew is going to keep runs off the board. To review, we'll be sending a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest starting pitchers to ever play the game to the mound in Grover Alexander. To complete the battery, he'll be tossing to one of baseball's best game callers, Bob Boone.
Around the horn, the hot corner will be handled by the greatest Philly to ever play the game in Michael Jack Schmidt, and he'll be making those long throws across the diamond to the sure handed first baseman, Dolph Camilli. The double play combination will be familiar one, as Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley will pair up to handle the middle infield.
Mind not the fact that this lineup will feature three center fielders, and instead, look towards the fact that this could be one of the greatest defensive outfields of all time. With the "Secretary of Defense" and Shane Victorino grabbing a corner each and Richie Ashburn in center, the presence of these three makes any game more entertaining, and each of these men would be able to feed off of the others strong defense.
So there you have it. That's my all time defensive Phillies team. What's yours?
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