1975 Philadelphia Phillies: A Franchise On The Rise

The Philadelphia Phillies had been in a funk for over a decade coming into the 1975 season. After a historic collapse cost them the National League pennant in 1964, the Phils had enjoyed just one winning season and were never a serious contender. Danny Ozark took the managerial reins in 1973, and he was accompanied by a young third baseman named Michael Jack Schmidt. A year later, in ’74, Philadelphia got to 80-82. In 1975, they got better, had a winning season and set the stage for bigger things in the immediate future.

A potent offense, the second-best in the National League, was the key. Schmidt led the league with 38 homers, and he also stole 29 bases, posting a stat line of .367 on-base percentage/.523 slugging percentage.

Greg Luzinski, the big “Bull” in leftfield, batted .300, popped 34 home runs and his 120 RBIs led the league. The Bull finished second in the 1975 NL MVP voting.

The middle infield had good contact hitters, with second baseman Dave Cash and shortstop Larry Bowa each hitting .305. Cash’s 213 hits led the league, and Bowa mixed in 24 steals. Garry Maddox was acquired in early May to play centerfield. He finished with a stat line of .359/.443 and swiped 24 bags of his own. Jay Johnstone played rightfield and hit .329.

Even with first baseman Dick Allen, also picked up in early May, having an off-year, these Phillies could score runs. And they needed to because the pitching was problematic.

Steve Carlton, the Hall of Fame ace, was reliable in taking his turn, winning 15 games and logging 285 innings. But “Lefty” didn’t have a vintage season, finishing with a 3.56 ERA and also losing 14 games. Larry Christenson got 11 wins with a 3.67 ERA. The ERAs of Carlton and Christenson weren’t bad, but they were the best the rotation had. Tom Underwood and Jim Lonborg finished with ERAs in the low 4s, as did spot starter and reliever Wayne Twitchell.

Part of the early May trading frenzy brought in Tug McGraw for the bullpen and the Tugger saved 14 games, pitched 102 innings and finished with a 2.98 ERA. Gene Garber also closed out 14 games, logged 110 innings, but his ERA was up there at 3.60. Only Tom Hilgendorf, with his 2.14 ERA in 96 innings, really had a standout year on the pitching staff.

All told, it added up to a composite ERA that ranked just ninth in what was then a 12-team National League.

THE NL EAST IN THE MID-1970s

Divisional play was still fairly young in this era, having started in 1969. There were only two divisions per league, an East and a West. The Phils were in their natural home of the NL East, along with the New York Mets and the Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals). But the lack of a Central Division also meant that the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals were placed in the East (as to why the Cubs and Cardinals went East, while the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves went West, is a question that haunted geography teachers for a generation).

The result of this alignment was Pittsburgh establishing themselves as the clear team to beat in this division for the first half of the 1970s. The Pirates had won four of the previous five NL East crowns. Moreover, only the first-place team could advance to the postseason, going directly to the League Championship Series. The bar was high.

A TURNAROUND WEEKEND SPARKS HOPE

Philadelphia struggled out of the gate in 1975, losing 10 of their first 16, including getting swept three straight in Pittsburgh and dumping four of five games against Chicago. The Phils hosted the Pirates on the first weekend in May needing to get the ship turned around.

Schmidt set the tone on Friday night with a three-run bomb in the first inning. Willie Montanez, playing some of his final games as a Phillie before getting shipped out in the Maddox trade, had three hits. So did Cash. Philadelphia won the opener 9-5.

Saturday was a twilight doubleheader, a common occurrence back then, where the first game began around 5:30 PM and there were just twenty minutes between games. Schmidt again struck early, hitting a two-run blast in the first inning. Underwood pitched into the eighth inning of a 6-2 win.

The nightcap ran late, going 11 innings. But Cash capped off a four-hit game with an RBI single that produced a 4-3 win. Even though the Sunday finale was rained out, the Phils had turned their season around. This was the beginning of a 12-4 run that included sweeping four straight against Cincinnati’s powerful Big Red Machine.

Philadelphia got their record to 20-14 and were within a game and a half of the division lead. They stumbled prior to Memorial Day, losing six straight, including a trip to Cincinnati. At the holiday, they were 20-20. But no one had taken control of the NL East yet—the Cubs, Pirates and Mets were ahead of the Phils in the standings, all four teams were within two games.

A STATEMENT SWEEP

Coming off the Memorial Day weekend, Philadelphia was steady, going 14-11. In the meantime, Pittsburgh was finding their footing. While the Phils settled into second place, the Pirates moved out to a five-game lead. It was time for another big series in Philadelphia’s old (then still fairly new) Veterans Stadium, as Pittsburgh came to town on June 23.

Backup outfielder Ollie Brown was the hero for the Phils on Monday night, breaking a 5-5 tie with a solo home run in the seventh and the 6-5 score stood up. On Tuesday, a twilight doubleheader was scheduled to make up for the rain out in the earlier series. Christenseon went seven strong innings in the opener. Cash, Bowa, Schmidt and outfielder Jerry Martin combined for ten hits in a 6-3 win.

The nightcap began close to 9:30 PM and the Phils wasted little time in going to work, striking for four runs in the first inning. That included a two-run single by Luzinski, who had a 3-RBI night. Cash set the table with three more hits. Philly cruised to an 8-1 win.

Luzinski kept rolling on Wednesday night. He delivered four hits and a home run. Johnstone had three hits and two walks. A long night saw the game stretch into the 13^th inning. With the bases loaded, Schmidt drew a walk that forced in the winning run. Philadelphia’s 7-6 win completed the sweep. They were just one game back in the NL East.

YOUTHFUL INCONSISTENCY

Philadelphia was showing they were ready to match up with Pittsburgh, but the young Phils were still struggling with consistency. After the high of another sweep of the Pirates, they only went 9-9 into the All-Star break, including losing three straight to the Reds. Philadelphia was 49-40 and back to 6 ½ games out as the season moved to the second half.

They nudged to within 4 ½ games by the end of July, winning another series in Pittsburgh and splitting four games with St. Louis. But an August spent mostly against the NL West didn’t go well—the Phillies went 13-17, including dropping five of six to a good Los Angeles Dodgers team.

The good news is that Pittsburgh treaded water during the late summer. While the Cardinals moved ahead of the Phillies for second place, there was still just four games separating Philadelphia from the top spot on Labor Day. And there were nine games in September against both rivals.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. In the first week of September, Philadelphia dropped five of seven against the Expos and Cubs. It effectively finished their division title hopes.

BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

The good news is that the young Phils didn’t throw in the towel. They went 12-8 down the stretch. Even though the Pirates re-asserted themselves and took over the race, Philadelphia won three of four games against St. Louis and passed over the Cardinals for second place in the NL East.

The Phils finished 86-76. It was the fourth-best record in the National League and the eighth-best overall. By the standards of today, that’s a playoff season. And by the standards of the era, Philadelphia didn’t have long to wait. In 1976, they won the NL East, beginning an eight-year run that saw the franchise win five division crowns, two pennants and a World Series title in 1980.