The 1980 edition of the Phillies may not have been the best team, talent-wise, in Phillies history. Both the 1976 and 1977 Phils won more games. The Phillies also won pennants in 1915, 1950, 1983, and 1993. In fact, it took a near miracle (and a six-game winning streak at the end of the year) for the Phillies to even win the division crown over the powerhouse Expos in 1980. Then the Phillies looked at baseball's version of the Grim Reaper against Houston, coming back in the 8th inning of games 4 and 5, winning both in extra innings to go to the World Series. And against the Royals, the Phillies just would not be denied, winning the FIRST World Championship in Phillies history in six games. Yes, other Phillies teams may have had more talent. Other Phillies teams may have won more games. But the 1980 Phillies won, with grit and determination, what no other Phillies team could achieve until 2008: The right to call themselves WORLD CHAMPIONS.

December 2024 Update:  Work on the pages kept up the monthly pace, as the November articles are now done in the Press of Atlantic City.  I fell short, though, of closing out the year’s articles.  I am also continuing to fix the formatting on pages as I have time.  The holidays, of course, have a way of consuming that time!

Bye-bye Kingery:  The dramatic saga of Scott Kingery’s career with the Phillies came to an official close, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations.  Kingery’s career started with a promising rookie and second year, but Kingery’s swing fell apart in his third year after catching covid during the pandemic.  After one appearance in the field in 2022, he never again played a game for the major league team.

Stubs, Ruiz Re-signed:  Backup catcher Garret Stubbs and relief pitcher Jose Ruiz were both signed to one-year contracts by the Phillies.  Stubbs, known as the “vibes guy” for the team, batted just .207 with a lone home run in 54 games.  Ruiz rebounded with the Phillies after struggling the two prior seasons with the White Sox and Diamondbacks.   He finished 5-1 with a save and a 3.71 ERA with the Phillies in 2024.

Bye-bye Hays:    Austin Hays, the target of the Phillies’ main deadline deal, was not tendered a contract by the team and will become a free agent.   The Phils acquired Hays for Seranthony Dominguez and Christian Pache, hoping to add a power right-handed bat to the lineup.  However, Hays battled injury and illness and was largely ineffective for the team.

Still On the Lookout For:

·   Digital pictures from the 1980 season.  I’ve been putting in a lot of clips from the newspaper I get the articles from, but the quality is often less than optimal.

·   Articles from the Philadelphia Bulletin.  Richie Ashburn used to do a weekly article in that newspaper, but to this point I cannot find it online.  Online, scanned, clipped… most importantly free!

Future Updates:  I hope to (finally!) close out the Press of Atlantic City in December.  I will also continue as time allows to fix the formatting errors that I have discovered in recent updates.  Then I will choose the next newspaper to include in the site library.  Future possibilities include the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal, the Lancaster (PA) New Era, and the Lebanon (PA) Daily News.  I still need to further condense the article pages to give space for these future possibilities:  instead of individual pages for the non-Philly newspapers, I will need to combine the rest into Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania newspapers (with maybe an additional page for Suburban papers).  That process will continue as I work to add to the site.