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.

July 2024 Update:  I managed to finish the June articles in The Press of Atlantic City before taking some vacation time with my family.  I also formulated a plan to reorganize the articles by combining the out-of-city newspapers by states (Delaware-New Jersey-Pennsylvania) rather than the individual newspapers.  I would prefer to keep the newspapers separate, but that would mean that the Atlantic City Press would pretty much be the last one I could add due to space issues. 

Still in First:  The Phillies slowed down a bit in the latter half of June, but still enjoy an 8-game lead over Atlanta in the National League East, and holding the best record in MLB at 55-29.  Pitching has been the constant for the team, and Christopher Sanchez was especially dominant this past month.

Injuries:   The good news - Trea Turner came back from injury, though it took six weeks.  The bad news - the Phils lost J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to injuries.  Realmuto had surgery to repair his meniscus, while both Harper and Schwarber suffered hamstring strains in the same game against the Marlins.  In addition, pitchers Taijuan Walker and Spencer Turnbull also have been placed on the injured list.  

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’m going to keep working on the Press of Atlantic City, redesigning the New Jersey newspapers (currently the Press and the Camden Courier-Post) to the new format. Future possibilities for articles include the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal, the Lancaster (PA) New Era,  and the Lebanon (PA) Daily News.  I have a plan to condense the article pages to give space for these future possibilities.