July 15, 2024
Howard Smith/USA Today Sports
The Phillies teams from 2006-2011 were some of the best in team history on both sides of the ball.
One of the best parts of being a sportswriter is getting to answer questions no one asked.
Which teams in Philadelphia sports history have had the best offenses ever? Which have had the best defenses ever?
The ultimate goal of this statistical and mental exercise is to eventually tackle an ambitious list, ranking the best offenses and defenses of all time across the four major teams in the city.
But before we get there, we are going to look at each of the teams one by one, starting with the Phillies — who are having a season on both sides of the ball worthy of being on this list when all is said and done.
The offenses from the past few seasons — led by mashers of the baseball — didn't quite make the cut. Which teams did? And which pitching staffs/defensive lineups were the most difficult to hit against in team history?
Our sports staff took time to research and rank their picks for the top offenses and defenses. Below is a look at the averaged out ranking order of our selections for the five best offenses in Phillies franchise history:
To start, this squad totaled the most at-bats of any team in franchise history, which is interesting. Their 1,558 hits are the most since the year 1930, and they had the most RBI and best on base percentage since '30 as well. This team smacked the most doubles ever in Philadelphia, and they were led by some impressive individual seasons — including Jimmy Rollins' unicorn MVP campaign:
| Player | Stats | MVP finish |
| Jimmy Rollins | 30 HR, 94 RBI, 41 SB | NL MVP |
| Ryan Howard | 47 HR, 138 RBI | 5th |
| Chase Utley | .332 .410 .566, 103 RBI | 8th |
| Aaron Rowand | 27 HR, 89 RBI | 22nd |
This is one of the more high-powered offenses ever to roam South Philly. They held the team's home run record for 27 years, and still hold the high water mark for modern era team's batting average at .279. Extremely impressive is their slugging percentage, second in the modern era only to the aforementioned 2007 club — and still better than any other Ryan Howard or Bryce Harper-led squads. The '77 club had five players in the top 25 for NL MVP, though Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw were two of them. The others:
| Player | Stats | MVP finish |
| Greg Luzinski | .309, 39 HR, 130 RBI | 2nd |
| Mike Schmidt | 38 HR, 101 RBI | 10th |
| Larry Bowa | .313, 32 SB | 25th |
There are a lot of things one can say about the 1993 Phillies' offense but you can't accuse them of lacking patience. No Phils squad ever drew more than the 665 free passes that team had en route to their World Series appearance. Four starters hit for .300 and three had more than 100 walks. Lenny Dykstra came in second to Barry Bonds for MVP honors that season:
| Player | Stats | MVP finish |
| Lenny Dykstra | 194 hits, 143 runs (NL best) | 2nd |
| Darren Daulton | 24 HR, 105 RBI | 7th |
| John Kruk | .316/.430/.475 | 16th |
Last year's Phillies came four homers shy of tying the 2009 team's 224 dingers, led by Ryan Howard's 45. He also had a major league-best 145 RBI. This lineup was stacked top to bottom, hot off a World Series win the season prior. Whenever the 3-4-5 portion of the Phillies batting order was due to the plate, it was must-see TV. There are three versions of this team on our list, so we'll just dive into the offensive MVP votes, which saw four hitters in the top 18 this season:
| Player | Stats | MVP finish |
| Ryan Howard | 45 HR, 145 RBI | 3rd |
| Chase Utley | 31 HR, 93 RBI | 8th |
| Jayson Werth | 36 HR, 99 RBI | 17th |
| Shane Victorino | .292/.358/.445 | 18th |
These were the baby contending Phillies, and they were the second version of the team ever to hit 200 homers — the recent move to Citizens Bank Park no doubt helped. Howard won an MVP in his first full season in the majors and Chase Utley finished in the top 10, as the duo combined for 90 homers and 215 RBI. The best was yet to come for the team as a whole, but this was one of the five best offenses ever for the franchise.
| Team | Runs | Notes |
| 2004 Phillies | 840 | Thome, Abreu, Burrell hit 96 HR |
| 2023 Phillies | 796 | Six players hit 20 or more HR |
| 1999 Phillies | 841 | Six players have 73 or more RBI |
And now on to the five best defenses (and pitching staffs) in Phillies franchise history:
I did not fully realize how good this team was on the mound and in the field. They have the modern record for the fewest runs allowed by a Phillies team. They have the lowest team ERA in modern history at 3.02, and the best modern era WHIP at 1.167. Placido Polanco won a Gold Glove award at third, anchoring a defense that committed just 74 errors, the third fewest ever for the franchise. And they tied for the best fielding percentage in team history. It was very very hard to score against a team that — and I can't believe I am just now mentioning this — had four aces with Roy Halladay (second place for NL Cy Young), Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt atop their rotation.
This '76 squad had the second best team ERA of the modern era in 3.08 and had extremely impressive control on the mound, as the '76 and '78 arms issued the fewest free passes of any team since the 1950s. Every single pitcher on the staff had an ERA under 4 — they led the entire league in ERA+, while Steve Carlton finished fourth for Cy Young honors. A look at the staff (everyone on this list pitched in at least 26 games):
| Pitcher | ERA |
| Steve Carlton | 3.13 |
| Jim Kaat | 3.48 |
| Jim Lonborg | 3.08 |
| Larry Christenson | 3.68 |
| Tom Underwood | 3.53 |
| Ron Reed | 2.46 |
| Tug McGraw | 2.50 |
| Gene Garber | 2.82 |
| Wayne Twitchell | 1.75 |
| Ron Schueler | 2.90 |
Let's start with defense before we get to pitching. The Phillies led all of baseball in basically every statistical defensive metrics in 1978, as Garry Maddox, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa and Bob Boone each won Gold Glove awards. On the mound Carlton and Christenson did their thing while the bullpen dominated with an MLB best 1.151 WHIP and third best 2.92 ERA.
This team, the one before our top pick from 2011, had some memorable individual accolades, highlighted by Halladay's perfect game and playoff no-hitter. The team as a whole tossed an incredible 21 shutouts, tied with the 2011 club for the most since 1917. In 1917, there were 22 team shutouts. The defense was also incredibly sound in 2010, just 83 errors and a .986 fielding percentage for the squad led by the Utley-Rollins double-play tandem. Victorino was a Gold Glove winner.
This team is the only one we list without a playoff appearance, but they had a team ERA of 3.36 and had incredible individual performances from Jim Bunning (19-8, 2.63 ERA) and Chris Short (17-9, 2.20 ERA). Both were All-Stars and supported by some solid pitching around them from guys like Dennis Bennet, Jack Baldschun and Ed Roebuck. Reuben Amaro Sr. won a gold glove.
| Team | Runs | Notes |
| 1980 Phillies | 639 | Steve Carlton wins Cy Young |
| 1983 Phillies | 635 | John Denny wins Cy Young |
| 1967 Phillies | 581 | Four SP with ERA under 3.30 |
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