My First Team: 1971 Phillies

I was just 9 years old when a then-modern sports cathedral known as Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, otherwise known as Veteran’s Stadium, or more simply “The Vet”, opened virtually in my South Philly back yard. And it was the 1971 Phillies team, the first to play on the new Astroturf surface, that became the first Phillies team I ever followed.

My friends and I were fans of The Vet even before the place officially opened. We would ride our bikes to the stadium on the nice March days prior to it’s opening, and on many days even once it did open. We rode our bikes around the concourse, picking up speed, and then would hit the long, sloping pedestrian access ramps at full speed. The effect would be like putting our bikes on turbo-powered boosters.

My dad took my brother, Mike, and I to a Phillies formal “Opening Day” event for The Vet. This was not an actual game, but took place prior to that first game. We had seats somewhere in the upper deck, probably around what was the 600 level.

Veteran’s Stadium opened for that 1971 Phillies season

I clearly remember being in awe of the place. Everything was shiny and new at that point. The gleaming white concrete outer pillars. The surreal-looking green Astroturf artificial playing surface. The brown dirt of the base cutouts. There were dancing fountains of green water in center field. A giant, 13-star Colonial era flag unfurling above them. Revolutionary War characters Phil and Phillis shooting off a cannon along the outfield walls. And what seemed like a massive computerized scoreboard.

I had never been to old Connie Mack Stadium (something that I still jokingly “hold against” my dad.) The neighborhood of that old ballpark had become so dilapidated during the late-60’s, when I was a kid who would have been old enough to appreciate a trip there, that my dad just felt it was too unsafe to take us. And besides, in reality he was not a big baseball fan. Golf and basketball were his sports.

But here we were at The Vet for this special Opening Day, because it was new, and it was an event that was close to our home. For that 9-year old me, it was love at first sight. I was in love, and I had still never seen a baseball game in real life. It would be a love that would last to this very day.

The Phillies began playing at the stadium just days later, and that 1971 Phillies team would become the very first that I would follow in my lifetime. In the true Opening Game, on April 10th, 1971, the Master of Ceremonies for pre-game festivities and introductions was a new broadcaster in town by the name of Harry Kalas. The Phils defeated the expansion Montreal Expos by a 4-1 score, with future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning getting the win, and all-time Phillies player/coach great Larry Bowa registering the first hit at The Vet.

Centerfielder

The 25-year old Bowa would eventually grow to become one of my favorites, but that first year my actual favorite players were a little 2nd baseman named Denny Doyle, and a hotdog centerfielder named Willie Montanez. Doyle was a scrappy 26-year old, playing his 2nd season in the big leagues and as Bowa’s doubleplay partner. Montanez was an exciting 23-year old who hit 30 homeruns and finished 2nd in NL Rookie of the Year voting that season.

The manager of those Phillies was Frank Lucchesi, a little olive-skinned Italian who fit right in with South Philly. Unfortunately the 2nd year skipper would only last until halfway through the following season. In that first year at The Vet, Lucchesi had a mixture of veterans and kids to call upon in both his lineup and on his pitching staff.

The lineup was led by 32-year old veteran 1st baseman Deron Johnson who would bang out 34 homeruns and register 95 rbi, and 29-year old catcher Tim McCarver, who would later become a famed broadcaster. Otherwise this was a young team. Besides Bowa, Doyle, and Montanez there was 23-year old 3rd baseman John Vukovich, 21-year old left fielder Oscar Gamble, and 25-year old right fielder Roger Freed.

The Phillies bench was also pretty young, with only 35-year old fan favorite infielder Tony Taylor having much experience. It included 24-year old infielder Don Money (who hit the very first homerun in Vet Stadium history), 27-year old infielder Terry Harmon, 28-year old outfielder Ron Stone, 29-year old catcher Mike Ryan, 24-year old outfielder Larry Hisle, a good-looking 20-year old outfielder named Mike Anderson, and a September call-up by a prodigous 20-year old slugger named Greg Luzinski.

The pitching rotation was led by Bunning, who was then 39-years old in the final season of his Hall of Fame career. He would make just 16 starts that 1971 season, the last a horrible appearance at the Astrodome in mid-July in which he would yield 4 earned runs on 7 hits in lasting just a single inning. He also made 13 relief appearances, and it was as a reliever that he wrapped his career with a 2-inning stint at The Vet on September 3rd against the New York Mets.

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Another veteran in that rotation was lefty Chris Short. A decade earlier, Bunning and Short had nearly helped lead the Phillies to an NL Pennant. Now they were both aging and in decline. Short was now 33-years old, and would go 7-14 across 26 starts in what would be his final year as a regular starting pitcher.

Also in the rotation for the 1971 Phillies was their real stud, a 25-year old righty named Rick Wise. He would win 17 games for a team that won just 65, and would be traded after the season for a left-hander named Steve Carlton.

Filling out the rotation were Barry Lersch and Ken Reynolds, both of whom were back-end starters by today’s lingo. Veteran Woodie Fryman was strong as a swingman who both started and relieved. Joe Hoerner was an effective lefty closer. The bullpen also had a quintet of good-looking 20-somethings in Bill Champion, Dick Selma, Bill Wilson, and Wayne Twitchell.

Those were my first Phillies. I watched them as much as I could on TV in those days, though not many games were broadcast other than on Sunday afternoons. I listened that summer for the first time to the excellent work being done from the radio booth by the team of veteran By Saam, former player Richie Ashburn, and the newbie Kalas.

My Dad got us out to The Vet for a couple of games before the end of that 65-97 season. But the record really didn’t matter to me at that point. I had been introduced to a new game, a new stadium, a new team, a new love. In just a few years, they would start to win at The Vet. Players named Carlton and Schmidt and Boone would join Luzinski and Bowa from the minor leagues. It all began for me with those 1971 Philadelphia Phillies, and the opening of Veteran’s Stadium.

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