Larry Bowa – Chicago Cubs/New York Mets (1982-85)
Find me a person who has spent more time in a Phillies uniform than Larry Bowa.
Signed out of college in 1966, Bowa has served in virtually every role one can imagine. He was a championship-winning shortstop on the team for 12 years, a third base coach for nine seasons, a manager for four years, a bench coach for four years, and a special assistant to the GM since 2017.
As a special assistant Bowa still finds himself on the field helping infielders during spring training and scouting young players.
Philadelphia Phillies
With over three decades wearing a Phillies uniform, it’s hard to imagine Bowa wearing another uniform. As a player and coach he wore that uniform in approximately 4,500 regular season games, nearly twice as many games as the Phillies all-time games played leader Mike Schmidt’s 2,808.
After playing 1,739 games in a Phillies uniform with 1,798 hits, 300 extra-base hits, 288 stolen bases, two Gold Gloves, and five All-Star appearances, Bowa was traded in 1982 with Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivan de Jesus.
If that Carlton trade was one of the most lopsided trades in Phillies history, the Sandberg deal is a close second. Sandberg was considered the throw-in in the deal and he went on to become a legend in Chicago and a Hall of Fame second baseman.
Traded to the Cubs at the age of 36, Bowa still enjoyed three and a half good seasons in Chicago hitting .247 with 75 extra-base hits. However, in August 1985 he was released by the Cubs and signed with the New York Mets.
The idea of Bowa in a Mets uniform is already terrible. Bowa played just as terrible in New York as the idea of him wearing that uniform is, hitting just .105 in 14 games before retiring at seasons end.
Bowa remains an all-time Phillie, inducted onto the Wall of Fame in 1991 and forever a member of the organization.