Phillies Madness: Quarterfinals of the all-time Phillies bracket
We’ve reached the semifinals of our Phillies Madness bracket
With no baseball for the foreseeable future, we’re breaking down the greatest and most beloved Phillies of all-time in our Phillies Madness bracket.
If you missed out on round one and round two you can click the links to see the previous matchups.
Here’s how round two shook out with a couple of upsets, blowouts, and close calls.
- Mike Schmidt 94 – Johnny Callison 6
- Cole Hamels 83 – Greg Luzinski 17
- Richie Ashburn 79 – Bobby Abreu 21
- Carlos Ruiz 55 – Dick Allen 45
- Roy Halladay 79 – Garry Maddox 21
- Chase Utley 82 – Ryan Howard 18
- Jimmy Rollins 94 – Curt Schilling 6
- Steve Carlton 89 – Jim Bunning 19
Now, we dive into the quarterfinals of Phillies Madness to find our semifinalists.
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5 Richie Ashburn vs 29 Carlos Ruiz
Our first semifinalist matchup features Richie Ashburn, one of the greatest pure hitters in team history, versus the tournaments biggest upset thus far, Carlos Ruiz.
So far in our tournament, Ashburn has handily beaten Tony Gonzalez and Bobby Abreu, to no surprise. Ashburn won two league batting titles and is one of the few Phillies in the Hall of Fame.
Ruiz, a long-time fan favorite, has been the biggest surprise in the tournament thus far. He’s beaten a Hall of Fame pitcher in Grover Cleveland Alexander and one of the team’s great power hitters Dick Allen.
Granted, very few fans voting in this have likely heard of Alexander or possibly Allen, so this is a true test of the Ruiz fandom.
Here’s how the numbers stack up for Ruiz and Ashburn, and it’s clearly not close who had a better career.
Ashburn: 2,217 hits, 287 doubles, 97 triples, 22 home runs, 499 RBI, .311 average
Ruiz: 898 hits, 213 doubles, 7 triples, 68 home runs, 401 RBI, .266 average
By all conventional measures, Ashburn should surpass Ruiz.
2 Steve Carlton vs 7 Jimmy Rollins
This semifinal matchup puts the Phillies all-time wins leader against their all-time hits leader.
We’ve said pretty much all that’s needed to be said in our past two brackets about Steve Carlton. While he bristled with the media he was and remains one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history.
Among all Phillies pitchers in the 138 years of the franchise’s existence, Carlton remains the best.
Here’s how Carlton’s numbers in Philadelphia stack up against everyone else who has ever put on a Phillies uniform
- 241 wins – 1st all-time
- 3,031 strikeouts – 1st all-time
- 499 starts – 1st all-time
- 499 games – 2nd all-time among pitchers
- 64.6 WAR – 2nd all-time among pitchers
- 3,697.1 IP – 2nd all-time
- 39 shutouts – 2nd all-time
- 185 complete games – 3rd all-time
You can’t get much better than that. The only two pitchers who rank above Carlton in any of those categories are Robin Roberts and Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander.
Carlton won four Cy Youngs, a Gold Glove, and made seven All-Star teams as a member of the Phillies.
Then, you have Jimmy Rollins, the all-time hits leader in franchise history. An MVP in 2007, Rollins would win four Gold Gloves, three All-Star games, a Silver Slugger, and lead the league in triples four times.
Here’s where Rollins stands among the franchise greats
- 2,306 hits – 1st all-time
- 8,628 at-bats – 1st all-time
- 479 doubles – 1st all-time
- 2,090 games played – 2nd all-time
- 9,511 plate appearances – 2nd all-time
- 453 stolen bases – 2nd all-time
- 111 triples – 3rd all-time
- 47.6 WAR – 6th all-time for position players
- 887 RBI – 8th all-time
- 216 home runs – 9th all-time
You’re looking at the best of the best for the Phillies.
6 Chase Utley vs 30 Roy Halladay
When you talk about two of the most beloved, hardest-working players in Phillies history, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay both come to mind. I don’t believe there was a hitter or pitcher who worked harder than these two did at their respective positions.
Utley has written himself into the Phillies record books a number of times and established himself as the greatest second baseman in team history. If he stayed healthy he would have won at least one MVP and he was robbed of multiple Gold Gloves as well. He still made six All-Star games and won four Silver Sluggers, but how he never won a Gold Glove boggles my mind.
Here’s a look at where Utley stands among all second basemen in Phillies history.
- 1,551 games – 1st all-time
- 1,623 hits – 1st all-time
- 346 doubles – 1st all-time
- 233 home runs – 1st all-time
- 916 RBI – 1st all-time
- 49 triples – 2nd all-time
Undoubtedly, Utley has surpassed Tony Taylor and Juan Samuel in the greatest second baseman conversation.
Halladay’s career numbers in Philadelphia won’t stack up with legends like Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, and others. His time here was, unfortunately, too short.
Still, in that short amount of time he threw a perfect game, a postseason no-hitter, and won a Cy Young award. By the way, that was just in his first season with the Phillies.
Among Phillies starting pitchers since 2000 with at least 100 games, here is how Halladay stacks up
- 18 complete games – 1st
- 3.25 ERA – 2nd
- 122 ERA+ – 3rd
- 5 shutouts – 4th
- 622 strikeouts – 6th
- 55 wins – 6th
Had he stayed healthy, Halladay would likely be atop all of those categories and higher on any all-time list for Phillies pitchers.
1 Mike Schmidt vs 8 Cole Hamels
Here we have, inarguably, the greatest Phillies hitter versus the second-best left-handed pitcher in franchise history.
Where do you start when breaking down the career of Mike Schmidt? For most, it’s the 548 home runs. For others, it’s the 10 Gold Gloves. Maybe it’s 12 All-Star games. Regardless, he’s made a case to be the greatest player in franchise history and the greatest third baseman in the history of baseball.
When you look at Schmidt’s numbers in Phillies history, here’s where he lands. A hint, he’s probably at the very top.
- 548 home runs – 1st all-time
- 106.9 WAR – 1st all-time
- 91.8 oWAR – 1st all-time
- 18.4 dWAR – 1st all-time
- 2,404 games played – 1st all-time
- 10,062 plate appearances – 1st all-time
- 1,506 runs – 1st all-time
- 4,404 total bases – 1st all-time
- 1,595 RBI – 1st all-time
- 1,507 walks – 1st all-time
- 2,234 hits – 2nd all-time
- 408 doubles – 3rd all-time
It doesn’t get much better than that.
It’s a tall task for Cole Hamels to pass the greatest player in Phillies history. Hamels has solidified himself in Philadelphia baseball lore as one of the great pitchers in franchise history with two no-hitters (one combined), a World Series MVP, three All-Star games, and four top-eight finishes in the Cy Young.
Here’s where Hamels’ career numbers stand in franchise history among pitchers.
- 42 WAR – 4th all-time
- 114 wins – 6th all-time
- 8.599 K/9 – 3rd all-time
- 1,844 strikeouts – 3rd all-time
- 1,930 innings – 6th all-time
- 294 starts – 4th all-time
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