From the 30 greatest Phillies of all-time we’re down to our last four
We started with a bracket of 30 of the greatest Phillies of all-time from our top-50 list and down we’ve reached the semifinals.
The Phillies Madness bracket had a couple of upsets, starting with Robin Roberts, Chuck Klein, and Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander falling out in the first round in major upsets. They each had a disadvantage of playing many many years ago and not being as well known to the Twittter-verse, falling to players such as Carlos Ruiz, Greg Luzinski, and Roy Halladay.
The only upsets in round two included the two players who knocked off Hall of Famers in round one, the former batterymates Halladay and Ruiz. Halladay beat out Garry Maddox with 79 percent of the vote, while Ruiz beat Dick Allen by 10 percent.
Now in the quarterfinals, both Halladay and Ruiz faced much steeper competition.
Based on your votes on Twitter, here is how the quarterfinals broke down, including a big upset.
1. Mike Schmidt 67 – 8. Cole Hamels 33
5. Richie Ashburn 51 – 29. Carlos Ruiz 49
6. Chase Utley 85 – 30. Roy Halladay 15
7. Jimmy Rollins 61 – 2. Steve Carlton 39
The Schmidt/Hamels matchup was no surprise with the number one seed Schmidt cruising past Hamels, who previously beat Larry Bowa and Greg Luzinski to reach the quarterfinals. Schmidt has beat Johnny Callison after getting a first round bye.
Ashburn/Ruiz was very close with just four votes separating His Whiteness from (arguably) the greatest catcher in Phillies history. Ruiz surprised many by beating “old-timers” such as Alexander and Allen, but he couldn’t beat the Hall of Famer and beloved broadcaster.
Ashburn has already bested Tony Gonzalez and Bobby Abreu en route to the semifinals.
The Utley/Halladay one was not as close as I thought it would be given the fanbase’s affinity for Doc. Utley is arguably one of the most beloved Phillies of all-time, so it shouldn’t be that shocking. Utley has cruised through the competition with wins over Darren Daulton and Ryan Howard, while Halladay had bested Robin Roberts and Garry Maddox.
Finally, we have the greatest starting pitcher in Phillies history, Steve Carlton, losing to the franchise’s all-time hits leader, Jimmy Rollins. Again, the fanbase on Twitter is more familiar with Rollins, but the fact he beat a no-doubt Hall of Famer is surprising.
Carlton handily beat Jimy Bunning in the second round while Rollins has cruised through the competition with a unanimous decision over Willie Jones and after receiving 94 percent of the vote over Curt Schilling.
Now, let’s break down the semifinals of Phillies Madness.