Phillies: Top individual seasons in team history by age
Which Phillies individual seasons stood out as the best ever at their age?
With the potential start of the Phillies season, at best, nearly two months away, we have plenty of time to reflect on greats from the past. A list of best offensive seasons in Phillies history is a great place to start.
But let’s add a little wrinkle to create more of a challenge than have a list dominated by Mike Schmidt. The compilation includes one player from each age from 21 through 40 with no player eligible to appear more than once.
Many on the list didn’t have their best seasons at the age selected, but fit the list best according to the criteria provided.
*Note that only players from 1970 to present are eligible.
Age 21: Greg Luzinski (1972)
Luzinski went 2-for-12 as a 19-year old in 1970 and hit .300 with three home runs in 100 at-bats the following season in 28 games. During his full rookie campaign in 1972, “The Bull” showed a glimpse of what was to come. He hit .281 with 33 doubles, 18 home runs and 68 RBI for the woeful club that won just 59 games. Luzinski’s home run total, RBI total and batting average were team highs.
Luzinski hit 29 home runs the following season before an injury-plagued 1974 limited him to 85 games and seven home runs. From 1975 through 1978 he was one of the top power threats in the NL, posting at least 30 home runs three times, twice finished second in the NL MVP vote, and made four consecutive All-Star appearances. He struggled over his final two campaigns with the Phillies and finished an 11-year run with the Phillies with 223 home runs and 811 RBI.
Age 22: Maikel Franco (2015)
Franco appeared in 16 games 2014, hitting just .179 with no home runs in 58 at-bats. Playing in 80 games the following season, Franco showed promise as a 22-year old. He hit .280 with 22 doubles, 14 home runs and 50 RBI. That projects to over 40 doubles with nearly 30 home runs and 100 RBI. Although Franco’s batting average dropped to .255 in 2016, his power numbers were respectable at 25 home runs and 88 RBI.
Unfortunately, Franco never made that next step from being a solid player to the All-Star level. His power numbers were nearly identical in 2017 (24 home runs, 76 RBI) but saw the average plummet to .230. While hitting 22 home runs in 2018, Franco hit only 17 doubles. Clearly not in the Phillies future plans as of the middle of last season, Franco hit only .234 with 17 home runs and 56 RBI. Granting Franco free agency, he signed a one-year control with the Kansas City Royals this past offseason worth $3 million.
Age 23: Scott Rolen (1998)
After a Rookie of the Year season in 1997 in which Rolen hit .283 with 35 doubles, 21 home runs and 92 RBI, he enjoyed perhaps his best overall season in 1998 at the age of 23. Rolen’s 120 runs, 174 hits and 45 doubles would end up being career highs. He added 31 home runs, 110 RBI, a .290 batting average and a Gold Glove Award.
A model of consistency, Rolen hit 26, 26, and 25 home runs over the next three seasons. He continued his outstanding defense, winning two more Gold Glove Awards. After seeing the Phillies as putting forth less than full effort into winning, Rolen was traded to the Cardinals in 2002. He went on to make seven more All-Star appearances and five more Gold Glove Awards.
Rolen hit .282 with 150 home runs in a Phillies uniform and retired with 2077 hits, 316 home runs and 1287 RBI. His eight Gold Glove Awards at third base is third-most all-time. Rolen received 35.3 percent of the votes for the Hall of Fame this year in his third year of eligibility.
Age 24: Juan Samuel (1985)
Samuel showed himself to be a five-tool player during his rookie year in 1984. His campaign which earned second place voting in NL Rookie of the Year included 36 doubles, 19 triples, 15 home runs, and 72 stolen bases. As a 24-year old in 1985, Samuel improved his power to 19 home runs and 74 RBI, while surpassing 30 doubles and hitting 13 triples, while swiping 53 bases.
After another solid season in 1986, Samuel head a career year in 1987 with 37 doubles, a league-best 15 triple, 28 home runs, 100 RBI, and 35 stolen bases. His efforts earned him an All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger Award. After another season and a half in Philadelphia, Samuel was traded to the Mets for Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra.
Samuel has 71 triples, 100 home runs, and 249 stolen bases in 852 games with the Phillies. He played for seven different teams over a 16-year career, hitting .258 with 161 home runs and 396 stolen bases.
Age 25: Pat Burrell (2002)
After finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2000, Burrell nearly reached the 30-home run mark in 2001, finishing with 27 home runs and 89 RBI. HIs 2002 campaign at age 25 was the best of his career. Burrell had 96 runs, 165 hits, 39 doubles, 37 home runs, and 116 RBI, all ended up being career-high marks. His efforts earned him 14th place votes in the NL MVP ballot.
As high as Burrell was in 2002, that’s how far he plummeted in 2003, hitting just .209 with 21 home runs and 64 RBI. He finished out his final four seasons with the Phillies reaching the 30-home run plateau three times, blasting 33 for the 2008 World Series champions. His double in Game Five of the World Series was a pivotal moment in the game and proved to be his last at-bat with the Phillies.
After signing with the Rays as a free agent during the 2008 off-season, Burrell hit just .218 with 16 home runs in 147 games in Tampa before signing with the Giants. He played for the Giants through the 2011 season before retiring with 299 doubles and 292 home runs.
Age 26: Ryan Howard (2006)
Howard had 39 at-bats during the 2004 season while veteran Jim Thome was still hitting bombs at the rate of 40-plus per season. The injury to Thome the following season opened the door for Howard, who proceeded to smash 22 home runs in 88 games to earn Rookie of the Year honors.
In 2006, Howard had a season for the ages. Not only did he surpass Mike Schmidt’s single-season franchise home run mark, he did so easily, finishing with 58 home runs to lead the league. He also led the league with 149 RBI, hitting .313 in the process. Howard’s efforts made him an easy MVP choice in just his second full season.
Howard continued is power dominance the next three seasons, hitting 47, 48 and 45 home runs, respectively. Although still productive with 64 home runs combined in 2010 and 2011, Howard’s torn Achilles during the final out of the 2011 NLCS slowed Howard’s production to a mere crawl. He managed just 25 home runs over the next two seasons combined, missing nearly half the games. Howard struggled mightily against lefties, particularly over the final three seasons of his major league career, hitting just .196 in his final campaign in 2016.
Howard retired second in franchise history with 382 home runs, to go along with 1194 RBI.
Age 27: Von Hayes (1986)
Hayes came over to the Phillies in the infamous “5 for 1” deal with the Cleveland Indians that involved Manny Trillo and most notably Julio Franco. Hayes had five-tool potential and although never living up to the enormity of the deal, had some very good seasons in a Phillies uniform.
The 1986 season was one of Hayes’ best. He led the league in runs scored with 107 and in doubles with 46. In addition, Hayes jacked 19 home runs with 98 RBI, 24 stolen bases, and a .305 batting average. He earned considering for NL MVP, finishing seventh.
After a 21-home run season in 1987, Hayes had an off-year in 1988 but rebounded to hit a career-high 26 home runs with 101 walks and 28 stolen bases in 1989. After his first and only All-Star appearance, Hayes had a final productive season in 1990 before injuries took their toll.
Hayes struggled to start the 1991 season and his season came to a halt in June after a broken arm. The final numbers were woeful: .225, 0 home runs, 21 RBI in 284 at-bats. After a trade to the Angels, Hayes finished his career in 1992, hitting .225 with four home runs in 307 at-bats.
Age 28: Jimmy Rollins (2007)
Rollins hit .321 in a cup of coffee with the Phillies in 2000 and showed signs of a multi-faceted threat during his rookie season of 2001. He led the league in triples three times over his first four seasons and consistently stealing over 30 bases, leading the league with 46 in 2001.
Always with glimpses of power, Rollins began to hit his stride with the long ball in 2006, depositing 25 in the seats. He put it all together in the Phillies NL East title-winning team in 2007, hitting 30 to go along with 94 RBI. In addition, Rollins paced the NL in runs with 139 and triples with 20. The unforgettable season ended with an MVP, Gold Glove Award, and Silver Slugger Award.
Rollins won three more Gold Glove Awards with the Phillies over the next seven seasons with the team but never came that close to matching the offensive output in 2007. He hit 21 home runs in 2009 and 23 in 2012. Rollins had a solid 17 home, 55 RBI, 28 stolen base season in his final year in Philadelphia.
After a single season in Los Angles in 2015 and 41 games with the White Sox in 2016, Rollins retired with 2455 hits, 231 home runs, and 470 stolen bases.
Age 29: Chase Utley (2008)
Utley showed quickly what he could do in the Majors when he drove a grand slam into the right field bullpen at Veteran’s Stadium for his first Major League hit. He would hit only another home run the rest of the season and was part of a platoon with Placido Polanco in 2004 before taking over in 2005.
Utley became the top hitting second basemen in all of baseball, averaging nearly 30 home runs and 100 RBI over the next five seasons. Part of the core of the 2008 World Series championship squad, Utley set a career-high with 33 home runs, to go along with 41 doubles, 104 RBI, 113 runs scored, and a .292 average.
A fan favorite for his gritty style of play, Utley was on pace for a Hall of Fame career having straight 100 run, 100 RBI seasons. In addition, he made five straight All-Star appearances and four Silver Slugger Awards.
Unfortunately, injuries took their toll on “The Man” and left Utley a shell of the player he was in his prime. He had 18 home runs in 2013 and a solid 78 RBI in 2014 before being traded to the Dodgers, finishing out his career in 2018 with 259 home runs and 1025 RBI.
Age 30: Mike Schmidt (1980)
The greatest player in franchise history and top third-baseman in MLB history, there is no way that Michael Jack Schmidt would not make this list. The question would only be, for what age? After all, a legitimate case could be made for nearly every season from 1974 through 1987, but his remarkable 1980 season was a relatively easy choice.
Coming off a 45 home run season in 1979, Schmidt led the league in home runs in 1980 with 48, RBI with 121, slugging percentage and OPS. His 48th home run of the season was a memorable blast deep into the leftfield seats in the top of the 10th inning against the Expos to clinch the NL East for the Phillies. Although he struggled in the NLCS against the Astros, Schmidt hit .381 with two home runs and seven RBI in the World Series, earning MVP honors.
Schmidt’s list of accomplishments is nearly endless. He led the league in home runs eight times, slugging percentage five times, and RBI four times. He had 14 seasons with at least 30 home runs, and nine seasons with at least 100 RBI. Schmidt’s 10 Gold Gloves at third base are second all-time. In addition, Schmidt was NL MVP three times and was a 12-time All-Star. He finished with 548 home runs and 1595 RBI.
Age 31: Jayson Werth (2010)
After relatively minimal success with the Angels and Dodgers from 2002 through 2005, Werth was out of baseball in 2006 due to his second wrist surgery. The Phillies signed Werth to a one-year contract on December 19, 2006 and his career took off from there.
Hitting .298 with eight home runs in a platoon role in 2007, Werth was a key component to the 2008 World Series Champions, hitting .273 with 24 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Werth’s best overall season came the following season, an All-Star at last with 36 home runs and 99 RBI.
Werth makes this list at age 31 in 2010 when he finished eighth in the NL MVP vote. He led the league in doubles with 46 to go along with 106 runs scored, 27 home runs, 85 RBI, and .296 batting average.
A free agent following the season, Werth signed with the Nationals and played out the final seven seasons of his career in the nation’s capital. His best season in Washington was in 2013 when he hit .318 with 25 home runs and 82 RBI. Werth retired with 300 doubles, 229 home runs, and 799 RBI.
Age 32: Jim Thome (2003)
Thome was a 12-year veteran with a tremendous resume when he hit free agency on October 28, 2002. The power-hitting lefty was coming off a 52-home run season and had seven-consecutive 30-plus home run seasons under his belt. The Phillies clearly got the prize of the free-agent pool when they inked Thome on December 6, 2012.
An instant fan favorite, Thome didn’t disappoint in his first season with the Phillies. He led the league in home runs for the first time in his career, blasting 47 with 131 RBI, 111 runs scored and 111 walks. Thome finished fourth in the MVP race, which was the closest he’d come to winning that honor.
Thome nearly duplicated the production the following season, hitting .274 with 42 home runs, 105 RBI, 104 walks, and 97 runs scored. He struggled the following season, mainly due to injury, which opened the door for Ryan Howard.
After moving on to the White Sox, Dodgers, Twins and Indians, Thome was back in Philadelphia for part of the 2012 season, hitting .242 with five home runs in 62 at-bats. Now a member of the Hall of Fame, Thome retired with 612 home runs and 1699 RBI.
Age 33: Carlos Ruiz (2012)
Ruiz was a 27-year old rookie backup for the Phillies in 2006, batting .261 in 27 games. Seeing an expanded role in 2007, Ruiz hit .259 with 29 doubles and 54 RBI in 115 games. Although batting only .219 in 2008, Ruiz was excellent behind the plate and handled the pitching staff masterfully during the World Series run.
Becoming a more reliable offensive player in 2009, Ruiz hit .302 in 2010 and .283 in 2011, combining for 51 doubles and 14 home runs. Clearly his best season at the plate came in 2012 as a 33-year old. Ruiz made his first and only All-Star appearance, hitting .325 with 32 doubles, 16 home runs, 68 RBI, and a .935 OPS.
Ruiz went on to play with the Phillies through much of the 2016 season before being traded to the Dodgers. After 14 games and a .278 average in Los Angeles, Ruiz headed to Seattle to finish his career with the Mariners in 2017, hitting .216 in 53 games. Upon returning to Philadelphia in a Seattle uniform, Ruiz received a standing ovation during his first at-bat.
Ruiz retired with 223 doubles, 71 home runs and 415 RBI in 1136 games.
Age 34: Dick Allen (1976)
Allen is one of the most underappreciated players in Major League history. A former Rookie of the Year and 1972 AL MVP, Allen was a seven-time All-Star who led the league in home runs twice. He hit at least 20 home runs in a season 10 times, six times surpassing 30 with a high of 40 in 1966. Despite the numbers, Allen has fallen short of the Hall of Fame.
Starting his Major League career with the Phillies in 1963, Allen made three consecutive All-Star teams from 1965 through 1967, leading the league in slugging percentage and OPS in 1967. After two more 30-plus home run campaigns in 1968 and 1969, Allen was traded to the Cardinals.Allen posted a third consecutive 30-plus home run season in 1970 and three most All-Star seasons with the White Sox in 1972-1974.
Allen returned to Philadelphia in 1975 and put together a solid 1976 season at the age of 34. Although playing in only about half the games, Allen hit 16 doubles, 15 home runs and 49 RBI. He makes this list more for his overall undervalued contributions than this single season. Allen did, however, provide veteran leadership for the upcoming team that started being an NL force for the next several years, culminating in the 1980 World Series title.
Age 35: Placido Polanco (2011)
Polanco spent his first five Major League seasons with the Cardinals before his first run with the Phillies that produced some of his finest seasons at the plate. In 2003 Polanco hit 14 home runs with 63 RBI. The following year, Polanco belted 17 home runs, who proved to be his career-hight.
With the emergence of Chase Utley, Polanco became expendable, moving on the Tigers during the 2005 season. He had his best overall season in 2007, hitting .341 with 200 hits, 100 runs scored, 36 doubles, an All-Star appearance and Gold Glove Award.
Returning to the Phillies in 2010, Polanco hit .298 with 27 doubles and 52 RBI in 132 games. The following season, Polanco earned his second All-Star appearance and won his third Gold Glove Award. The 35-year old posted a solid .277 average with 50 RBI, 14 doubles and a .977 fielding percentage at third base, well above the league average of .954.
Polanco concluded a 16-year career with the Marlins in 2013, retiring with 2142 hits, 348 doubles, and a .297 batting average.
Age 36: Marlon Byrd (2014)
After hitting .229 in 35 at-bats with the Phillies in 2002, Byrd finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2003, hitting .303 with 27 doubles, seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. After a less than stellar 2004 season, Byrd was traded to the Nationals for Endy Chavez.
Two mediocre seasons in Washington followed before Byrd was sent to the Rangers, where he posted a solid 43 doubles, 20 home runs and 89 RBI in 2009. Byrd made his lone All-Star appearance the following year with the Cubs and launched 24 home runs combined with the Pirates and Mets in 2013.
Returning to the Phillies via free agency for the 2014 season, Byrd posted a career-high in home runs with 25. He also hit 28 doubles, had 85 RBI and provided solid defensive play in right field. The 36-year old was near the end of a well-traveled career, but put together one of his finest in 2014.
After short stints in Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Cleveland, Byrd retired with a .275 average, 1534 hits and 159 home runs.
Age 37: Jim Eisenreich (1996)
Eisenreich saw limited action with the Twins from 1982-1984 and was out of baseball in 1985-1986 due to Tourette’s Syndrome. He returned the baseball in 1987 and spent the next six seasons in Kansas City before being signed by the Phillies as a free agent on January 20, 1993.
A member of the NL Champions in 1993, Eisenreich began the best four-year stretch of his career. He quickly became a fan favorite due to his humble nature and pure hitting ability. Eisenreich hit .318 with seven home runs and 54 RBI following by a .300 season in 1994 and .316 with 10 home runs in 1995.
At age 37 in 1996, Eisenreich posted his best all-around season, hitting a gaudy .361 with 24 doubles, 41 RBI, 11 stolen bases and only 32 strikeouts in 338 at-bats. He was granted free agency and signed with the Marlins where he would play for a little over a season before retiring with the Dodgers in 1998. Eisenreich continued to be a fan favorite, receiving standing ovations every trip back to Philadelphia in a visiting uniform.
In four seasons with the Phillies, Eisenreich batted .324 and retired with 1160 hits and a .290 average.
Age 38: Kenny Lofton (2005)
Lofton began his career with the Astros in 1991 but became a household name while with the Cleveland Indians. He placed second in Rookie of the Year in 1992, led the league in stolen bases five straight seasons, made six consecutive All-Star games and four straight Gold Glove Awards.
After a season in Atlanta, Lofton returned to the Indians in 1998 and enjoyed four more years with the Indians. He signed with the White Sox as a free agent in 2002 and appeared in 93 games before being traded to the Giants. Granted free agency, Lofton signed with the Pirates in 2003 and was once again traded, this time to the Cubs.
Continuing to bounce around the league, Lofton signed with the Yankees and hit .275 in 83 games before landing in Philadelphia via free agency for the 2005 season. The 38-year old showed plenty left in the tank, hitting .335 with five triples and 22 stolen bases in 110 games, while posting a solid .981 fielding percentage.
Lofton retired with the Indians in 2007 with 2428 hits, a .299 average and 622 stolen bases.
Age 39: Raul Ibanez (2011)
Ibanez was a role player for much of his first six Major League seasons before seeing time as a starter for the Royals in 2002, hitting 24 home runs with 103 RBI. He began a five-year run with the Mariners hitting at least 20 home runs a season, topping out at 33 home runs and 123 RBI in 2006.
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The Phillies signed Ibanez as a free agent in December 2008 to fill the left-field spot when Pat Burrell moved on to the Rays. He posted a career-high 34 home runs for the 2009 NL Champions, to go along with 93 RBI. The power numbers were down for Ibanez in 2010, but he still put together a productive season with a .275 average, 16 home runs and 83 RBI.
Although 2009 was clearly the best season for Ibanez, he makes the list at age 39 because no other Phillies player put together the 31 doubles, 20 home run, 84 RBI numbers that Ibanez did at that age.
Ibanez put together one more good season in the Majors, belting 29 home runs for the Mariners in 2013. He retired in 2014 with 2034 hits, 305 home runs and 1207 RBI in 19 seasons.
Age 40: Pete Rose (1981)
The Phillies were one of the top teams in the NL during the latter part of the 1970s but failed to get over the hump to the World Series. The acquisition of Pete Rose via free agency on December 5, 1978, was about to change all that.
Although the Phillies struggled somewhat in 1979, failing to reach the playoffs, Rose showed he had a lot of gas left in the tank at age 38. He hit .331 with 40 doubles and a league-leading on-base percentage of .418.
During the World Series title run of 1980, Rose played in every game, leading the league in doubles with 42, to go along with a .285 average, 95 walks and only 32 strikeouts in 628 at-bats. Rose makes this list for his stellar hitting at the age of 40 in 1981. During the strike-shortened season, he .325 and led the league in hits with 140.
Rose played two more seasons with the Phillies before a season with the Expos and one as player-manager with the Reds before retiring. Rose is the all-time leader in hits with 4256, scored 2165 runs, hit .303 with 746 doubles, and walked 1566 times.