A complete chronological history of Philadelphia Phillies postseason runs
The Philadelphia Phillies have been around for 139 years, the oldest continuous (same city, same name) team in Major League Baseball.
But after all these years, they don’t have much in the way of trophies and rings to show for their efforts. In 2021, they cemented a full decade without postseason play.
The Phillies’ first postseason run was in 1915, and their most recent was in 2011. Let’s revisit all 13 playoff runs…
1915 Philadelphia Phillies: Pennant
The Phillies were already over three decades old when they finally went to the postseason, the beginning of a pattern of long intervals between postseasons that would continue throughout franchise history to this day.
The 1915 Phils went 90-62-1 to win the National League pennant and head to their first World Series in franchise history. In the Fall Classic, they faced the team that had won the very first championship in 1903, the Boston Red Sox.
Despite phenomenal pitching by Grover Cleveland Alexander, who threw 17 2/3 innings over two complete games, Boston bested Philadelphia, four games to one.
In this Dead Ball Era series, Fred Luderus hit the only Phillies home run, while Sox stars Harry Hooper and Duffy Lewis combined for three. Overall, the Phillies offense combined for six extra-base hits; Boston had seven. A 20-year-old rookie named Babe Ruth went hitless in his lone at-bat of the series.
The Phillies hosted their games at Baker Bowl, originally named National League Park, and also called Philadelphia Baseball Grounds and Phillies Park. It had been built by the Phillies’ owners in 1887, and the Phillies would call it home until 1938.
Though Fenway Park was brand-new, having opened in April 1912, the Boston side of the series took place at Braves Field, which was larger. Ironically, it would later be the site of Ruth’s final game of his big-league career, two decades later.