Philadelphia Phillies nearing 10,000 franchise win mark

The Phillies are close to 10,000 franchise wins.

For the Philadelphia Phillies, July 15, 2007, and September 29, 2019, were infamous days in franchise history when they respectively lost their 10,000th and 11,000th games in franchise history.

The 10,000th loss came in a 10-2 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park opposite none other than Adam Wainwright, who just lost Friday’s series opener to interim manager Rob Thomson’s squad despite tossing nine innings and allowing just two runs, both solo home runs off the bat of Alec Bohm. The Phillies were the first major-league franchise to lose 10,000 games, though, of course, they’re also significantly older than most teams, including the entire American League.

More than 4,400 days later, the Phillies fell 4-3 to the Miami Marlins in their 2019 season finale. Their 11,000th all-time loss also evened their record that season to 81-81 — their eighth straight season without a winning record. The game was also notable as Gabe Kapler’s last as their manager.

The Phils already have lost more than 150 games since then and the countdown to 12,000 losses is underway. However, the franchise will finally have something good to celebrate in the coming weeks.

Friday’s win notched the Phillies’ 9,980th franchise victory, edging them to within 20 games of 10,000. If they play at worst .500 baseball moving forward, their milestone 10,000th win would come no later than late August.

The Phils will become the ninth franchise to reach 10,000 wins — joining the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Phillies are well behind the Giants, Dodgers, Cubs and Cardinals, however, as they each have more than 11,000 wins.

The Phillies won their 9,000th all-time game on July 25, 2009. Their 8,000th win took place on July 18, 1997 — a 4,390-day difference between the milestone wins.

While more than 4,700 days have passed since the franchise’s 9,000th win, it’s better late than never for them to finally reach quintuple digits in the win column.