For 93 years, the Philadelphia Phillies were a hapless franchise. In that time, their season ended in the regular season 91 times, escaping the second division only rarely, winning two pennants in 1915 and 1950.
Since then, the Phillies have made the playoffs 17 times, won six pennants, and captured two World Series titles. The man who sparked that change is someone modern Phillies fans probably have never heard of. His name is Dave Cash, and 53 years ago today, the Phillies acquired him in a trade with then-archrivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, for Ken Brett.
Cash was a well-respected player in the league, but no superstar. He had never been named an All-Star or earned MVP votes. What he was was a winner. Over five years with the Pirates, he was a part of the 1971 World Champion Bucs, who also captured division titles in 1970 and 72.
Cash brought an unmistakable air of confidence to a Phillies squad that had never known victory.
Yes, we can!
“Yes, we can!” said Cash after a May 24 doubleheader sweep of the Montreal Expos in 1974. Though the Phillies were still a few years away from competing, the phrase became a mantra for a young, upstart Phillies team that would end the franchise’s long championship drought.
The Phillies improved from 71 wins the previous year to 80 in 1974. Cash earned All-Star honors and received down-ballot MVP votes for the first time in his career, hitting .300, stealing 20 bases, and playing excellent defense at second base.
The next season, the Cash-led Phillies improved again, winning 86 games and finishing second, 6.5 games behind the Pirates. Cash was again an All-Star and received MVP votes, hitting .305. The new-look Phillies were starting to take their place.
24-year-old Greg “The Bull” Luzinski finished second in MVP voting while 25-year-old Mike Schmidt began authoring the greatest career in MLB history at third base.
"It was a team that needed confidence," Cash told Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Frank Fitzpatrick in 2007. "Mike Schmidt [in just his second full season] doubted himself. He worried about how the fans were going to react to him. I spent a lot of time trying to convince him to block them out."
In 1976, Cash was again named an All-Star, and Philadelphia saw postseason baseball for the first time in 26 years, finishing the season 101 wins, nine games ahead of the Pirates.
Though the Phillies were swept in three NLCS games and Cash departed in free agency to sign with the Expos, he left an indelible mark on the ballclub.
Philadelphia, long seen as MLB’s biggest losers, would finish atop the baseball world for the first time in 1980. Though Cash was by then long gone, his impact on the squad was unmistakable. He was the man who finally made the Phillies feel like winners.
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