Ranking the Top 5 greatest second basemen in Phillies franchise history
There have been many great second basemen who have played for the Phillies. Who makes the cut for the top five greatest second basemen in franchise history?
Ranking the greatest second basemen in Philadelphia Phillies franchise history proved to be more difficult than expected. While the top second baseman is unanimous, there are a number of possibilities for the second through fifth spots.
Because of the Phillies' long history and because there were so many options, the difference between some of these rankings is incredibly minute.
In this particular ranking, we’ll weigh the players' overall careers, the specific time they spent with the Phillies, the success of the teams they were on, and lastly, what they mean to the city of Philadelphia and the fans.
In case you missed it, we also ranked the five greatest catchers in Phillies history and the five greatest first basemen in Phillies history.
Before we get into the top five greatest second basemen, here are a few honorable mentions that just missed the list.
Mickey Morandini, probably known best for how Harry Kalas said his name, played for the Phillies from 1990 to 1997 and then again in 2000. Morandini played 965 total games as a Phillie, accumulating 911 total hits. He appeared in one All-Star game in 1995.
Otto Knabe was with the Phillies from 1907 to 1913, and while not known for his bat — he had a career .247 batting average — he was a stellar defensive second baseman.
César Hernández doesn't jump off the page for most Phillies fans, but the second baseman spent seven seasons with the organization from 2013 to 2019. He slashed .277/.352/.382 as a Phillie while playing a solid second base defensively.
Now let’s jump into the the top five greatest second baseman in Phillies history.
No. 5: Tony Taylor
Tony Taylor played a total of 15 seasons with the Phillies and was truly a fan favorite. He had two stints with the Phillies, one from 1960 to 1971 and another from 1974 to 1976. Taylor wasn’t the greatest hitter but held his own at the plate, slashing .261/.321/.352 and accumulating 14.2 fWAR as a Phillie, ranking him fifth among Phillies second basemen.
He made the All-Star game in 1960, the first year he was with the team, and gained MVP votes in 1963, easily his best season with the team. He slashed .281/.330/.367 with 23 stolen bases, 180 hits, 10 triples, and 102 runs scored in that campaign.
He was smooth with his glove and left his mark with his defense at second base. The fans fell in love with him over his two stints with the Phillies, but because of the rebuilding effort during his first period with the team, he was traded during the 1971 season.
Similar to the rest of the players on this list, Taylor didn’t have a ton of team success. In the 15 seasons he spent with the Phillies, the team only made the playoffs one time, in 1976, when they lost in the NLCS. The organization elected to induct him into the Wall of Fame in 2002.
No. 4: Dave Cash
Originally a fifth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dave Cash played just three seasons with the Phillies from 1974 to 1976, but nonetheless, they were successful ones. During his time with the franchise, he slashed .296/.348/.371 with 608 total hits and 292 runs scored.
He made the All-Star team and garnered MVP votes in each of those three years, which is quite an impressive feat. He led the league in at-bats in those seasons, which shows his consistency and availability. Among Phillies second basemen, Cash sits eighth all-time with 11.2 fWAR, buoyed mainly by his 32.6 defensive rating, per FanGraphs.
Unfortunately, Cash and the Phillies were only able to make it to the playoffs once in his three seasons. They lost in the NLCS that year which would go on to be the first of three consecutive NLCS defeats for the organization. The Phillies record during his time with the team was 267-219. In 1976, the Phillies won 101 games which was good for second in the league just behind the Cincinnati Reds, the same team that went on to sweep them in the NLCS.
After the Phillies granted him free agency after the 1976 season, Cash split the remaining four years of his career between the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres, but never made another All-Star team or received MVP votes.
Cash’s career with the Phillies was short and sweet, but anytime a player makes three consecutive All-Star games and is an MVP candidate, they should be included as an all-time great.
No. 3: Juan Samuel
Signed out of the Dominican Republic, Juan Samuel played parts of seven seasons, from 1983 to 1989, with the Phillies after getting the call to the big leagues. After just 18 games in 1983, he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1984 when he racked up 72 stolen bases, 19 triples, 105 runs scored, and batted .272. The 72 stolen bases remains the single-season franchise record today.
Samuel was a force to be reckoned with whenever he got on base. In eight seasons where he played more than 130 games, he had more than 33 stolen bases in each one, with the exception of one season where he had just 23.
During his Phillies tenure, he swiped a total of 241 bases and scored 523 runs. While he wasn’t specifically known for his power, he still hit a respectable 15 home runs per 162 games. He made two All-Star games while with the Phillies, in 1984 and 1987, and won one Silver Slugger Award in 1987.
The Phillies teams didn’t have much team success when Samuel was in Philadelphia outside of making it to the World Series in 1983, the season in which he played just 18 games. In total, the Phillies went 454-516 in the six full seasons that Samuel manned second base.
Some fans will recognize Samuel as a coach. He was on the Phillies coaching staff from 2011 to 2017, serving as both the third and first base coach.
No. 2: Manny Trillo
Manny Trillo’s Phillies career was just four years long, but the four years were the peak of his career. From 1979 to 1982, his time with the Phillies, he won three Gold Glove Awards, two Silver Slugger Awards, and made two All-Star game appearances. He shared the infield with other Phillie legends Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Pete Rose, and Bob Boone.
Interestingly, Trillo was originally signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 1968 but was then snagged by the Oakland Athletics in the 1969 Rule 5 Draft. He spent 1973 to 1978 with the Athletics and Chicago Cubs before the Phillies were able to bring him back to Piladelphia via trade for the 1979 season.
His statistics don’t jump off the page, and he was never the most dominant batter, but he was able to hit for average and came up with clutch hits to contribute to the 1980 World Series-winning team. He hit .277/.321/.369 in his Phillies career, striking out just 195 times in four full seasons. His calling card was his defense, and his many Gold Gloves show just that.
Being a part of a World Series champion will always ingratiate yourself to the fans of Philadelphia, making him one of the best second basemen in Phillies history. Manny Trillo was inducted into the Wall of Fame in 2021.
No. 1: Chase Utley
The top spot on this list was always going to be Chase Utley. "The Man," as he was affectionately known, is the epitome of Philadelphia.
While he was with the Phillies from 2003 to 2015, Utley was a quiet leader who always left everything he had out on the field. He was the definition of giving 110 percent, and the teammates who played with him and the fans who watched him knew how much he put into it. But besides giving it his all, he was also quite the ball player.
Over his 16-year career, Utley slashed .275/.358/.465 with 259 home runs, 1,885 hits, 1,025 RBI, and 1,103 runs scored. During his peak from 2005 to 2009, he slashed .301/.388/.535 and averaged 29 home runs, 101 RBI, 111 runs, and 15 stolen bases per year — a ridiculous run of five years where he was arguably the top second baseman in the league.
During his 12-year Phillies tenure, he made the All-Star Game six times, won the Silver Slugger Award four times, and garnered MVP votes in five seasons.
With Utley, statistics alone don’t tell the whole story. He was a winner, it’s all he cared about, and he did whatever it took to win. With Utley, the Phillies won five straight division titles from 2007 to 2011, appearing in two World Series in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009, winning the one in 2008, their second in franchise history.
In the 2009 World Series, he hit a total of five home runs, which still stands today as the most in any single World Series. Utley is beloved by the Philadelphia faithful and will, undoubtedly, go down as the greatest second baseman in Phillies history.
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