Ranking the Top 5 greatest shortstops in Phillies franchise history

On many baseball teams, the shortstop is the leader of the team, the guy that everyone looks toward to be the steady hand on the wheel. For years, the Philadelphia Phillies have had shortstops who were bonafide leaders, great baseball players, and the heart and soul of their respective teams.

The five players who made this list were all long-time players in the Phillies organization, with the average tenure with the team being 12.6 years. On this distinguished list, we have future Phillies coaches, an MVP, World Series winners, the all-time Phillies hits leader, perennial All-Stars, and Hall of Famers.

Again, in this particular ranking, we’ll weigh the overall career of the players, the specific time they spent with the Phillies, how successful the teams were that 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, first basemen, and second basemen in Phillies history.

Before we jump into the top five, let’s look at some honorable mentions who just missed the list.

Dick Bartell played just four seasons with the Phillies from 1931 to 1934, but they were some of the best years of his career. He slashed .295/.358/.379 during his Phillies tenure and recorded the highest bWAR (4.4) of any Phillies shortstop other than Jimmy Rollins or Larry Bowa.

Freddy Galvis was the everyday shortstop of those not-so-successful Phillies teams from 2012 to 2017. While he wasn’t the offensive threat some of the other players were, he was a defensive standout who made spectacular plays look ordinary.

Kevin Stocker was, for the most part, an average MLB player and played for the Phillies from 1993 through 1997. In 1993, his rookie year, he slashed .329/.409/.417 and earned Rookie of the Year votes. That year, the Phillies won the NL pennant but lost in the World Series.

Without wasting another second, let’s get into the best shortstops in Phillies history.

5. Mickey Doolin

Mickey Doolin was a part of the Phillies organization from 1905 to 1913, in the early days of the “modern baseball” era. During his time with the team, he accumulated 1,077 hits, which ranks 31st among all position players and fourth among shortstops.

Doolin was recognized as a contributor to team success evidenced by him receiving MVP votes in two seasons. In one of those years, the Phillies won 88 games while he hit just .218 with a .262 on-base percentage, clearly supporting the team in other ways than at the plate.

He didn’t quite make a name for himself with his bat as he slashed .230/.279/.306 with just 15 career home runs, but his glove was seen as one of the best in the league and where he added most of his value. His 14.3 bWAR ranks him the fifth-best shortstop in Phillies history.

While Doolin received MVP votes in two seasons while with the Phillies, it didn’t translate to much playoff success for the franchise. The team didn’t have any postseason success during his nine years with the organization but had a winning record of 876-797, which is a respectable record over a lengthy tenure.

After the right-hander left the Phillies in 1915, he bounced around to the Baltimore Terrapins, Chicago Whales, Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Robins before retiring in 1918.

4. Dave Bancroft

Dave Bancroft donned the Phillies uniform from 1915 to 1920, a season in which he was traded to the New York Giants. His five and half years with the Phillies were relatively successful, as he accumulated 634 hits and slashed .248/.330/.316.

In his first year with the team, he was a part of the Phillies' first NL pennant in 1915, when they went to the World Series but lost to the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies won 90 games that season and went 268-189-4 in Bancroft's first three years. However, the wheels fell off over the next two seasons, and the Phillies finished 102-158-3.

Similar to other players on this shortstop list, Bancroft was primarily known for his glove but developed as a hitter throughout his career. But it was really his defensive prowess that attributed to his career success. According to Baseball Reference, his career WAR was 49.9, which puts him on par with the likes of Bernie Williams (49.6), Roy Oswalt (50.0), and active player José Altuve (49.3).

Bancroft went on to play ten more seasons with the New York Giants, the Boston Braves, and the Brooklyn Robins. He garnered MVP votes with the Boston Braves in the 1925 and 1926 seasons and won two World Series with the Giants in the 1921 and 1922 seasons.

Finally, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971, solidifying his name in the history books and putting him fourth on the all-time Phillies shortstop list.

2. Larry Bowa

Phillies fans from all generations know of Larry Bowa from his time as a player, coach/manager, and overall Philadelphia Phillies legend. Bowa was a gritty, tough-minded player that the people of Philadelphia grew to love.

He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1965, and through hard work and perseverance, Bowa made his major league debut with the Phillies in 1970 at the age of 24. He was the everyday shortstop for the next 12 years until he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1982.

Bowa played 1,739 games for the Phillies which ranks fourth all-time in franchise history and second most for shortstops. He has the sixth most hits in Phillies franchise history, with 1,798, which is the second most for shortstops in Phillies history.

As a Phillie, Bowa slashed .264/.301/.324 and had 288 career stolen bases and 359 career walks. But it wasn’t at the plate where he cemented his legacy. He was a hard-nosed defender and has the accolades to back it up. He was elected to the All-Star game five times, won the Gold Glove Award twice, came in third in Rookie of the Year voting, and garnered MVP votes in four seasons, getting as high as third place in 1978.

Bowa was a winner, and the Phillies teams he played on followed suit. The Phillies made the playoffs in five of the 12 years he was on the team, winning the division in four out of five seasons from 1976-1980. In 1980, the Phillies, with Bowa at shortstop, won their first World Series title in franchise history, beating the Kansas City Royals in six games.

His playing career alone would be enough to become a legend in Philadelphia, but Bowa didn't stop there. He went on to manage and coach the Phillies for 11 years. He was the third base coach from 1989 to 1996 and then became the manager of the team for four seasons from 2001 through 2004, winning NL Manager of the Year in 2001. He ended his managerial career with a career winning percentage of .522, going 337-308.

Currently a senior advisor to the general manager, Bowa was enshrined in the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1991 and will go down as the second-greatest shortstop in Phillies history.

1. Jimmy Rollins

While it was a tight race for the number one spot on the list of greatest shortstops in Phillies history, Jimmy Rollins takes the cake. Donning the red pinstripes for 15 years from his debut season in 2000 through 2014, the smooth switch-hitting shortstop accomplished everything from the greatest individual awards to the greatest team achievement.

Rollins is the franchise leader in at-bats (8,628), hits (2,306), doubles (479), second in games played (2,090) and stolen bases (453), third in runs scored (1,325), and top 10 in home runs (216), RBI (887), and bWAR (47.6).

From 2004 through 2014, as a Phillie, Rollins slashed .267/.327/.424 with his best year coming in 2007 when he won the NL MVP Award while hitting .296/.344/.531 with 41 stolen bases, 20 triples, 212 hits, 139 runs scored, 30 home runs, and 94 RBI. He was an All-Star three times, won the Gold Glove Award four times, won the Silver Slugger Award once, and received MVP votes in five seasons, including his rookie year, where he came in third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Rollins was a true leader at one of the most successful times in Phillies history. He famously proclaimed that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East in 2007 after the Mets ran away with the division in 2006. He indeed backed it up, winning the NL MVP that year while the Phillies won the division — their first of five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011. They went on to win back-to-back NL pennants in 2008 and 2009 and brought home the franchise’s second championship by winning the World Series in 2008.

He was a beloved figure in Philadelphia for as long as he played there and has remained a fan favorite long after retiring from baseball in 2016. As the greatest shortstop in Philadelphia Phillies history, it’s just a matter of time until Rollins is inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame and maybe even has his number retired.

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