While the Philadelphia Phillies gear up for the start of their fifth straight playoff run, the minor league postseason festivities have already kicked off. In fact, on Tuesday night the Reading Fightin Phils delivered to the organization a Double-A championship for the first time in over thirty years. Hopefully that honor foreshadows good fortune for the major league club over the next few weeks as well. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at some Phillies minor league champions from days gone by and what happened to some of the players that propelled them to victory.
Looking back at some of the Phillies-affiliated minor league champion squads
1983 Portland Beavers
Not many younger Phillies fans would know that the club’s Triple-A affiliate used to be located all the way on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon. While the Phils captured a National League pennant in 1983, the Beavers did them one better by winning it all. That Portland squad was littered with future big leaguers, with a few of the standouts being longtime shortstop Steve Jeltz, Chris Bourjos (father of future Phillie Peter Bourjos), three-time All-Star Juan Samuel and everyone's favorite color commentator Larry Andersen. Oh, and the Beavers were managed by future Phils skipper John Felske.
1995 Reading Phillies
1995 was a brutal year for the Phillies, as the magic of the pennant-winning ‘93 team had worn off for the 69-75 big league club. Luckily, their Double-A affiliate was able to give the fans something worth getting excited about. Future Hall of Famer Scott Rolen made his way into 20 games as a young 20-year-old, alongside future Phils Wendell Magee, Kevin Sefcik and Bobby Estalella. Interestingly enough, Larry Andersen appeared in five contests for the Reading Phils before hanging up his cleats at the age of 42.
2007 Clearwater Threshers
2007 will always be a magical year in the memory of Phillies fans, as the group that Jimmy Rollins dubbed the “team to beat” charged back from a seven-game deficit with 17 games left in the season to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, laying the groundwork for a World Series victory the following season. Down on the farm the High-A Clearwater Threshers lifted a trophy of their own, headlined by future rebuild disappointment Domonic Brown and fan favorite hefty lefty Mike Zagurski. Additionally, three pieces of the four-player Cliff Lee trade package suited up for the Threshers in Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson and Jason Donald.
2010 Lakewood BlueClaws
The Lakewood BlueClaws employed a lot of future Houston Astros back in 2010. Shortstop Jonathan Villar served as the centerpiece of the Roy Oswalt acquisition that July, while fellow BlueClaws Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid and Domingo Santana were used to reel in Hunter Pence the following summer. Luckily, none of the pieces in that prospect pupu platter turned out to be worldbeaters. In addition to the Astros connection, future rebuild Phillies Darin Ruf, Jonathan Pettibone and Jake Diekman suited up for Clearwater, as well as infamous first-round draft bust Anthony Hewitt. Good times.
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