1928 Philadelphia Phillies Phillies fans were not looking forward to the up-and-coming 1928 season, after-all, they finished in last place in the National League for two straight years, 1926-1927. 1928 Baseball Blog The Philadelphia Phillies had a poor 43-109 record in 1928, in last place in the then 8 team National League. New manager Burt Shotton was anxious to shake up things and put together a winning team. Because of the short outfield walls in the Baker Bowl, Phillies ballpark, Barney Shutton used a different mix of players depending on whether they were at home or on the road. For complete career stats of all major league players, please see Players on our Home Page. Thanks Pitchers: Gone were longtime major league starters Hal Carlson, Jack Scott, Dutch Ulrich and Art Decatur. Phils Manager Burt ‘Barney’ Shotton slated a starting rotation (1928 records) of Ray Benge, 8-18, Les Sweetland 3-15, Bob McGraw 7-8, Augie Walsh 4-9, Jimmy Ring 4-17, Alex Ferguson 5-10, Claude Willoughby 6-5 and/or perhaps rookies Russ Miller 0-12 or Ed Boech 1-1. Hub Pruett 2-4, Earl Caldwell 1-4, Ed Lennon 0-0, Clarence Mitchell 0-0, John Milligan 2-5, Marty Walker 0-1 and June Greene 0-0. Alex Ferguson, veteran righthanded major leaguer, joined the Phillies prior to 1927 after being a longtime Boston Red Sox mound starter. Les Sweetland posted a 2-10 record in 13 starts as a rookie in 1927. Nicknamed Sugar. In 1928 he was still off-track and posted a lousy 3-15 win and losses record. Catchers: Spud Davis and Walt Lerian Spud Davis was one of the best hitting catchers in the baseball history. He came to Philadelphia as a rookie via a trade with the Cardinals in the middle of May of 1928, and hit .282 in 67 games. A long time durable backstop he posted a .308 lifetime batting average from 1928 thru 1945. Virgil Davis played with Phillies from 1928 thru 1933. Walt Lerian, Catcher hit .272 with 16 Ds, 2 Ts, and 2 homers in 96 games, as a rookie. Johnny Schulte, Catcher hit .248 in 65 games for Phils in 1928 after being traded along with pitcher Jimmy Ring by the St L Cardinals on December 13, 1927. For Cardinals prior to trade Schulte batted .288 in 64 games. Starting Infielders: Heinie Sand, Don Hurst, Pinky Whitney and Fresno Thompson Heinie Sand was a sure handed fielding shortstop with a strong throwing arm. He started playing in the big leagues with Phillies in 1923 and in 1927 batted a career high .299. Don Hurst, rookie first baseman, led the team with 19 homers while batting a solid .285 in 1928. Although Don Hurst had a short 7 years major league career, he twice posted 125 RBIs or more, 125 in 1929 and a league leading 143 in 1932. Pinky Whitney put up solid stats as a rookie third baseman in 1928, hitting .301 in 151 games. Fresno Thompson, Second Baseman, was playing for his third major league team in 1928. He also was known as Tommy Thompson by his teammates. In 152 games in 1928 he posted a .287 batting average. Bill Kelly, a longtime professional baseball player, he powered the baseball during his years in the International League with Buffalo. Playing first base Bill Kelly led the International League three straight seasons, 1924 thru 1926, with 155, 125 and 151 RBIs. However he only played a total of 9 games with Philadelphia Athletics in 1920 and 23 games in 1928, posting a combined .179 batting average with 5 RBIs. Bernie Friberg, Infielder and Outfielder. A long time major leaguer, 1919 thru 1933, he was valuable to teams because he was sure handed a could play many positions and was a solid hitter. Barney Friberg posted a career .281 batting average in over 4,000 at bats. Starting Outfielders: Chuck Klein, Freddy Leach, Denny Sothern, Cy Williams and Al Nixon Chuck Klein, a future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, was a rookie for the Phillies in 1928. Freddy Leach, outfielder, broke in with the Phillies outfielder in 1923 and became a starter two years later. In 1928 he batted .304. Denny Sothern was in his sophomore year during 1928, hit a respectable .285, lined 27 doubles, 5 triples and 5 homers in 579 at bats in 141 games. Cy Williams had 16 major league seasons under his belt as 1928 entered. He led the National League 4 times in homers, including 41 in 1923. In 1927 his 30 round trippers led. After starting the 1928 season slowly in average and power .256 he was rotated in and out of the starting lineup. Al Nixon, Outfielder, broke into the majors back in 1915 with the old Brooklyn team, and reached the Phillies via a trade in 1926. Al Nixon batted .234 in 25 games last major league year, 1928. A career .276 batter. 1928 Phillies Baseball Players Russ Wrightstone, Third Baseman, Second Baseman. A longtime Phillies baseball player he posted an outstanding .297 batting average thru 98 years with Philadelphia, Russ Wrightstone wax traded early in 1928, his last year in majors. Bill Deitrick played two years in majors. In 1928 he hit .200 with 7 RBIs in 52 games. Art Jahn, infielder, was traded to Phillies in early 1928 and .233 with 11 RBI in 36 games. Harvey MacDonald batted .250 with 2 RBI in 13 games Clarence Mitchell hit .250 in 5 games June Greene hit .500 in 11 games Page 153 For complete career stats of all major league players, please see Players on our Home Page. Thanks |
