1949 Harry S. Truman
After 16 seasons of finishing no higher than fifth, the Phillies finally
seemed to be poised to pounce. Over the winter, they added Eddie Waitkus, Russ
Meyer and Bill Nicholson in trades. By August, the Phillies were underachieving
and in what has become a classic tirade, manager Eddie Sawyer tore into his team
for how they were approaching the game. By the end of the season, the Phillies
were in third and finished 81-73. Of course, the '49 Phillies would turn into
the 1950 Whiz Kids, who improved by ten games and won the National League
pennant.
1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower
After winning the National League pennant in 1950, the Phillies were back to
being also-rans. Eddie Sawyer didn't survive the 1952 season as manager and
Steve O'Neill took over. O'Neill would manage his first and last full season in
1953 with the Phillies finishing 83-71, just as they had done four years earlier
when Truman was sworn in. Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons provided a one-two
punch on the pitching staff and the likes of Del Ennis, Richie Ashburn and
Granny Hamner led the offense.
1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower
By now, the Whiz Kids were worn out and the Phillies had to try a different
approach. They turned to a youth movement, bringing up pitchers like Jack
Sanford, Don Cardwell, Dick Farrell and Seth Morehead. For offense, they turned
to Ed Bouchee, Harry Anderson and Bob Bowman. The Phillies also added shortstop
Chico Fernandez, who became the first black player in the Phillies everyday
lineup. In a controversial move, the Phillies had dealt Del Ennis to St. Louis
for Rip Repulski, who would lead the team with 20 home runs, while Ennis would
hit 24 and drive in 37 more runs than Repulski in what would be Ennis' last big
season at the plate.
1961 John F. Kennedy
Eddie Sawyer returned to manage the Phillies part way through the 1958 season
and lasted into the 1960 season when he was replaced by Andy Cohen. To finish
the season, the Phillies turned to Gene Mauch, who would go on to manage the
Phillies into the 1968 season. The Phillies set a record for futility by losing
23 straight games, a record that even the horrific 1962 Mets wouldn't beat. The
last win before the streak started came from John Buzhardt and the win to break
the streak also came from Buzhardt, who won just four other games that season.
Robin Roberts was in what would be his last season with the Phillies and
finished 1-10, while spending much of the season arguing with Mauch. The putrid
1961 Phillies finished at 47-107, 46 games out of first place. To Mauch's credit
- and thanks in part to expansion - the Phillies would finish the following
season at 81-80, but still finish just seventh in the NL.
1965 Lyndon B. Johnson
The '65 Phillies had the unenviable task of putting the calamity of 1964
behind them. To help get them back to the pennant race, the Phillies added Dick
Stuart, Bo Belinsky and Ray Herbert during the off-season. Only Stuart would
truly help the club, while pitchers Belinsky and Herbert finished with a
combined mark of 9-17 on the season. The '65 Phillies were still pretty good,
but not good enough, finishing 85-76 and 11 1/2 games out of first.
1969 Richard M. Nixon
Gene Mauch didn't survive the 1968 season and finished his managerial career
with the Phillies with a mark of 646-684 (.486). In '69, Mauch took over the
expansion Montreal Expos. George Myatt took over for Mauch after the Phillies
got off to a 27-27 start and were seventh in the NL, but Myatt was later
replaced by Bob Skinner, who would also start the 1969 season at the helm of the
Phillies. Skinner feuded with temperamental Dick Allen about almost everything
imaginable and at one point, Allen actually moved his locker into out of the
Phillies clubhouse and into a broom closet. Skinner was gone at mid-season and
again Myatt took over. Again, the Phillies were hapless and finished 63-99, but
avoided last place in the newly formed National League East, thanks to Mauch's
Expos.
1973 Richard M. Nixon
Frank Lucchesi took over the Phillies in 1970 and lasted through part of the
'72 season when Paul Owens replaced him in the dugout. After the season, the job
went to the always sullen looking Danny Ozark, who would help to usher in some
of the best years in Phillies history. Owens, the team's general manager, went
out and added pitching in the form of Ken Brett and Jim Lonborg. He dealt Oscar
Gamble and Roger Freed to Cleveland for Del Unser, who took over in center
field, freeing up Willie Montanez to play at first base. Rookies Bob Boone and
Mike Schmidt joined the team and at the time, Boone looked like he would be the
better player, with Schmidt hitting just .196 in his first full season with the
club. Ozark stuck by Schmidt and the rest has become history. The '73 Phillies
finished at 80-82, third in the NL East.
1977 Jimmy Carter
While Ozark's first season in '73 didn't go well, he was slowly moving them
up in the division. In 1976, the Phillies won their first division title under
Ozark with Schmidt. Early on, it didn't look like the Phillies would come
anywhere near the 101 games that they had won in 1976. A mid-season deal to get
Bake McBride gave the Phillies the leadoff hitter they needed and the spark was
back in the Phillies. Greg Luzinski finished second in MVP balloting and Steve
Carlton led the league with 23 wins as the Phillies repeated their 101 wins and
again won the NL East by five games.
1981 Ronald Reagan
Even though the Phillies won four straight division titles under Ozark, the
Phillies started 65-67 in 1979 and Dallas Green took over as the club's manager.
Green, with the complete opposite demeanor of Ozark, let his club know that he
wouldn't stand for anything less than full throttle play. In 1980, it was Green
who carried the Phillies to not just the post-season, but that elusive World
Series championship that they had been waiting for. In 1981, a 60 day player's
strike interrupted the season, causing the year to become a split-season race.
When the strike began, the Phillies were firing on all cylinders and had a 1 1/2
game lead over the Cardinals in the division. When play resumed, their engine
had become gummed up and the club looked very much different from the one that
started the season. The Phillies won the first half, but finished 4 1/2 games
out in the second half. Even though St. Louis had the best record in the
division, the Phillies and Expos - the second half champions - battled in a
five-game playoff series, with the Expos winning three games to two. 1981 would
turn out to be Green's final season as manager of the Phillies.
1985 Ronald Reagan
After Green's exit, both Pat Corrales and Paul Owens had managed the Phillies
when John Felske took over for the '85 season. The Phillies went into an early
tailspin, starting 18-34 and lost 11 straight games as they floundered at the
bottom of the division. Felske, who was in his first season as a major league
manager, looked somewhat lost. The Phillies had finished 1984 at 81-81, but
could muster just 75 wins in 1985. Felske would show a slight turnaround in '86,
but would be gone part way through the '87 season.
1989 George H.W. Bush
The 1989 season ushered in Nick Leyva's time as manager of the Phillies. With
the Phillies again turning to a first-time manager and coming off of a 65-96
season, there wasn't much hope for the '89 season, which turned out to be just
how the season played out. Leyva worked with GM Lee Thomas to try to find the
right mix of players, but it just wasn't going to happen. Before the season,
Thomas had added Tommy Herr, Steve Lake, Jeff Parrett, Dickie Thon and Floyd
Youmans. John Kruk and Randy Ready came to the Phillies during the season in a
deal with San Diego and Lenny Dykstra joined the club in a Father's Day trade
with the Mets. Roger McDowell, Terry Mulholland, Dennis Cook and Charlie Hayes
also joined the club during the season, but to no avail. The '89 Phillies
improved by just two games over the previous season, finishing 26 games out,
last in the NL East.
1993 Bill Clinton
Jim Fregosi took over as manager during the '91 season and was still there to
start the 1993 season. His 1992 club had finished 70-92, last in the NL East.
For 1993, the Phillies assembled a somewhat scary looking group of players. John
Kruk said they were throwbacks; "Thrown back by other organizations,"
cracked the jovial first baseman. Kruk would be somewhat of a ring leader on
what would be called "Macho Row". The formula worked though, as the
Phillies drew more than three-million fans and Fregosi guided his misfits to the
World Series. 1993 would also become the Phillies only winning season in a
streak that would span 14 seasons from 1986 through 2000.
1997 Bill Clinton
Another new manager would take over the Phillies to start the 1997 season and
again, it was a first-timer. Terry Francona inherited a team that lost 95 games
the year before and was given the challenge to turn things around. Again, the
change in managers signaled a change in attitudes from the fire breathing Jim
Fregosi, who had led the Phillies to their first World Series appearance since
1980 just four years earlier. Scott Rolen picked up the National League Rookie
of the Year Award and was seen as a player that the Phillies could build their
team around. Francona's fist season as Phillies manager didn't turn out well,
with the Phillies finishing fifth in the East at 68-94.
2001 George W. Bush
Another inauguration, another new manager. And again, a complete turnaround
in personality as the meek Francona exited in favor of spit-fire Larry Bowa. The
former Phillies great had been upset by the Phillies when he was passed over to
manage the '97 club, but all had been made well and Bowa was welcomed back to
the club as the manager of the 2001 Phillies. This time, the attitude adjustment
worked and Bowa took his club from 30 games out in 2000 to just two games out in
his first year as manager and was named NL Manager of the Year. The Phillies
started 35-15 and looked like they would be able to handle the division for the
entire season. Instead, things cooled and a 6-16 tailspin put the Phillies 3 1/2
games out in early September. As baseball was paused by the events of September
11, 2001, the Phillies returned to their earlier form, but in the end, they
wouldn't be able to win the division.
2005 George W. Bush
Like clockwork, the Phillies had a new manager as the country inaugurated
George W. Bush for a second term. Again, the fiery approach was gone and a
kinder, gentler approached reigned with the arrival of Charlie Manuel.
"Uncle" Charlie as he's known to many Phillies fans has made himself
into one of the most popular managers in Phillies history. Inheriting a team
that was over .500 in each of the last two seasons, Manuel used his personality
to push his players to the next level. His first year, Manuel would take the
Phillies to an 88-74 record, but finish second in the division. They would face
the same second place finish in 2006, until breaking through in 2007 and winning
the World Series in 2008.
In nine of the 15 inaugural years since 1949, the Phillies have had a new
manager. Not so this year as Charlie Manuel is riding a wave of success and just
received a contract extension in December. In case you're doing the math at
home, the Phillies have a record of 1088-1194 in inaugural years since 1949 and
have won one division title, shared the split-season title in one season and
have one National League Championship. They have also had one season with more
than 100 wins and one with more than 100 losses. Since the Phillies aren't
ushering in an era of change in the manager's office, let's hope that there
won't be change in their recent successes, either.