Perhaps it is a surprise that Charlie Buffinton is ranked higher than other former more seasoned Phillies stars considering that the hurler threw for Philadelphia for only three seasons back in the 1890’s, but two of those years would see Buffinton as a Pitcher of the Year contender…if that award would have existed at the time.

There is a good chance you have never heard of Charlie Ferguson as he could make the claim as being one of the most forgotten great players in history.  He also can make a claim of having one of the more tragic tales too.

Playing an even 1,000 Games for Philadelphia Jack Clements was known for three things; his surly demeanor, his squat frame and being one of the first Catchers to constantly wear a chest protector.  Clements was a decent hitter as five of his seasons would see him bat over .300 and three of which saw an On Base Percentage over .400.  His .394 Batting Average in 1895 remains the highest ever for a Catcher.  Even though it was the 1890’s Clements showed decent power with two seasons of 17 and 13 Home Runs in 1893 and 1895 respectively.

As a Chicago Cub, Cy Williams had already shown power during the deadball era by winning the Home Run title in 1916 with 12 taters.  He had hit 13 the season before.  The Cubs would trade Williams to the Phillies for Dode Paskert who at age 36 would go into steep decline.  The 30-year-old Williams would however begin to find his groove.

While Jim Bunning played and won significantly more games and was named to more All Star Games (5 to 2) as a Detroit Tiger, he will always be far more known for what he accomplished in Philadelphia.

Before Curt Schilling helped take both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox to World Series wins, he was a large factor in assisting the Philadelphia Phillies to make the 1993 World Series and actually has comparable career numbers with Philly as he does with Arizona and Boston combined.

In the 1890s, Billy Hamilton was regarded as the greatest base stealer the game of baseball had ever seen.  Realistically, when you look at what “Sliding” Billy Hamilton has done, he is still among the game’s great at that feat.

At present, Jimmy Rollins is the all-time leader in Hits (2,306) for the Philadelphia Phillies, which might surprise you considering how many great players the franchise has had over their century-plus in the league.  This is certainly a testament to just how good Rollins was.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Chuck Klein probably should not have debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies, as he was the property of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Klein was turning heads with Fort Wayne of the Central League and was likely to be called up.   The only thing was that the Redbirds also owned the Dayton club in the same league, which was against the rules of MLB and then Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis forced St. Louis to sell the team and its players.  Philadelphia was the highest bidder for Klein. 

Chase Utley put together a very impressive career with the Philadelphia Phillies, but did so in such a non-descript way that we have to wonder just how many people outside of Philadelphia knew just how good Utley was.

The Phillies starting Rightfielder for the Phillies throughout the 1960s (save for a couple years at left) Johnny Callison came with heavy expectations (some called him the next Mickey Mantle) but while he was never pegged as a Hall of Famer during his career this is still a three-time All-Star.

It is next to impossible to discuss Dick Allen and his tenure with Philadelphia without mentioning the controversy that surrounded him.

It needs to be mentioned that Allen was the first black star for the Phillies, and this was at a time when all of the other teams in MLB had integrated had African-American players of note.  Allen suffered through severe racism as the first black player for their minor league team in Little Rock and despite being an instant star with Philadelphia the racially charged city often targeted him.

If you look at power, excitement and MVP votes, your first thought is how come Ryan Howard is ranked higher.

If you look at Sabremetrics, Strikeouts and Defense, you might think that he is ranked too high.

Lenny Dykstra was a popular player for the New York Mets where he helped the team win the 1986 World Series, but that paled to the level of popularity he would receive from the people of Philadelphia.

Chris Short played fourteen of his fifteen Major League seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and for a time in the mid-60’s he could make a claim as one of the top lefthanders of the game.

Roy Thomas took a lot of bases on balls…Seriously, it was a lot!

The city of Philadelphia had every reason to love Del Ennis, a local boy who we could argue was the original “Whiz Kid”.

A master of the change up and the four seam fastball, Cole Hamels will always be remembered for his role as the staff ace in the 2008 World Series win.  In that post season, Hamels went 4-0 where he fanned 30 batters and was named the NLCS and World Series MVP. 

Gavvy Cravath did not make his MLB debut until he was 27 with the Red Sox but he was bemoaned as being too slow to be an effective player by fans, management, and teammates alike.  He would bounce around until a clerical error at the age of 31 gave him a second chance with the Phillies and he certainly made the most of the opportunity.

A farm boy from Nebraska to Baseball Hall of Fame is quite the story for Richie Ashburn, the popular Centerfielder who spent 12 of his 15 seasons with the Phillies.