Origins
In 1883, sporting goods manufacturer Al Reach (a pioneering professional baseball player) and attorney John Rogers won an expansion National League franchise for Philadelphia, one of what are now known as the "Classic Eight" of the National League. They were awarded a spot in the league to replace the Worcester Brown Stockings, a franchise that had folded in 1882. The new team was nicknamed the "Quakers", and immediately compiled a .173 winning percentage, which is still the worst in franchise history. Although many sources (including the Phillies themselves) claim that Reach and Rogers bought the Brown Stockings and moved them to Philadelphia, all available evidence suggests this is not the case. Significantly, no players from Worcester ended up with the 1883 Quakers.
In 1884, Harry Wright, the former manager of baseball's first openly professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was recruited as manager in hopes of reversing the team's fortunes. Also in 1884, the team changed its name to the "Philadelphias", as it was common for baseball teams in that era to be named after their cities (for instance, the "Bostons" and "New Yorks"). However, as "Philadelphias" was somewhat hard to fit in newspaper headlines, some writers still continued to call them the "Quakers" while others began shortening the name to "Phillies." At some point in the 1880s, the team accepted the shorter nickname "Phillies" as an official nickname. "Quakers" continued to be used interchangeably with "Phillies" until 1890, when the team officially became known as the "Phillies." This name is the longest continually used nickname in professional sports by a team in the same city.
In 1887, they began play at the stadium eventually known as Baker Bowl. Despite a general improvement from their dismal beginnings, they never seriously contended for the title. The standout players of franchise in the era were Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson, and Ed Delahanty, who in 1896 set the major-league record (since tied by several others) with 4 home runs in a single game.
Due to growing disagreements about the direction of the team, Reach sold his interest to Rogers in 1899.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Philadelphia Phillies
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