Phillies pitcher Chris Short was born on this date September 19th in 1937 in Milford, Delaware. On October 2, 1965 Short struck out 18 Mets and pitched 15 shut out innings but got a no-decision as the game ended in a tie.
Chris Short went 20-10 for the Phils in 1966. He is the last homegrown Phillies pitcher to win 20 games in a season for the Phillies, a span of 52 years!
Short, who passed away in 1991 would have been 81 years old today.
Chris Short – Phillies/P (1959-72) Chris Short was a dominant pitcher for the Phillies in the mid-to-late 1960s. The two-time NL All Star had 83 wins over a five-year period including 20 wins in 1966. Short is 4th all-time on the Phillies leaders list in wins (135), shutouts (24), innings pitched (2,253), and strikeouts (1,585). Short was part of the 1964 Phillies team that blew a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 games to go. Though Short and Hall of Famer Jim Bunning started 8 of the last 12 games, the two stars couldn’t overcome poor hitting and awful fielding. Short, a native of Milford, DE, entered the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1992.
Bob Clarke – Flyers/C (player 1969-84) (GM 1984-90, 1994-06), (executive 2007-present) Robert Earle Clarke was one of the greatest team captains in the history of the game. Clarkie played his entire 15-year career in the orange and black and captained the team to two Stanley Cup Championships. Clarke served as captain from 1973-79 and 1982-84. Clarke has served as team captain, assistant coach, General Manager, and Senior Vice President. He has been to four Stanley Cup finals as a player, three finals as a GM, and one finals as Sr.VP.
As a player, Clarkie was fierce and courageous. On March 19th, 1981, Clarke was hit in the face with a shot off the stick of linemate Reg Leach. Clarkie got stitched up and returned to score his 19th goal of the season. It was his 1,000th NHL point.
Clarkie was a three-time Hart Trophy winner, an eight-time NHL All Star, a Frank J Selke Trophy winner (1983), and a Bill Masterton Trophy winner (1972). He had three 100+ point seasons, and is the Flyers all-time leader in games played (1,144), assists (852), points (1,210), and shorthanded goals (32). The Bobby Clarke Trophy is awarded annually to the Flyers team MVP. In junior hockey, the WHL gives the Bobby Clarke Trophy to the league’s leading scorer.
In 1998, the Hockey News ranked Clarke 24th on their Top NHL Players of All-Time list. Clarke’s #16 has been retired by the team and he is a member of the Flyers Hall of Fame. Clarke was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
Wilt Chamberlain/C – (Philadelphia Warriors – 1959-65), Sixers (1965-68). Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain was one of the most dominating basketball players of all time. His list of NBA records is as long as his 7’1” frame. The four-time NBA MVP (1-Warriors, 3-Sixers) was the 1960 NBA All-Star game MVP (Warriors) and Rookie of the Year. Chamberlain was an NBA All-Star five times with the Warriors, and four times with the Sixers. He was the NBA scoring champ seven times (1960-68), four-time Rebounding Champ as a Warrior, and three times as a Sixer, and led the NBA in assists in 1968 (Sixers). Chamberlain holds the team record for points in a game with the Warriors (100 vs. New York Knicks 3/2/62) and the Sixers (68 vs Chicago Bulls 12/16/67). In his rookie season 1961-62, Chamberlain missed only seven minutes of playing time the entire season! His 48.5 minutes per game average is an NBA record that is unlikely to ever be broken. Chamberlain owns the highest single season scoring average (50.4 points per game) and had a team record 43 rebounds in one game (3/6/65). He has the only double-triple-double in NBA history scoring 22 points, with 25 rebounds and 21 assists vs. Detroit Pistons on 2/2/68.
Just how dominant was Chamberlain? No other NBA player has ever averaged 30 points per game and 20 rebounds per game over an entire NBA season. The Big Dipper not only managed that feat seven times, but averaged those numbers for his entire CAREER! The Warriors, Sixers, and Lakers all retired Wilt’s #13. He was selected for the NBA 35th and 50th Anniversary teams, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. Chamberlain still holds over 70 NBA records… THAT’S how dominant he was!
Mike Schmidt – Phillies/3B (1972-1989) Michael Jack Schmidt was the greatest third baseman of all time. He played his entire stellar career with the Phillies and is the team’s all-time leader in well over a dozen statistical categories. No other player in MLB history who played their entire career with one team hit as many home runs as Schmidt (548). He was named to the MLB All-Century Team and the MLB All-Time Team.
Schmidt was a 12-time All Star, 10-time Gold Glover, 6-time Silver Slugger, 3-time league MVP, 8-time HR leader, 4-time RBI leader and was the World Series MVP in 1980.
Schmidt once hit the public address speaker in Houston’s Astrodome. The speaker was 329 feet from Home plate and 117 feet above the playing surface. What could have been a 500+ foot Homer, only earned Schmidt a single.
After the 1980 World Series, Schmidt along with Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, Dick Ruthven, and Del Unser faced off against the Kansas City Royals’ Dennis Leonard, Dan Quisenberry, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan, and Willie Wilson on the TV show Family Feud.
And who could ever forget the day Schmitty took the field in a long black wig and sunglasses! The Phillies retired Schmidt’s #20 and added him to their wall of fame in 1990. He entered Cooperstown in 1995.
On September 11th, 2004, Phillies catcher Todd Pratt homered off New York Mets pitcher Steve Trachsel in the second inning of a 13 inning 11-9 Phillies win. The HR was the 187th of the season for the Phillies, breaking a 27-year team record. A September call-up by the name of Ryan Howard hit his first career home run later in the same game. The Phillies finished 2004 with 215 homers. The Phils broke the team record again with 216 in 2006, and then again in 2009 with 224.
Maurice Cheeks – Sixers/G (1978-89 as a player, 1994-01 as assistant coach, 2005-08 as Head Coach) Maurice Cheeks was a standout defensive player for the Sixers and was a key performer in their 1983 NBA Championship. Mo was a four-time NBA All Star, and was named to the NBA All Defensive 1st team four times, and 2nd team once. Cheeks is one of only three former Sixers players to have also been an assistant coach and head coach for the team (Matt Goukas, Fred Carter) Cheeks is 5th in the NBA all-time in steals, and 13th all-time in assists. The Sixers retired Mo’s #10 in 1995.
