1971 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 1971 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 89th season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in sixth place in the National League East, with a record of 67-95.

Offseason

• October 7, 1970: Doc Edwards was released by the Phillies.^[1]
• November 3, 1970: Curt Flood and a player to be named later were traded by the Phillies to the Washington Senators for Greg Goossen, Jeff Terpko, and Gene Martin. The Phillies completed the trade by sending Terpko back to the Senators on April 10.^[2]
• December 16, 1970: Grant Jackson, Jim Hutto and Sam Parrilla were traded by the Phillies to the Baltimore Orioles for Roger Freed.^[3]

Regular season

On April 10, the Phillies officially opened Veterans Stadium, their new home park, with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos. Harry Kalas was hired by the Phillies in 1971 to succeed Bill Campbell, and was the master of ceremonies at the 1971 opening of Veterans Stadium.

The Phillies played an exhibition game against the Reading Phillies on June 17, 1971 in Reading. The Phillies had signed second-round draft-pick Mike Schmidt on June 11. Schmidt made his professional debut in the exhibition game in Reading. Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop for the Phillies and hit a game-winning homerun against Reading. He was subsequently assigned to the Reading club where he played the balance of the season.^[4]

On June 25, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Willie Stargell hit what wound up being the longest home run in Veterans Stadium history off of pitcher Jim Bunning in a 14-4 Pirates win over the Phillies.^[5] The spot where the ball landed was marked with a yellow star with a black "S" inside a white circle until Stargell's 2001 death, when the white circle was painted black.^[6] The star remained until the stadium's 2004 demolition.

Season standings

Notable transactions

• April 22, 1971: Johnny Briggs was traded by the Phillies to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ray Peters and Pete Koegel.^[7]
• June 12, 1971: Tony Taylor was traded by the Phillies to the Detroit Tigers for Carl Cavanaugh (minors) and Mike Fremuth (minors).^[8]
• July 17, 1971: Jerry Martin was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.^[9]

Draft picks

• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Mike Schmidt was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round. Player signed June 11, 1971.^[10]
  • Dane Iorg was drafted by the Phillies in the 1st round (22nd pick) of the Secondary Phase. Player signed June 19, 1971.^[11]

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

Records

• Terry Harmon, National League record, Most Chances Accepted in one nine-inning game (18 chances on June 12, 1971)^[12]

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Peninsula^[13]

Notes

Further reading

• Blount Jr., Roy (1971-04-19). "Curtain Up On A Mod New Act". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1084767/1/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 

References

• 1971 Philadelphia Phillies season at Baseball Reference