The Phillies Come to Life

Outside Philadelphia's Shibe Park last week, a newspaper delivery truck screeched to a stop. The driver dumped his papers and grinned, "What's going on around here, a World Series?" He knew the answer, and so did nearly everybody else in Philadelphia: the team that had been moribund for 28 years,* and in eighth place in the National League for seven out of eight years, was suddenly the livest thing in baseball.

A year ago, a crowd of 800 dead-end loyalists in the stands was good. One night last week, there were 20,000 cash customers left outside the park and 36,356 inside when the Phillies lined up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phils, in their new red, white & blue uniforms, made circus catches, beat out bunts, took the Cardinals, 5 to 3.

The 1946 Phillies had begun the season like their stumblebum predecessors by losing 24 times in 32 games. Their new manager, onetime Yankee Ben Chapman, tried everything: he forbade any player even to mention the word cellar, fired three veterans on the team who couldn't shake off that old Philly feeling. His toughest self-assignment: patting pitchers on the back when they got knocked out of the box. Ben Chapman himself had changed since he got kicked out of organized baseball for a year three years ago for slugging an umpire.

Beer & Blue Laws. On May 29, when it looked as if the club would set a new record for games lost, youthful Owner Bob Carpenter Jr. (whose father, a Du Pont vice president, had bought him the club) made a crucial decision. The usual fire-the-manager cries were being heard and doing team morale no good. Carpenter suddenly announced that he was not only keeping Ben Chapman but had signed him for 1947 too. From then on, Chapman was able to get what he needed from his boys. Ex-Cincinnati slugger Frank McCormick (who cost $40,000) began knocking down the fences. So did Rightfielder Ron Northey and Catcher Andy Seminick. The club swept through the West for the most successful Philly trip in 30 years.

The day they beat the Pirates and climbed out of the National League basement, the Phillies wrecked the locker-room. A cellar door was burned in celebration. Manager Chapman broke a rule and served the team beer. Four days later they climbed to sixth place. For the first time people began buying Philly pennants from peddlers outside the park. When a Sunday game with Cincinnati was called after eleven innings with the score tied, State Assemblyman Joe Scanlon, sensing a popular issue, set about changing Pennsylvania's Sunday Blue Law.

In the old Philly days, every time they dug up a promising ballplayer he was sold (there were always bills to pay). Now the Phillies clung happily to a 21-year-old, Philadelphia-born rookie named Del Ennis, who was hitting .315 and was one of the season's likeliest new players. The real hero of the team was sparkplug Second Baseman Emil Verban. He got mad when the St. Louis Cardinals sold him down the river to the Phillies two months ago for $40,000. He promptly began doing things around second base he never suspected he could do--especially when the Phillies played the St. Louis Cardinals.

At baseball's Fourth of July halfway point, the surprised Brooklyn Dodgers were still holding on to a four-game lead in the National League. They had no pitching to speak of, but pointed with pride to scrappy little Ed Stanky (TIME, June 24), who had a talent for getting on base, and Dixie ("The Pride of Flat-bush") Walker, who had a talent for driving him in. About all the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, the hottest team in pre-season dope, had to offer were moans about sore pitching arms. They knew they had better start going places before the close-up and dangerous Chicago Cubs did.

The American League pennant race, at least as far as rabid Bostonians were concerned, ended weeks ago. The wonderful Red Sox, who had heavy going on their latest western trip, were now back home with an eight-game lead and an intense affection for the short right-field wall at Fenway Park. (Their home lot score: won 30, lost 3). The Red Sox's Ted Williams last week smacked out his 20th homer of the season. The only team the Sox had to worry at all about was the hot & cold New York Yankees--and Joe Di Maggio wasn't hitting.

*Exception: in 1932 the Phillies finished in the first division.

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