1989 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 1989 season was the Phillies 107th season. The Phillies finished in 6th place in the National League East for the second consecutive season. It would also be Mike Schmidt's final season.

Offseason

• October 24, 1988: Shane Rawley and cash were traded by the Phillies to the Minnesota Twins for Tom Nieto, Eric Bullock and Tom Herr.^[1]
• December 7, 1988: Kent Tekulve was released by the Philadelphia Phillies.^[2]
• December 7, 1988: Greg A. Harris was signed as a Free Agent with the Philadelphia Phillies.^[3]
• December 8, 1988: Phil Bradley was traded by the Phillies to the Baltimore Orioles for Gordon Dillard and Ken Howell.^[4]
• December 16, 1988: Milt Thompson was traded by the Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Lake and Curt Ford.^[5]
• January 11, 1989: Steve Stanicek was signed as a free agent by the Phillies.^[6]

Regular season

Injuries to Mike Schmidt's knees and back caused him to miss much of the season. After a poor start to the season, Schmidt chose to suddenly announce his retirement in San Diego, on May 29. Known as "Captain Cool" by many in Philadelphia sports circles, Schmidt surprised many with an emotional, and occasionally tearful, retirement speech. In honor of his career, fans voted Schmidt to the NL All-Star team; Schmidt declined to play but was announced with the team. His last game was May 28, 1989 against the San Francisco Giants.^[7]

On June 8, 1989, Steve Jeltz hit two of his five career home runs in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite not starting the game. A switch-hitter, Jeltz hit one of these homers from the right side of the plate and one from the left side. This was the first time in the history of the Phillies that this feat had been accomplished. It was in this same game that, after the Pirates scored 10 runs in the top of the first, Pirate broadcaster Jim Rooker said on-air, "If we lose this game, I'll walk home." The Phillies came back to win 15-11, and after the season Rooker conducted a 300-mile charity walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.

Season standings

Notable transactions

• June 1, 1989: Shane Turner was traded by the Phillies to the Baltimore Orioles for John Posey (minors).^[9]
• June 2, 1989: Chris James was traded by the Phillies to the San Diego Padres for John Kruk and Randy Ready.^[10]
• June 18, 1989: Juan Samuel was traded by the Phillies to the New York Mets for Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell and a player to be named later. The Mets completed the trade by sending Tom Edens to the Phillies on July 27.^[11]
• June 18, 1989: Steve Bedrosian and a player to be named later were traded by the Phillies to the San Francisco Giants for Charlie Hayes, Dennis Cook and Terry Mulholland. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Rick Parker to the Giants on August 7.^[12]
• August 7, 1989: Greg A. Harris was selected off waivers by the Boston Red Sox from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[3]

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

Farm system

References

External links

• 1989 Philadelphia Phillies season at Baseball Reference