1896 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 1896 Philadelphia Phillies did well at home, but had difficulty on the road during a season which kicked off with a pre-season tribute to former Phillies manager Harry Wright, who had died during the fall of 1895.

Preseason

Baseball pioneer and former Phillies manager Harry Wright had died in October 1895. The National League declared April 13, 1896 to be "Wright Day," and the Phillies, along with the other clubs playing that day, dedicated their gate receipts to a memorial in Wright's memory. Wright's arrival as Phillies manager in 1884 brought immediate credibility to the fledging organization, and he exerted a positive influence on the growth of baseball in the area.
The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Harry Wright came to this city in the zenith of his powers as a base ball manager, and what he did for the development of the local end of the national game of base ball is a matter of history. It was here that he passed the evening of his life, beloved by all whose good fortune it was to know him. Here it was that he had his little home staked, and here in the impressive silence of beautiful West Laurel Hill his mortal remains lie buried. His work was an honor to Philadelphians, who will doubtless turn and give substantial evidence of their appreciation of that honor."
The Inquirer rallied the city's amateur baseball organizations to attend the game in numbers. Four thousand fans attended the Phillies exhibition game at Philadelphia Ball Park against the Atlantic League Philadelphia Athletics, raising $1,400 for the Wright memorial.

Regular season

On July 13, 1896, Phillies outfielder and firstbaseman Ed Delahanty hit four home runs at Chicago's West Side Park, only the second player to do so. In contrast to Bobby Lowe's feat two years earlier, which was aided by a short foul line, two of Delahanty's were inside-the-park. After Delahanty's third, center fielder Bill Lange drew a laugh by calling "time", stationing himself in deep-deep center, near the clubhouse, seemingly a mile away, and then waving the pitcher to continue. Delahanty then got the laugh on Lange by knocking it between the clubhouse and the fence, again circling the bases while Lange scurried for the ball. The normally partisan home fans cheered Delahanty's effort. Chicago would win the game, 9–8.

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		71	242	77	.318	1	44
1B		57	218	75	.344	1	41
2B		120	469	150	.320	2	83
3B		65	227	56	.247	3	30
SS		88	339	90	.265	0	38
OF		119	517	154	.298	12	100
OF		123	499	198	.397	13	126
OF		64	287	88	.307	2	22

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	106	406	104	.256	1	73
	48	191	48	.251	2	24
	57	184	66	.359	5	45
	39	175	57	.326	4	42
	40	145	43	.297	1	28
	37	143	34	.238	0	14
	17	56	13	.232	0	6
	14	49	15	.306	0	6
	13	32	7	.219	0	0
	4	16	1	.063	0	0
	2	6	2	.333	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	45	359.0	20	21	4.79	97
	25	196.0	15	10	4.41	23
	27	187.1	11	11	5.62	36
	16	113.1	3	11	5.88	28
	12	79.2	5	4	5.31	29
	11	77.1	5	3	4.54	14
	5	42.0	1	4	8.36	3
	1	7.0	1	0	5.14	1

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	3	16.1	1	1	3.86	2
	2	13.0	0	1	7.62	4
	3	10.1	0	1	7.84	2
	2	9.0	0	1	3.00	1

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	2	0	0	0	7.71	3
	1	0	0	0	18.00	0