1951 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1951 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 69th season in the history of the franchise.
The Phillies finished in fifth place. The team had won the 1950 National League pennant but in the United Press' annual preseason poll of sportswriters, only 18 out of 168 writers picked the team to repeat as pennant winners; the Giants received 81 votes and the Dodgers 55. Those two teams wound up tied, with the Phillies 23 games behind.
Offseason
- Prior to 1951 season: Ray Semproch was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.
Preseason
The Phillies held spring training in Clearwater, Florida, stayed at the Fort Harrison Hotel, and played at Clearwater Athletic Field. It was the team's fifth successive year training in Clearwater.Regular season
Notable transactions
- June 11, 1951: Ted Kazanski was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.
All-Star Game
The 1951 All-Star Game was originally awarded to the Philadelphia Phillies. The City of Detroit was celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding in 1701 and requested to host the year's All-Star Game. Although the National League was scheduled to host the game in '51, the game was moved to Detroit's Briggs Stadium to coincide with the city's celebration. The Phillies instead hosted the 1952 All-Star Game at Shibe Park.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 | Andy Seminick | 101 | 291 | 66 | .227 | 11 | 37 |
| 1B | Eddie Waitkus | 145 | 610 | 157 | .257 | 1 | 46 |
| 2B | Putsy Caballero | 84 | 161 | 30 | .186 | 1 | 11 |
| SS | Granny Hamner | 150 | 589 | 150 | .255 | 9 | 72 |
| 3B | Willie Jones | 148 | 564 | 161 | .285 | 22 | 81 |
| OF | Dick Sisler | 125 | 428 | 123 | .287 | 8 | 52 |
| OF | Del Ennis | 144 | 532 | 142 | .267 | 15 | 73 |
| OF | Richie Ashburn | 154 | 643 | 221 | .344 | 4 | 63 |
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 |
| Del Wilber | 84 | 245 | 68 | .278 | 8 | 34 |
| Eddie Pellagrini | 86 | 197 | 46 | .234 | 5 | 30 |
| Tommy Brown | 78 | 196 | 43 | .219 | 10 | 32 |
| Bill Nicholson | 85 | 170 | 41 | .241 | 8 | 30 |
| Mike Goliat | 41 | 138 | 31 | .225 | 4 | 15 |
| Dick Young | 15 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 0 | 2 |
| Jimmy Bloodworth | 21 | 42 | 6 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Mel Clark | 10 | 31 | 10 | .323 | 1 | 3 |
| Dick Whitman | 19 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Silvestri | 4 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Jackie Mayo | 9 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Stan Lopata | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Sanicki | 13 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
| Stan Hollmig | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
| Robin Roberts | 44 | 315.0 | 21 | 15 | 3.03 | 127 |
| Bubba Church | 38 | 247.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.53 | 104 |
| Russ Meyer | 28 | 168.0 | 8 | 9 | 3.48 | 65 |
| Ken Johnson | 20 | 106.1 | 5 | 8 | 4.57 | 58 |
| Niles Jordan | 5 | 36.2 | 2 | 3 | 3.19 | 11 |
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 |
| Jocko Thompson | 29 | 119.1 | 4 | 8 | 3.85 | 60 |
| Ken Heintzelman | 35 | 118.1 | 6 | 12 | 4.18 | 55 |
| Karl Drews | 5 | 23.0 | 1 | 0 | 6.26 | 13 |
| Lou Possehl | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 6 |
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 |
| Jim Konstanty | 58 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 4.05 | 27 |
| Andy Hansen | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.54 | 11 |
| 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 10 | |
| 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6.82 | 10 | |
| Leo Cristante | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.91 | 6 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |