1903 Philadelphia Phillies season

James Potter and his syndicate of investors completed their acquisition of the Phillies, the "Philadelphia Base Ball Club", from Colonel John I. Rogers on April 3, 1903.{{cite news |author= |date=April 4, 1903 |title=Phillies' Organize |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}} Potter and his partners acquired the Phillies for $117,000.{{cite book |last= |first= |author-link= |date=1903 |title=The Reach Official American League Baseball Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwqAAAAYAAJ&dq=Philadelphia+Phillies+Richmond+1903&pg=RA2-PA74 |location= |publisher= |page=74 |isbn=}}

The Phillies held spring training in 1903 in Richmond, Virginia where the team practiced and played exhibition games at Broad Street Park. It was the lone season the Phillies trained in Richmond.

The Philadelphia Athletics began play in 1901 with the founding of the American League. National League and American League teams did not play each other in 1901 or 1902 as the two leagues warred over markets and customers.

The two leagues made peace after 1902 and the Phillies and Athletics scheduled a preseason series for the local championship. The Phillies had last played for the city championship against the Player League’s Philadelphia Athletics in 1890. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted, "For the first time in thirteen years two local teams, representing rival base ball organizations, will come together in a friendly struggle for supremacy of the Quaker City." The Athletics had won the 1902 American League pennant, the Phillies had been newly acquired by John Rogers in February 1903, and interest was high.{{cite news |author= |date=April 6, 1903|title=Local Ball Games Will Begin To-Day |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |location=Philadelphia Inquirer|page=10}}

The Phillies and Athletics played five of nine scheduled games; the Phillies defeated the Athletics, 4 games to 1.

The series was scheduled to begin on April 4, 1903 at the Phillies’ Philadelphia Ball Park but was called off due to rain.{{cite news |author= |date=April 5, 1903|title=Athletics Will Be Good Fellows|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=12}} Games scheduled for April 7, 1903{{cite news |author= |date=April 8, 1903|title=Phillies and Athletics To-Day |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}} at the Phillies’ park and April 8, 1903 at the Athletics’ Columbia Park were also canceled due to rain and wet grounds,{{cite news |author= |date=April 9, 1903|title=Damp Day Diamond Dust|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}} along with the final scheduled game of the series on April 14, 1903 at the Phillies’ park.{{cite news |author= |date=April 14, 1903|title=National League Lines Up To-Day|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

{{Baseball playoff summary

| summary = AL Philadelphia Athletics (1) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (4)

| winner =

| leader =

| score =

| score1 = Philadelphia Phillies – 2, Philadelphia Athletics – 0 (10)

| date1 = April 6, 1903

| loc1 = Columbia Park

| time1 = 1:55

| att1 = 6,543

| ref1 = {{cite news |author= |date=April 7, 1903|title=Athletics Lose First Game to Phillies, 2 to 0 |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score2 = Philadelphia Athletics – 5, Philadelphia Phillies – 6 (10)

| date2 = April 9, 1903

| loc2 = Philadelphia Ball Park

| time2 = 2:10

| att2 = 6,640

| ref2 = {{cite news |author= |date=April 10, 1903 |title=Monte Cross Benched; Athletics Lose 6-5 |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=6}}

| score3 = Philadelphia Phillies – 6, Philadelphia Athletics – 3

| date3 = April 10, 1903

| loc3 = Columbia Park

| time3 = 1:40

| att3 = 8,771

| ref3 = {{cite news |author= |date=April 11, 1903|title=Phillies Outplay Those Champions|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score4 = Philadelphia Athletics – 7, Philadelphia Phillies – 1

| date4 = April 11, 1903

| loc4 = Philadelphia Ball Park

| time4 = 1:38

| att4 = 13,050

| ref4 = {{cite news |author= |date=April 12, 1903 |title=Athletics Finally Secure a Victory|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=12}}

| score5 = Philadelphia Phillies – 2, Philadelphia Athletics – 1 (10)

| date5 = April 13, 1903

| loc5 = Columbia Park

| time5 = 1:40

| att5 = 5,843

| ref5 = {{cite news |author= |date=April 14, 1903 |title=Nationals Cinch the Local Series|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}}}

On August 8, 1903, a balcony collapsed at Baker Bowl during a game against Boston. The New York Times reported the following day that four were killed and 125 injured.{{cite news |title=Grand Stand Falls; 4 Killed, 125 Injured |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 9, 1903 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/08/09/102016492.pdf }} The Phillies temporarily called Columbia Park home while Baker Bowl was repaired.{{cite book |title=Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball |last=Macht |first=Norman L. |author2=Connie Mack, III |year=2007 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-3263-1 |page=316 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvAWd-Aq5UMC&dq=Phillies+Athletics+city+series&pg=PA315 |access-date=May 22, 2009 }} They played sixteen games at Columbia Park in August and September 1903.{{cite web|title=Alternate Site Games Since 1901 |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/neutral.htm |publisher=Retrosheet |access-date=May 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221055636/http://retrosheet.org/neutral.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2009 |url-status=live }}

On September 18, 1903, Chick Fraser pitched a no-hitter in the second game of a double header against the Chicago Cubs at West Side Park. Fraser walked five batters, the Phillies committed four errors and won 10 to 0.{{cite news |author= |date= September 19, 1903|title=Chick Pitches One of the Greatest Games of the Season for the Phillies Against Colts |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

{{1903 National League standings|highlight=Philadelphia Phillies}}

{{1903 NL Record vs. opponents|team=PHI}}

• April 1903: Pop Williams was purchased by the Phillies from the Chicago Orphans.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willipo01.shtml Pop Williams page at Baseball-Reference]
• July 1903: Pop Williams was released by the Phillies.

The Phillies and Athletics played a postseason series for the local championship in addition to the preseason series played in April. The teams played seven of ten games scheduled;{{cite news |author= |date=September 30, 1903|title=Passed Balls |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}} games scheduled for October 8, 1903; October 9, 1903; and October 10, 1903 were canceled due to rain. The Athletics won the series, 4 games to 3.

All of the series games were played at the Athletics’ Columbia Park with each team alternating as the home team. The Phillies’ Philadelphia Ball Park’s had collapsed on August 8, 1903 leaving four dead, and closing the ballpark for the balance of the season.

{{Baseball playoff summary

| summary = AL Philadelphia Athletics (4) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (3)

| winner =

| leader =

| score =

| score1 = Philadelphia Phillies – 3, Philadelphia Athletics – 7

| date1 = September 30, 1903

| loc1 = Columbia Park

| time1 = 1:35

| att1 = 2,008

| ref1 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 1, 1903|title=Athletics Bunch Hits in Eighth |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score2 = Philadelphia Athletics – 6, Philadelphia Phillies – 0

| date2 = October 1, 1903

| loc2 = Columbia Park

| time2 = 1:45

| att2 = 2,439

| ref2 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 2, 1903 |title=Henley Too Deep for the Phillies |url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score3 = Philadelphia Phillies – 5, Philadelphia Athletics – 1

| date3 = October 2, 1903

| loc3 = Columbia Park

| time3 = 1:40

| att3 = 1,438

| ref3 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 3, 1903|title=Sparks Ties Up Athletics Into Very Hard Knots|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score4 = Philadelphia Athletics – 5, Philadelphia Phillies – 0

| date4 = October 3, 1903

| loc4 = Columbia Park

| time4 = 1:35

| att4 = 3,896

| ref4 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 4, 1903 |title=The Phillies Are Again Shut Out|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=12}}

| score5 = Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 6

| date5 = October 5, 1903

| loc5 = Columbia Park

| time5 = 1:40

| att5 =

| ref5 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 6, 1903 |title=Phillies at the Mercy of Plank|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score6 = Philadelphia Athletics – 2, Philadelphia Phillies – 14 (8)

| date6 = October 6, 1903

| loc6 = Columbia Park

| time6 = 1:50

| att6 = 1,084

| ref6 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 7, 1903 |title=Mitchell Again Downs Athletics|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}

| score7 = Philadelphia Phillies – 13, Philadelphia Athletics – 3

| date7 = October 7, 1903

| loc7 = Columbia Park

| time7 = 2:00

| att7 = 992

| ref7 = {{cite news |author= |date=October 8, 1903 |title=Phillies Put The Game Away On Ice|url= |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}}}

After the 1903 season, the Phillies had won 7 and the Athletics had won 5 of the 12 total games played in the city series.

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

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

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

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

{{Reflist|2}}

• [https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1903.shtml 1903 Philadelphia Phillies season at Baseball Reference]

{{1903 MLB season by team}}

{{Philadelphia Phillies}}

Category:Philadelphia Phillies seasons

Philadelphia Phillies season

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