RetroSimba

In an 18-year big-league career, Dave Philley spent three seasons in the National League and did some serious damage against the Cardinals.

One of the all-time best pinch-hitters, Philley was a career .270 batter who finished with 1,700 hits. The team against whom he had the highest batting average was the Cardinals.

Philley batted .370 (30-for-81) in 37 career games against the Cardinals. In 1959, playing for the Phillies, Philley blistered Cardinals pitching at a .422 clip (19-for-45).

A switch hitter, Philley made his big-league debut with the White Sox in 1941, served in the military and returned to the majors in 1946. He was an outfielder and first baseman with the White Sox, Athletics, Indians, Orioles and Tigers until joining the Phillies in 1958.

From 1957 through 1959, Philley was one of the premier pinch-hitters in the game. His batting averages as a pinch-hitter in those years:

_ .436 (17-for-39) in 1957 (White Sox and Tigers).

_ .409 (18-for-44) in 1958 (Phillies).

_ .395 (15-for-38) in 1959 (Phillies).

In 1958, Philley hit safely in eight consecutive pinch-hit appearances. When he got a pinch hit in his first appearance of 1959, Philley extended the streak to a major-league record nine.

In 1959, when he turned 40 in May, Philley pounded Cardinals pitching. It began in spring training when Philley ripped a pinch-hit grand slam against Sal Maglie of the Cardinals on March 29 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Some of Philley’s many highlights versus the Cardinals in 1959:

_ May 5, 1959, Phillies 8, Cardinals 7, at Philadelphia: The Cardinals took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Philadelphia rallied for five runs against starter Vinegar Bend Mizell and relievers Larry Jackson and Jim Brosnan. Boxscore

Philley, pinch-hitting for catcher Jim Hegan, contributed to the comeback with a RBI-single off Brosnan.

Cardinals manager Solly Hemus told The Sporting News the bullpen collapse was “the worst exhibition I ever saw _ terrible.”

_ June 6, 1959, Phillies 4, Cardinals 3, at Philadelphia: In the 10th inning, Philley, pinch-hitting for catcher Valmy Thomas with two outs and the bases loaded, singled to right against Lindy McDaniel, scoring Richie Ashburn from third for the victory. Boxscore

_ Aug. 9, 1959, Phillies 4, Cardinals 2, at St. Louis: In the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Philley, pinch-hitting for pitcher Jim Owens, singled to left off Marshall Bridges, driving in Joe Koppe from third with the tie-breaking run. Boxscore

“I’m a better hitter now than I ever was,” Philley said in a 1959 interview with The Sporting News, “and if I had known 10 years ago what I know now, I would have been able to make a potful of money out of this game.

“Of course, as you get older you get smarter up there at the plate and figure the pitchers better, but the main thing is that I’ve cut down on my swing. When I first came up and, in fact, until a few years ago, I was trying to hit home runs. I swung too hard and I had too long a swing. Now I’ve cut my swing down and I have control of the bat and I can wait longer on a pitch.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said Philley became “an outstanding pinch-hitter past 40 because he worked so hard to stay in shape.”

Philley was a mentor to the rookie second baseman of the 1959 Phillies, Sparky Anderson. The Sporting News reported Anderson, the future Hall of Fame manager of the Reds and Tigers, “has been one of the most consistent seekers of advice from Philley and believes Dave has helped him in many ways. The two usually sit together on the club’s plane rides and talk baseball by the hour.”

Previously: Cardinals’ collapse part of Larry Jackson’s painful 1961 season