TEAM HISTORY
The Philadelphia Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park, located in South Philadelphia. The Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports.
The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008) and eight National League pennants, the first of which came in 1915. Since the first modern World Series was played in 1903, the Phillies played 77 consecutive seasons (and 97 seasons from the club's establishment) before they won their first World Series—longer than any of the other 16 teams that made up the major leagues for the first half of the 20th century. They are one of the more successful franchises since the start of the Divisional Era in Major League Baseball. The Phillies have won 11 division titles, including five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011; these are ranked sixth among all teams and fourth in the National League. However, they are the only team without a wild card berth. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt is widely considered the franchise's greatest player of all time.
The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts, in the National League. The team has played at several stadiums in the city, beginning with Recreation Park and continuing at Baker Bowl; Shibe Park, which was later renamed Connie Mack Stadium in honor of the longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager; Veterans Stadium, and now Citizens Bank Park.
The team's spring training facilities are located in Clearwater, Florida, where its Class-A minor league affiliate Clearwater Threshers plays at BayCare Ballpark. Their other Class-A affiliate is the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, who play in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Phillies' Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, which play in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, playing in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
After the Phillies got off to a disappointing 22–29 start to the 2022 season, Girardi was fired and replaced by bench coach Rob Thomson. Later that year, the Phillies reached the playoffs for the first time since 2011 by going 87–75. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card series, their first playoff win in 11 years.
The Phillies went on to eliminate the defending World Champion Atlanta Braves 3–1 to advance to the NLCS for the first time since the 2010 season, where they matched up against the San Diego Padres and defeated them in five games, sending the Phillies to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
