Whiz Kids (baseball)

The Whiz Kids is the nickname of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.[1] The team had a number of young players: the average age of a member of the Whiz Kids was 26.4.[2] The team won the 1950 National League pennant but failed to win the World Series.

After owner R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr. built a team of bonus babies, the 1950 team won for the majority of the season, but slumped late, allowing the defending National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers to gain ground in the last two weeks. The final series of the season was against Brooklyn, and the final game pitted the Opening Day starting pitchers, right-handers Robin Roberts and Don Newcombe, against one another. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers in extra innings in the final game of the season on a three-run home run by Dick Sisler in the top of the tenth inning. In the World Series which followed, the Whiz Kids were swept by the New York Yankees, who won their second of five consecutive World Series championships.[3]

The failure of the Whiz Kids to win another pennant after their lone successful season has been attributed to multiple theories, the most prominent of which is Carpenter's unwillingness to integrate his team after winning a pennant with an all-white team.

  1. ^ Lassanske, Bob (April 17, 1956). "National League Rich in Baseball Lore". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 6. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "1950 Philadelphia Phillies Batting, Pitching, and Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Singer, Tom (October 26, 2009). "Yankees stand in Phillies' path to history". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2009.