2013 Philadelphia Phillies

2013 Philadelphia Phillies / Franchise: Philadelphia Phillies / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 73-89, Finished 4th in NL Eastern Division (2013 NL)

Managed by Charlie Manuel (53-67) and Ryne Sandberg (20-22)

Coaches: Mick Billmeyer, Rich Dubee, Steve Henderson, Wally Joyner, Rod Nichols, Ryne Sandberg and Juan Samuel

Season Summary[edit]

The 2013 Philadelphia Phillies had their second straight disappointing season, even though they were expected to compete for a postseason slot. They had a mediocre first half; their record stood at .500, 48-48, at the All-Star break. That is when their fall began, as they were a terrible 5-19 over the next month. The fall started immediately after winning their first game after the Mid-summer Classic, with an 8-game losing streak, following by a five-game one after one win. On August 12th, they beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1, which was the 1,000th victory of manager Charlie Manuel's career. It was to be his last as the Phils lost their next three games and on August 16th, he was fired. The Phillies were now in 4th place, 20 1/2 games behind the first-place Braves.

Manuel's replacement was Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg who had joined the team as a coach at the start of the season, He was widely rumored to be Manuel's successor-in-waiting, although most observers expected the handover of powers to take another year or two. The Phillies lost their first game under Sandberg, being shut out 4-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies were again shut out by the Dodgers, 5-0, the next day, as Sandberg became only the third manager in history to begin his career with his team being shut out in his first two games; Jack Chapman had been the first with the 1876 Louisville Grays, and Mike Redmond the second, as the 2013 Miami Marlins opened the season with a pair of consecutive whitewashes. Darin Ruf put an end to the scoreless streak with a 4th-inning solo homer on April 18th, and the Phillies eventually ended up in the winner's column when they managed to score the winning run in the 9th inning thanks to a pair of errors by Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez. the 3-2 win ended a 10-game winning streak by the Dodgers, and came after a sequence in which they had won 42 of 50 games.