Eddie Phillips (philled02)
Howard Edward Phillips
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
- High School Hannibal (MO) High School
- Debut September 10, 1953
- Final Game September 26, 1953
- Born July 8, 1930 in St. Louis, MO USA
- Died September 9, 2010 in Hannibal, MO USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Eddie Phillips appeared in nine major league games but never had an at-bat or a fielding appearance. He was a multiple sports star at Hannibal (MO) High School, playing basketball and football and running track in addition to playing baseball. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals after graduation in 1949 and was sent to the West Frankfort Cardinals of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League to begin his minor league apprenticeship in 1950. He showed obvious promise by scoring 119 runs in 117 games while stealing 36 bases. In 1951, playing for the St. Joseph Cardinals of the Western Association, he stole 28 bases and led the league in triples. However, that would be the end of his wild base-stealing days: he would never steal more than 8 in a season after that.
In 1952, Phillips led the Western League in batting average, then hit .306 in the Texas League in 1953. That earned him a promotion to the big league club in September of 1953. He was both an infielder and an outfielder in the minor leagues, but in the Show, all he did was pinch run, 9 times in all, and scoring 4 runs. Back to the minors he went in 1954, first again with the Houston Buffaloes in the Texas League, then with the Columbus (OH) Red Birds of the American Association for his first taste of AAA baseball. AAA was were he would make his home for the next while, however, playing at this level for six different teams over the next five seasons, while spending his winters in Panama and helping Carta Vieja to reach the Caribbean World Series in 1955.
Eddie Phillips got married in 1959, and perhaps not coincidentally, put an end to his playing career in 1960. He then moved back to Hannibal, MO and worked for the American Cyanamid Chemical Company for twenty-five years. He died there in 2010.
Further Reading[edit]
- Clifford Blau: "Leg Men: Career Pinch-Runners in Major League Baseball", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 38, Number 1 (Summer 2009), pp. 70-81.
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