Karl Phillipp

Infielder Karl Phillipp was a longtime representative of Germany in international competition.

Phillipp starred for the German national team in their first international competition, the 1954 European Championship, with a team-high 3 hits and .375 average (the rest of the team hit .100). He had one walk, one run and two RBI in the two games, though he did make two errors in eight chances. He hit .385/.500/.385 with two runs and three RBI and fielded .875 in the 1955 European Championship as Germany got their first Medal, a Bronze. He led the team again in hits (five), average and slugging (both .085 over Claus Helmig), RBI and slugging (.136 ahead of Helmig). In the 1956 European Championship, he produced at a .267/.389/.267 clip. He had four hits, one shy of team leader Walter Schmid, as he failed to lead the team in that department for the first time.

Statistics are limited for the 1957 European Championship; for the five at-bats for which records have been found, he had two hits and a double. Germany got their first Silver Medal. In the 1958 European Championship, he was 3 for 10 with his lone home run on the international stage, a walk, two runs and a RBI. He tied Claus Helmig and Jürgen Helmig for the team lead in hits and only Jürgen Helmig had a better slugging percentage as Germany got the Bronze. He hit .222/.417/.333 with three walks in the 1960 European Championship, making three errors though in fielding .667. He scored two of Germany's three runs as they were outscored 26-3 that year. He led the team in OBP (.084 ahead of Kurt Weindl) and tied Weindl for the best slugging percentage.

He then missed a few Euros, appearing next in the 1969 European Championship. He hit .333/.467/.417 but fielded .583 with five errors in four games. He tied Hubert Kohl and Schmid for second on the team with four runs, led the team with three steals and tied Schmid for the best OBP but also made the most miscues in the field. In the 1971 European Championship, the veteran was 1 for 11 with a walk, Germany's lone triple and a .963 fielding percentage as they won the Bronze. The rest of the team fielded .904. He ended his international career in the 1972 Amateur World Series, going only 1 for 38 with two RBI, 17 strikeouts and five walks, while fielding .880. His .140 OBP was not far from the team's .161. He led them in walks and his two RBI still tied Konrad Kainz and Jürgen Helmig for the team lead, while his nine errors only tied for fifth.

He ranks among the top in the nation all-time in national team games played, with 43 under his belt. Through 2010, he was tied with Stephan Jäger for 11th in games played for Germany, tied Jendrick Speer, Frank Jäger and Stephan Jäger for fifth in European Championships played in (8), tied Wolfgang Loos and Simon Gühring for 5th in walks (18), tied Jürgen Schubert for 6th in strikeouts (31), was sixth with 91 assists and tied Claus Helmig for second with 26 errors (5 behind Roland Hoffmann).

He hit .207/.273/.315 in his international career, but .289/.390/.386 with 14 runs and 10 RBI in 28 European Championship games; his 1972 Amateur World Series stint against tougher competition in a longer tournament drags down his international stats. Domestic stats for German leagues in that era are unavailable, but Phillipp presumably played regularly.