Dave Philley's Incredible Pinch-Hitting Streak

The story of Phillies player who had a great impact as a pinch hitter.

Dave Philley played for eight different teams in a distinguished 18-year major league career as an outfielder/first baseman/pinch-hitter. With a name like his, it seems inevitable that at least a part of that long career would be spent, well, as a Phillie. In December 1957, the Phillies purchased the 37-year-old switch-hitter from the Detroit Tigers and Dave Philley became a Phillie. General Manager Roy Hamey said that Philley would be used primarily as a pinch-hitter. Philley ended up starting 41 games for the Phillies that year, but it was as a pinch-hitter he truly made his mark.

Pinch-hitting is one of the hardest jobs in baseball. Coming off the bench after sitting around all game waiting for a chance, the pinch hitter is often thrown into critical situations. The pinch-hitter has just one shot at success. The Phillies have had several great pinch-hitters over the years: Matt Stairs, Greg Gross, and Smokey Burgess come immediately to mind. Dave Philley belongs in that group. In 1958, Philley set the major league record for consecutive pinch hits in a season with eight. A closer look at those eight consecutive hits shows just how critical Philley's contributions were to the Phillies fortunes in those games.

The streak began on September 9 in a game at Connie Mack Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the sixth inning, the Phillies rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game against Sandy Koufax. With Chico Fernandez on third and Bob Bowman on first, Dodger manager Walter Alston replaced the lefty Koufax with righty Johnny Klippstein. Phils' manager Eddie Sawyer countered with his ace, Dave Philley to bat for pitcher Jack Sanford. Philley promptly singled, scoring Fernandez with the go ahead run. That run turned out to be the winning run as Jack Meyer pitched three shutout innings to preserve the 4-3 victory.

On September 11, Philley beat the Dodgers again. Pinch-hitting for catcher Jimmie Coker in the bottom of the eighth of a 3-3 game against Clem Labine, Philley again singled home Fernandez with the winning run. The next night, Philley pinch-hit for Ted Kazanski in the eighth inning and singled off the Giant's Ruben Gomez to drive in Richie Ashburn with the Phillies second and last run of the game in a 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. On September 13, Philley again pinch-hit for Kazanski in the eighth inning and again singled home a run in a game the Phillies eventually lost 6-5. That made four consecutive pinch-hit singles accounting for four RBIs.

Philley started the next two games in right field, ironically going 0-6 in the process. Back on the bench on September 19 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philley batted for pitcher Turk Farrell and lined another single, this time with the bases empty and two out. The Phillies lost the game 4-2. The next day, Philley batted for Robin Roberts against the Pirates’ Elroy Face in the ninth inning with the Phillies down 4-2. He drilled an RBI double down the left field line to pull the Phillies within one run. Unfortunately, the rally died there, and the Phillies lost 4-3..

In a game on Saturday, September 27 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, the Phillies entered the eighth inning tied with the Pirates at one. The Phillies took the lead when Wally Post doubled home two runs. Face came on in relief of Vernon Law and intentionally walked Harry Anderson. Sawyer then sent Philley up to bat for Pancho Herrera and Dave launched a Face forkball far over the right field fence for a three-run home run. Philley's homer tied Peanuts Lowery's 1952 record of seven pinch-hits in seven consecutive pinch-hitting appearances. Sunday, September 28 was the final day of the season. In the seventh inning, with the Phillies leading 1-0 and Harry Anderson on first, Sawyer again sent Philley up to hit for Herrera. Dave promptly broke the consecutive pinch-hit record, doubling to right. Anderson scored on the play, but no RBI was awarded because Bill Mazoroski made an error on the relay throw.

To recap, Philley had eight hits in eight consecutive pinch hit at bats, including five singles, two doubles, a home run, and eight RBIs. The season was over, but Philley was not finished with the streak yet. In his first plate appearance in 1959, Philley pinch-hit for catcher Jim Hegan and slammed an RBI double against the Milwaukee Braves Lew Burdette to tie the game at three. Consecutive hitting streaks like this do not carry over to the next season, nonetheless, Philley had nine hits in nine consecutive pinch-hitting appearances. Even when the streak finally ended on April 19, Philly managed a productive out, hitting a sacrifice fly against the Cincinnati Reds Bob Mabe.

Dave Philley continued to play and continued to be an effective pinch-hitter for four more years in the big leagues. In 1961, in Baltimore, at the age of 41, he set the American League record for most pinch-hits in a season at 24. His major league record for consecutive pinch-hits was tied by the New York Mets Rusty Staub in 1983. One final note: Although Philley was a switch-hitter all the hits in this streak came while he was batting left-handed.