Editing Philadelphia Phillies (section)

==Rivalries==
The Phillies had several notable [[Major League Baseball rivalries|rivalries]] through history as they often clashed frequently against the [[Atlanta Braves]], [[Los Angeles Dodgers]], and the [[New York Mets]] during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the 2000s. The Phillies often faced heated matchups against all three teams. Against the Dodgers and the Braves, those matchups have happened in the postseason, the Dodgers five times in the NLCS, the Braves twice in the NLDS and once in the NLCS. The fierceness of their matchups against the Mets are due to the geographic [[Sports in the New York metropolitan area|New York]]-[[Sports in Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] rivalry, which is also seen in other sports.<ref name="NewYorkPhiladelphia"/>

===New York Mets===
{{Main|Mets–Phillies rivalry}}
[[File:Philadelphia Phillies versus New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park 9-29-2017.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of the Phillies playing division rival New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park |The Phillies play division rival [[New York Mets]] at [[Citizens Bank Park]] on September 29, 2017]]
The rivalry between the New York Mets and the Phillies has been said to be among the "hottest" rivalries in the National League.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/04/11/2008-04-11_metsphillies_rivalry_looking_like_what_m-2.html| title=Mets-Phillies rivalry looking like what Mets-Braves used to be| last=Bondy| first=Filip| date=April 11, 2008| work=[[New York Daily News]]| access-date=June 15, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322214658/http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-phillies-rivalry-mets-braves-article-1.281288| archive-date=March 22, 2018| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K_e8KWxmo_kC&q=Mets-Phillies+rivalry&pg=PA10 | title=Philadelphia Phillies Past & Present| page=10| first=Rich| last=Westcott| publisher=[[MVP Books]]| year=2010| access-date=July 15, 2011| isbn=9781610600989}}</ref> The two National League East divisional rivals have met each other recently in playoff, division, and wild card races.

Aside from several brawls in the 1980s, the rivalry remained low-key before the 2006 season,<ref>{{cite news |last=Bondy |first=Filip |date=May 24, 2006 |title=Despite long game, rivalry long way off |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2006/05/24/despite-long-game-rivalry-long-way-off/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |work=[[New York Daily News]]}}</ref> as the teams had seldom been equally good at the same time. Since 2006, the teams have battled for playoff position. The Mets won the division in 2006 and contended in 2007 and 2008, while the Phillies won five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_17_slnmlb_phimlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=phi| title=High Phive: Phils clinch fifth straight East title| date=September 17, 2011| access-date=September 18, 2011| first=Mike| last=Radano| website=Philadelphia Phillies| publisher=[[MLB]]| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923192343/http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_17_slnmlb_phimlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=phi| archive-date=September 23, 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref> The Phillies' 2007 Eastern Division Title was won on the last day of the season as the Mets lost a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining.

There is a long-standing bitter rivalry between the sports fans from [[Sports in the New York metropolitan area|New York City]] and [[Sports in Philadelphia|Philadelphia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080418&content_id=2547443&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym|date=April 18, 2008|title=Wagner downplays Mets–Phils rivalry|first=Ken|last=Mandel|work=MLB.com|publisher=Mets.MLB.com|access-date=June 4, 2012|quote=Philadelphia fans hate New York fans and New York fans [hate Philadelphia fans]...Eagles fans and Giants fans don't get along, and Flyers supporters haven't been known to break bread with those wearing Rangers jerseys.}}</ref> which are approximately two hours apart by car,<ref>{{cite news|title=Mets Can't Even Pick a Good Fight|date=April 4, 2004|first=David|last=Waldstein|page=Sports.9|newspaper=The Star-Ledger|quote=You've got the proximity, a natural rivalry between the cities, and there are fans of both clubs in Jersey.}}</ref> seen also between the [[Eagles–Giants rivalry|New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles]] in the [[National Football League]], and the [[Flyers–Rangers rivalry|New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers]] in [[National Hockey League]].<ref>{{cite news|title=A City's Hopes Fly High on the Wings of Eagles|date=January 5, 2001|first=Peter|last=Mucha|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|page=A1|quote=New York teams—the Mets, Rangers, Giants and Knicks—rank among Philadelphia's most loathed rivals.}}</ref> Games between the two teams at [[Citi Field]] and [[Citizens Bank Park]] are often very intense, hard-hitting affairs, as each home crowd does its best to create an unfriendly, sometimes volatile atmosphere for any visiting-team fans.<ref name="NewYorkPhiladelphia">{{cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555008|title=Garden memories special for van Riemsdyk|date=March 4, 2011|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|work=NHL.com|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=March 5, 2011|quote=Games between the Flyers and Rangers almost always are intense, hard-hitting affairs...'You have that feeling when you come into Philly and you know when they come into New York the fans are going to be pumped up.'}}</ref>

===Pittsburgh Pirates===
{{Main|Phillies–Pirates rivalry}}
The rivalry between the Phillies and the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] was considered by some to be one of the best rivalries in the National League.<ref>{{Cite news| title=In Depth: Baseball's Most Intense Rivalries|url= https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/28/baseball-best-rivalries-lifestyle-sports-baseball_slide_7.html?thisSpeed=undefined| date=April 28, 2009| work=[[Forbes]]| first=Matt| last=Woolsey}}</ref><ref name="LostRivalry">{{cite news|title=Pirates—Phillies: A Rivalry Lost and Missed|date=July 4, 2005|first=Gene|last=Collier|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|page=D1}}</ref><ref name="PhilliesPirates">{{cite web| url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050707&content_id=1119893&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi| title=Notes: Phils–Pirates rivalry fading| date=July 7, 2005| access-date=January 3, 2011| first=George| last=Von Benko| website=Philadelphia Phillies| publisher=[[MLB]]| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714103810/http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050707&content_id=1119893&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi| archive-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> The rivalry started when the Pittsburgh Pirates entered National League play in their fifth season of 1887, four years after the Phillies.<ref name="PhilPitt">{{cite web|url= http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_04_08_colmlb_houmlb_1#gid=2012_04_05_phimlb_pitmlb_1&mode=preview| title=Pirates hope to get to where Phillies are| first=Paul| last=Hagen| work=[[MLB.com]]|date=April 4, 2012| access-date=April 8, 2012}}</ref>

The Phillies and the Pirates had remained together after the National League split into two divisions in 1969. During the period of two-division play (1969–1993), the two National League East division rivals won the two highest numbers of division championships, reigning exclusively as NL East champions in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s,<ref name="PhilPitt" /><ref>{{cite news| title=Pirates perform rare three-peat feat 4–2| date=September 28, 1992| newspaper=[[USA Today]]| page=5C}}</ref> the Pirates nine, the Phillies six; together, the teams' 15 championships accounted for more than half of the 25 NL East championships during that span.<ref name="MostTitles">{{cite news| title=Pirates, Phillies Have Owned the Outgoing NL East Division| date=September 27, 1993| first=Gene| last=Collier| newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]| page=D1}}</ref>

After the Pirates moved to the [[National League Central]] in 1994, the teams face each other in only two series each year and the rivalry has diminished.<ref name="PhilliesPirates" /> However, many fans, especially older ones, retain their dislike for the other team and regional differences between [[Delaware Valley|Eastern]] and [[Western Pennsylvania]] still fuel the rivalry.<ref name="PhiladelphiaPittsburgh">{{cite news| title=It's Philly vs. the Burgh| date=May 11, 2008| newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]| page=B1}}</ref> The rivalry between the [[Flyers–Penguins rivalry|Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins]] in the National Hockey League is also fiercely contested.<ref name="PhiladelphiaPittsburgh" /><ref>{{cite news| title=Flyers, Penguins renew nasty playoff rivalry|url= http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=418333| date=April 14, 2009| access-date=March 22, 2011| agency=Associated Press| work=[[NHL.com]]}}</ref>

===Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos===
{{main|Nationals–Phillies rivalry}}

The Phillies' rivalry with the [[Washington Nationals]] extends back during their original tenure as the [[Montreal Expos]]. The two teams repeatedly battled for control of the division in the early 1980s and mid 1990s. Following the franchise's relocation to Washington DC in 2005; the rivalry increased in geographic tension due to Washington's proximity to Philadelphia. The rivalry quickly spiked in intensity during the 2010s after Nationals team management introduced a campaign to block Phillies fans from overtaking home games. In 2019; star-outfielder [[Bryce Harper]] further fueled tensions after signing a 13-year $330 million contract with the Phillies as a free agent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/04/bryce-harper-phillies-nationals-home-run-rivalry|title=With one swing, Bryce Harper ignited a beautiful, new rivalry in Phillies – Nationals|date=April 3, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/bryce-harper-singlehandedly-started-a-nationals-phillies-rivalry|title=Bryce Harper singlehandedly started a huge Phillies-Nationals rivalry in one crazy night|website=[[MLB.com]] |date=April 3, 2019 }}</ref> The Nationals later managed to win the [[2019 World Series]] during the first year of Harper's absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chesterton|first=Eric|title=Bryce Harper mistakenly said he wanted to bring a title to DC in his first Phillies press conference|url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/bryce-harper-wants-to-bring-a-title-to-dc|publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]|website=[[MLB.com]]|date=March 2, 2019|access-date=June 27, 2021}}</ref> The Phillies currently lead the series 482–445, but the Nationals lead the postseason series; when the Expos managed a 3–2 victory over the Phillies during the 1981 NLDS.

The rivalry is also mirrored in the Philadelphia-Washington rivalry, which is also seen in other sports, like between the [[Commanders–Eagles rivalry|Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders]] and the [[Capitals–Flyers rivalry|Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals]]. The two cities are approximately two and a half hours apart by car.

=== Historical rivalries ===

====City Series: Philadelphia Athletics====
{{Main|City Series (Philadelphia)}}
[[File:Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics, 1905 World Series.jpg|thumb|[[Connie Mack]] and the Philadelphia Athletics, 1905 World Series]]
The City Series was the name of a series of baseball games played between the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] of the American League and the Phillies that ran from 1903 through 1955. After the A's move to Kansas City, Missouri in 1955, the City Series rivalry came to an end. The teams have since faced each other in [[Interleague play]] (since its introduction in 1997) but the rivalry has effectively died in the intervening years since the A's left Philadelphia. In 2014, when the A's faced the Phillies in inter-league play at [[RingCentral Coliseum|Oakland Coliseum]], the Athletics did not bother to mark the historical connection, going so far as to have a Connie Mack promotion the day before the series while the Texas Rangers were in Oakland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/schedule/promotions.jsp?c_id=oak&y=2014|title=2014 Promotional Schedule|access-date=March 26, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090104/http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/schedule/promotions.jsp?c_id=oak&y=2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first City Series was held in 1883 between the Phillies and the [[Philadelphia Athletics (American Association)|American Association's Athletics]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Movin' on Up: Baseball and Phialdephia Then, Now, and Always| last1=Gordon| first1=Robert| first2=Tom| last2=Burgoyne| year=2004| publisher=B B& A Publishers| isbn=0-9754419-3-0| page=128| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yba-wMVloosC&q=Phillies+Athletics+city+series&pg=PA128}}</ref> When the Athletics first joined the American League, the two teams played each other in a spring and fall series. No City Series was held in 1901 and 1902 due to legal warring between the National and American Leagues.