Editing Philadelphia Phillies (section)

===Fightin' Phils (1949–1970)===
{{See also|1950 World Series|Jim Bunning's perfect game|Whiz Kids (baseball)}}
[[File:RobinRoberts.jpg|thumb|alt=A sketch portrait of Robin Roberts the Phillies' pitcher from 1948 to 1961 |[[Robin Roberts (baseball)|Robin Roberts]], Phillies' pitcher from 1948 to 1961]]
[[File:Richie Ashburn 1953.jpg|thumb|[[Richie Ashburn]], Phillies' center fielder from 1948 to 1959]]
[[File:1964 Philadelphia Phillies team photo.jpg|thumb|The [[1964 Philadelphia Phillies season|1964 Philadelphia Phillies]] team|alt=Team photograph of the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies]]
Like Cox, Bob Carpenter Jr. was not afraid to spend the money it took to build a contender. He immediately started signing young players and invested even more money in the farm system, and the Phillies quickly developed a solid core of young players that included future Hall of Famers [[Richie Ashburn]] and [[Robin Roberts (baseball)|Robin Roberts]]. This coincided with the final collapse of the A's. Philadelphia had been an "A's town" for most of the first half of the 20th century. Even though the A's had fielded teams as bad or worse than the Phillies for most years since the 1930s, the A's continued to trounce the Phillies at the gate. However, a series of poor baseball and business decisions on the A's part allowed the Phillies to win the hearts of Philadelphia's long-suffering fans.

Things started coming together for the Phillies in [[1949 Philadelphia Phillies season|1949]], when they rocketed up the standings to third place with an 81–73 record. Although the season had essentially been a two-team race between Brooklyn and St. Louis, it was still the Phillies' first appearance in the [[First division (baseball)|first division]] in 31 years. It was also a fitting tribute to Bob Carpenter Sr., who had died in June and left Bob Jr. in full control of the team.

The [[1950 Philadelphia Phillies season|1950]] Phillies led the National League standings for most of the season and were dubbed the "[[Whiz Kids (baseball)|Whiz Kids]]". In the final months of the season, a tailspin (triggered by the loss of starting pitcher [[Curt Simmons]] to National Guard service) caused the team to lose the next eight of ten games. On the last day of the season, the Phillies hung on to a one-game lead when [[Dick Sisler]]'s dramatic tenth inning home run against the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] clinched the Phillies' first pennant in 35 years. In the [[1950 World Series|World Series]], exhausted from their late-season plunge and victims of poor luck, the Phillies were swept by the [[New York Yankees]] in four straight games. Nonetheless, this appearance cemented the Phillies' status as the city's favorite team.

In contrast, the Philadelphia Athletics finished last in 1950, and longtime manager [[Connie Mack]] retired. The team struggled for four more years with only one winning season before abandoning Philadelphia under the Johnson brothers, who bought out Mack. They began to play in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] in 1955.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fleming |first=Frank |title=Philadelphia Athletics |date=April 9, 2006 |url=http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/al/philadelphia/phillya_s.html |website=sportsecyclopedia.com|access-date=June 4, 2008}}</ref> As part of the deal selling that team to the Johnson brothers, the Phillies bought Shibe Park, where both teams had played since 1938.<ref name="Phillies1950">{{cite web |title=Phillies Timeline: 1950s |work=History Highlights |publisher=Philadelphia Phillies |url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/timeline07.jsp |access-date=June 4, 2008 |archive-date=September 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910142851/http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/timeline07.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many thought that the "Whiz Kids", with a young core of talented players, would be a force in the league for years to come.<ref name="robertsbd">{{cite journal| last=Hochman| first=Stan| date=July 1972| title=Robin Roberts Remembers the 'Whiz Kids'| journal=[[Baseball Digest]]| publisher=Lakeside Publishing Company| volume=31| issue=7| pages=35–38| issn=0005-609X| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zIDAAAAMBAJ&q=whiz+kids+baseball&pg=PA35}}{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="whitey">{{cite book |last=Zimniuch| first=Fran| title=Richie Ashburn Remembered| publisher=[[Sports Publishing]] LLC| year=2005| page=23| chapter=Big Leagues, Here I Come| isbn=1-58261-897-6| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3d7TouZUHIwC&q=whiz+kids+baseball&pg=PA23| access-date=October 29, 2009}}</ref> However, the team finished with a 73–81 record in [[1951 Philadelphia Phillies season|1951]] and finished nine and a half games out of first place in [[1952 Philadelphia Phillies season|1952]], with an 87–67 record. The Phillies managed to end up in third place in [[1953 Philadelphia Phillies season|1953]] with an 83–71 record, however, they would fail to break .500 from 1954 to 1957.

It became apparent that the flash and determination of the Whiz Kids would not return when the team finished last place in the National League from 1958 to 1961. Manager [[Eddie Sawyer]] abruptly quit the team after the season opener in [[1960 Philadelphia Phillies season|1960]], and was replaced by [[Gene Mauch]].

The team's competitive futility was highlighted by a record that still stands: in [[1961 Philadelphia Phillies season|1961]], the Phillies lost 23 games in a row, the worst losing streak in the majors since 1900. Things started to turn around for the team in [[1962 Philadelphia Phillies season|1962]], when the team finished above .500 for the first time in five years. Gene Mauch was named National League Manager of the Year that season and won it again in 1964. The team improved in [[1963 Philadelphia Phillies season|1963]], when the team finished the season with an 87–75 record. There was confidence that the team would soon become contenders for a return to the World Series. Though Ashburn and Roberts were gone, the [[1964 Philadelphia Phillies season|1964]] Phillies still had younger pitchers [[Art Mahaffey]], [[Chris Short]], and rookie [[Ray Culp]]; veterans [[Jim Bunning]] and [[screwball]]er [[Jack Baldschun]]; and fan favorites [[Cookie Rojas]], [[Johnny Callison]], and [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|NL Rookie of the Year]] [[Dick Allen]]. The team was 90–60 on September 20, good enough for a lead of 6.5 games in the pennant race with 12 games to play. However, the Phillies lost 10 games in a row and finished one game out of first, losing the pennant to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]]. The "Phold of '64" is frequently mentioned as the worst collapse in sports history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Phillies Timeline: 1960s |work=History Highlights |publisher=Philadelphia Phillies |url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/timeline08.jsp |access-date=June 5, 2008 |archive-date=May 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514064401/http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/history/timeline08.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

One highlight of the 1964 season occurred on [[Father's Day]], when Jim Bunning pitched a [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] against the [[New York Mets]], the first in Phillies' history.<ref>{{cite web| last1=McCoy| first1=Hal| title=Father's Day to remember: Bunning's perfect game of '64| url= http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/50th-anniversary-jim-bunning-father-s-day-perfect-game-philadelphia-phillies-new-york-mets-061314| website=[[Fox Sports]]| publisher=Fox News| access-date=September 4, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818123707/http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/50th-anniversary-jim-bunning-father-s-day-perfect-game-philadelphia-phillies-new-york-mets-061314| archive-date=August 18, 2015| date=June 13, 2014}}</ref>

For the rest of the decade, the team finished no higher than fourth place in the NL standings which came during the [[1966 Philadelphia Phillies season|1966 season]]. In the [[1969 Philadelphia Phillies season|1969 season]], the Phillies finished fifth in the newly created [[NL East Division]], with a record of 63–99.

By the late 1950s, Carpenter decided the Phillies needed a new home. He never wanted to buy Connie Mack Stadium in the first place, and was now convinced there was no way he could make money playing there. He sold the park to [[Philadelphia Eagles]]' owner [[Jerry Wolman]] in 1964, taking a $1&nbsp;million loss on his purchase of just 10 years earlier. The stadium was deteriorating and there was inadequate parking. Attendance began to drop by 1967 and the team started to plan for a new stadium. 

The Phillies remained at Connie Mack Stadium until 1970. In the last game played there, the Phillies avoided last place by beating the Expos 2–1. When the game was finished several fans in attendance began to remove items from the ballpark, such as chairs, outfield panels and baseball equipment from the dugouts.