The New Phillies Encyclopedia Book

"The best all-around team book for history, biographies, photos, and records" just got better. This comprehensive history of the Philadelphia Phillies covers virtually every significant detail of the team's lore and legend, from 1883 to the present. Published to great acclaim, the 1984 edition sold out within two years and has been out of print ever since. The New Phillies Encyclopedia has updated and expanded coverage, a redesigned format, and hundreds of new illustrations including a 16-page color photo gallery. Authors Rich Westcott and Frank Bilovsky, who have been Phillies fans since youth and professional sportswriters for years, have provided a massive compendium of Phillies facts. Included are statistics of every player ever to wear a Phillies uniform, 200 profiles of the most significant players with a picture of each, year by year summaries of Phillies seasons, and vignettes of each of the teams' owners, managers, and ballparks. The book features special sections on the greatest teams, eras, and players; details on trades, streaks, team leaders, and significant events; and more than 750 pictures that fans will savor. The oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the major leagues, the Phillies have a checkered history in which victories have been far less common than defeats, ill-advised trades and acquisitions have become legendary, and extraordinary plays and players have ranked with baseball's best. In their Introduction, Westcott and Bilovsky observe, "In the long and occasionally glorious history of the franchise, no team has been more entertaining...more colorful...or more unpredictable." With a foreword by former Phillie and sports commentator Richie Ashburn, The New Phillies Encyclopedia gives to fans of all ages the best and worst of a team that has offered both thrills and heartache but has never been dull.