Deacon Phillippe

Deacon Phillippe
Pitcher
Born: May 23, 1872(1872-05-23) Rural Retreat, Virginia
Died: March 30, 1952(1952-03-30) (aged 79) Avalon, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 21, 1899 for the Louisville Colonels
Last MLB appearance
August 13, 1911 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Wins	189
Walks	363
Earned run average	2.59
Teams
Louisville Colonels (1899) Pittsburgh Pirates (1900–1911)
Career highlights and awards
League leader in Opposing Batting Average: 1900 (.289), 1903 (.263)

Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe (originally Phillippi) (May 23, 1872-March 30, 1952) was a turn-of-the-century pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Born in Rural Retreat, Virginia to Andrew Phillippe and Jane Margaret Hackler,^[1] Phillippe first appeared in pro baseball with the National League's Louisville Colonels in 1899. He had a 21-17 record that year, which was highlighted by a no-hitter in just his seventh career game.

The Colonels disbanded after the season, before which owner Barney Dreyfuss shrewdly moved a number of Louisville players, including Phillippe, to the Pirates, a team Dreyfuss co-owned. Phillippe won 20 games for four straight seasons as the Pirates won three straight National League titles between 1901 and 1903.

Phillippe earned the honor of starting the first World Series game for the Pirates against the Boston Americans in 1903. In a complete game victory, Phillippe struck out 10 batters and earned the win against Cy Young to start the best-of-9 series.^[2] He single-handedly guided the Pirates to a 3-1 series lead, earning the wins in each game, but when his arm wore down due to overuse, the Americans came back to win the series 5 games to 3, with Phillippe losing the last two. His five decisions in the World Series are still a record for a pitcher.

He missed half of 1904 due to a sore arm, before winning 20 for a 6th time in 1905. His years as an ace ended in 1908, when he suffered from another sore arm and missed nearly the entire season.

Phillippe returned in 1909 to play a bit role on a Pirate team which went 110-42. In 1910, he was primarily used as a relief pitcher and had a 14-2 record. He retired after the 1911 season after making only 3 appearances that year.

Phillippe was widely renowned for his control. No pitcher who has debuted since 1893 (when the pitching mound was moved to its present distance of 60 feet and 6 inches away from home plate) has averaged fewer walks per nine innings than Phillippe.^[1]

Deacon is a distant relative of actor Ryan Phillippe, who named his first son Deacon in honor of the pitcher in 2003. (This is despite the different pronunciations of the last names, as Deacon Phillippe pronounced his last name "fill-eep" and Ryan Phillippe pronounces his last name "fill-a-pee".)

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Armour, Mark. "Deacon Phillippe". Society for American Baseball Research. http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=900&pid=11191. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
2. ^ "October 1, 1903 World Series Game 1 at Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds Box Score and Play by Play". Sports Reference, LLC via Retrosheet. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS190310010.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 

Related links

• Baseball-Reference
• Baseball Library

Achievements
Preceded by Walter Thornton	No-hitter pitcher May 25, 1899	Succeeded by Vic Willis

Persondata
Name	Phillippe, Deacon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 23, 1872
Place of birth	Rural Retreat, Virginia
Date of death	March 30, 1952
Place of death	Avalon, Pennsylvania