Skip to main content

Sunday School: History Lesson 16

Sherwood "Sherry" Magee was an outfielder for our Phillies from 1904-1914. Long regarded as one of the all-time best Phillies, Magee made a name for himself with his bat, his arm, his speed and his temper.

During his time with the Phillies, Magee led the National League in RBI three times, won a batting title and stole 387 bases, which still stands as third best all-time in team history. Sherry was also the most outstanding run producer on the team for over a decade.

In 1906, Magee swiped 55 bases, which stood as a single season Phils record, until Juan Samuel broke it in 1984. His finest offensive year came in 1910, when he led the National League in RBI, runs scored, total bases, slugging percentage and batting average. Had the MVP award existed then, Magee surely would have been awarded the honor. Magee's RBI total in 1910 was 123...the next highest total in the NL- 88.

Despite that remarkable season, Magee made the most headlines 1911, when his volatile temper got the best of him, and an umpire. In a game against St. Louis in July, when Magee was called out on strikes by umpire Bill Finneran, Magee tossed his bat up in the air and headed back toward the dugout. Finneran didn't appreciate the display, and threw Magee out of the game. When Magee realized he had been ejected, he charged back toward home plate and struck Finneran, knocking him unconscious and drawing blood. The initial punishment for Sherry was to be suspended for the remainder of the season, but this was later shortened to a 36 game ban.

The loss of Magee hurt the Phillies that season, as they were only 1 game out of first place when the incident occurred. They would go on a 13-16 skid, without Magee, over the next month to fall out of the pennant race. They would finish the season in 4th place.

Magee would continue to excel for the Phillies over the next few seasons. In 1914, he would lead the league in RBI once again, but it would mark his final season with the team. That off-season, Sherry was dealt to the Boston Braves, who had just won the World Series. The irony of the deal, of course, was that after spending more than a decade with the lowly Phillies, Magee left and the Phils would go on to win their first pennant in 1915, while the Braves came in second.

Magee finally made it to the World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1919, his final season playing in the Majors. Magee played and coached in the minors for the next 6 years. In 1927, more irony- he began umpiring in the New York/Penn League. In 1928, he was hired to umpire in the National League. He worked a single season before dying of pneumonia in 1929 at age 44.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2021 Phillies Top Prospects Countdown: #22 SS Casey Martin

Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work, get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.   A third round draft pick last year, Arkansas junior Casey Martin was quickly signed by the Phillies and consideration as one of the organization's top infield prospects quickly began.  The team's confidence in his ceiling is likely evident in the signing bonus he got, which was reportedly $1.3 million, which was considerably more than slot money dictated by his 87th overall draft position ($685K). The right-handed batting Martin tallied a .311/.393/.545 slash line with 30 homers, 24 steals and 112 RBI in 143 games through his college career at Arkansas.  Reports had him falling in the draft as a result of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand prior to his 2020 season.  Prior to the procedure, Baseball America projected Martin as a top ten draft pick.

Slick fielding Sam is the Champion of the (PhoulBallz) world!

Phillies Ball(z)girl Sam Arnone was kind enough to answer some questions for the PhoulBallz site and all of you. Sam will be entering her 3rd season as a Phillies ballgirl and is a junior at Drexel University. Sam hails from the great town of Mt. Ephram, NJ. 1- Since the Phillies are the World Champions of baseball teams, are the Phillies ballgirls the world champions of ballgirl teams? - Of Course!!! There are not that many teams that have Ballgirls, so the competition is a little scarce. I would definitely put my team up against any other Ballgirl team with full confidence! 2- What is your routine to prepare for a day of on-field duties? - Before a game, I am always a little nervous. Once I am ready to leave my house and head to the ballpark I triple check my bag to make sure I have my glove and then I check again. I always have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat because it keeps me full and gives me energy for the entire game. I guess I might have to find a new favorite sa

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal