Skip to main content

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 61

By
Thomas "Tully" Sparks was a pitcher with the Phillies in 1897, then again from 1903-1910. Sparks made his Major League debut with the Phillies, allowing 9 earned runs in 8 innings pitched, and didn't start another game with Philadelphia for more than five years. In the meantime, he saw stints with Pittsburgh, the New York Giants, the Boston Americans and Milwaukee.

When Sparks rejoined the Phillies, he posted an unimpressive record of 11-15, which overshadowed his solid 2.72 ERA on the season. 1903 was the first of 7 straight seasons in which Sparks posted an ERA for the Phillies under 3.00. In 1904, Sparks' ERA improved, but his record slipped to a dismal 7-16.

The following season, Sparks posted a winning record, going 14-11 and his 2.12 ERA was best on the team. In 1906, Sparks won 19 games with Philadelphia and threw a career high 6 shutouts, including one against Giants ace Christy Mathewson in late August. Also in 1906, Sparks completed 29 games in 37 starts.

Sparks' best season came in 1907 when he reeled off 10 straight victories, beginning in July, and finished with a 22-9 record and a 2.00 ERA. Sparks' hot streak included wins in 14 of his final 16 starts that season.

Some pitchers are at their best when they face off against the best and Sparks was one of those pitchers. In 4 starts against the eventual 1907 World Champions, that season, Sparks went 3-1. The lone loss was a 1-0 defeat. In those 4 games, Sparks allowed 5 runs in 36 innings (1.25 ERA).

Unfortunately for Sparks, his numbers would slide after that career year. In 1908 he posted a 16-15 record and in 1909 he went 6-11. The following season, Sparks struggled in 3 starts and did not earn a win. He was released by the Phillies in early June and retired from baseball.


-----------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rappers in Phillies Caps

By
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...
3 comments
Read more

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

By
On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com
Post a Comment
Read more

The PhoulBallz Questionnaire

By
This week I came up with a quick questionnaire and asked 10 Phillies phans, 9 of which are Phils partial season ticket holders, 10 questions ranging from survey type inquiries to statistical trivia. My goal was to survey both genders in varying age groups. I spoke with 3 season ticket holding 50-something males. I spoke with 2 season ticket holding 30-something females. I spoke with 2 teenage males whose father is a season ticket holder (for the purpose of this small project, they've been counted as season ticket holders in the 9 out of 10 total). I asked a 25 year old male season ticket holder and a 30-or-so year old male season ticket holder. And lastly, I asked a 28 year old non-season ticket holding die-hard Phils phan. The questions are mostly Phillies oriented, with some generalized baseball trivia mixed in. Have a look at the questionnaire. See how you do, but don't research the answers that you may have a hard time with. 1- Name a Phillie who wore #4. 2- Name a ...
4 comments
Read more