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A brand new edition of Phillies Nation hit TV's throughout the region on Tuesday.  On the latest episode, I joined Pat and Corey on set to discuss several top Phillies prospects, namely Maikel Franco , Aaron Nola , J.P. Crawford and Jesse Biddle . The episode also features segments with former Phillies Curt Simmons , Tommy Greene and Matt Stairs , plus the usual insight and analysis that your expect from the hosts. If you missed it on TV or would like to watch it again, check out this week's Phillies Nation in the media player below.  New episodes premiere each Tuesday at 6PM on The Comcast Network

Emory "Bubba" Church was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1950-1952. Like Curt Simmons, Church was a strong-armed Phils farmhand who quickly moved through the minor league system. Following 15 wins at Toronto in 1949, he earned a shot in the big leagues and debuted with the Phillies in 1950. Church had some solid success with the team. As a rookie, Church was initially used out of the bullpen. By the middle of the 1950 season, Church was inserted into the starting rotation and helped the Phillies win the National League crown with some convincing wins. He won five of his first six starts, including a couple of shutouts. In mid-September that season, Church took a line drive to his face off the bat of Cincinnati's Ted Kluszewski. Church would be carried off the field on a stretcher. He made one final start that season, but was not used in the World Series. In 1951, Church started the season slowly. He won just 3 of his first 8 starts. However, starting in late May...

Curt Simmons made his Major League debut for the Phillies at age 18 and, over time, became one of the team's most dependable starting pitchers. The lefty signed with the team in 1947 for $65,000 following an exhibition game set up by team owner Bob Carpenter. Much to everyone's surprise, Curt Simmons struck out eleven Phils in the game, which ended in a 4-4 tie. Upon signing, Simmons was assigned to Wilmington, in the minor leagues. After striking out 197 batters in 147 minor league innings, Simmons was promoted to the Major League club for the final week of the 1947 season. In Simmons debut, he beat the Giants at Shibe Park 3-1, giving up just 5 hits and striking out 9. The following season, Simmons had a rough go of it, and started off slowly. In his first start of the season, he struggled to find the strike zone, as he walked 7 of the 14 batters he faced. Over his first two full seasons with the Phillies, Simmons' control hurt him. He was a combined 11-23 in 1948 and 194...

There is tons of lore about the 1950 Phillies, the team full of youth that fought off the Dodgers to make it to the World Series, but do you know about how the season finished? Do you know how the 1950 Whiz Kids nearly pulled a 2007 Metropolitans? Read on, little stars...and let's shine together. In the closing weeks of the 1950 season, our Phillies had a 7 game lead with just 11 games left to play. A World Series berth seemed almost locked up. It would be the Phillies first trip to the Series in 35 years. However, without warning, the team began to fizzle (yes the Whiz began to Fizz). They lost seven of nine, during the final weeks of the season, while the Brooklyn Dodgers won 12 of 15 games during a stretch in the closing weeks. The Phillies roster suffered a big loss, in September, when 17 game winner, pitcher Curt Simmons, an Army National Guard member, was drafted for the Korean War. The team kept fighting, however. In fact, 1950 was the year that the team got the nickname, ...