1983 NL Champions: Gary Matthews 1984 Topps #637 Phillies Team Leaders

I am going to see if we can wrap up the 1983 Phillies postings before the end of the year.  Today we look at 1983 NLCS MVP and current Phils TV color analyst Gary "Sarge" Matthews.

1984 Topps #637 Team Leaders Gary Matthews and John Denny

Sarge had a mediocre regular season for the Phillies.  He hit .258 with 10 Home Runs and 50 RBIs.  Those numbers are far below what Matthews expected from himself throughout is career, but as noted on the above card the .258 led the team. Says a lot about what that team had to do to win and the importance of batting average vs on-base pct (Mike Schmidt led the team with a respectable .399 OBP).

The Phillies Room is posting an interesting series with Custom Phillies Team Leader cards that homage the 1973 Topps LL format. In his columns Jim is noting the 5 best and worst leaders for each category over the last 40 years. The Batting Average Custom is here. As you can see in the posting, Gary Matthews .258 in 1983 ranked one slot above the bottom (Jimmy Rollins who led the 2012 offense with a .250!!!)

During the NLCS the veteran left fielder made up for his sup-par year by hitting .429 with 3 Home Runs over 4 games.  The third Home Run gave the Philles a 3-0 first inning lead which they would not relinquish.

Matthews is also homered in Game 3 of the World Series, it was his last dinger as a Phillies player.  Just prior the 1984 seaosn Matthews was traded to the Cubs along with Bob Dernier for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz.

Numbers and Accolades
Gary Matthews played 16 seasons in the majors. As a Giant, he won the rookie of the year award in 1973.  He made one all-star appearance in 1979. In 1984 he led the league in OPB at .410, his best Offense WAR finish was 4th in the strike shortened 1981 season.
 

1983 NL Champions Series   
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz    
John Denny
Ivan DeJesus
Garry Maddox  
Joe Morgan 
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
 
Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson (Strikeouts) Steve Carlton 300 Wins
 
Sources  
Baseball-ref.com
The Phillies Room

1983 NL Champions: John Denny 1983 Topps #211

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1983 Phillies Wheeze Kids team that won the NL Pennant and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

Throughout the season I plan on taking a look back at some of the members of this special team.

1983 Topps #211 John Denny
John Denny was a good pitcher that had one great season which occurred in 1983. Denny went 19-6 for the year with a 2.37 ERA and won the Cy Young Award.  It was a significant spike in a 13 year career and the only time that John Denny ever received a Cy Young vote.  His 1983 WAR of 7.6 also led the league for all players, not just pitchers.

It was also the only season Denny reached the post season. He got the W in the game 1 of the World Series, giving up only 1 run over 7 2/3 inning. Unfortunately it was the only game the Phillies were able to take in the series.

1983 was John Denny's first full season with the Phillies. He stayed through 1985 compiling a 37-29 record with the team. He retired following the 1986 season which he spent with the Reds.

He worked with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the early 2000s but appears to currently be away from baseball. I did find this interesting interview over at Baseball Analysts

 Airbrush Classics 

The 1983 Topps John Denny Card recently made the Top Ten Terrible Airbrush Jobs  over at Hall of Very Good.  

Phillies World Series Teams - 1983

1984 Topps #210 Joe Morgan
1984 Fleer #27 John Denny

When I was a kid I was always fond of the 1983 team - despite having moved on from baseball to other popular teenage pursuits like girls and cars I found time for the 83 Phillies. I grew up in south central Pennsylvania which had divided loyalties in the early 80s. They were the Phillies and the Orioles, in 1983 the two teams met in the I-95 World Series.

The Phils took game one 2-1 behind the 5 hit pitching of the National League Cy Young winner John Denny. The Orioles went on to win the next four games.

The Morgan card is likely one of the few of him in a Phillies uniform. It is pretty representative of the 1983 Wheeze Kids also, they featured seven starting postion players at the age of 30 and over - this year the only starter over 30 for both teams may be Pat Burrell in some games. And Morgan is a former Red as were Pete Rose and Tony Perez who were also on the team.

John Denny was the other pitcher on the team - racking up a 19-6 record and winning the Cy Young while Steve Carlton paced the team in innings with 283 innings.

I am actually a fan of both clubs, primarily the Phillies, but I also follow whats going on down in Baltimore - I try and make it down to Camden Yards a couple of times a year and I like checking in at Orioles Card "O" the day for O's information.