Two years ago, as part of my celebration of Chanukah, I examined some of the players who have worn the number eight for the Phillies. For this year’s celebration, I decided to add ten to the number and look at some of the more notable players who have donned 18.
One curious thing I discovered: The Phillies have never had a player with a number in the 80s. Seven of the ten 70’s numbers have been used, as have four in the nineties. But in all these years, not once has a player chosen to wear a two-digit
number starting with eight.
I also learned that unlike eight, eighteen has not been a successful number for the Phillies. Only one player has kept it for more than three seasons, and most of the prominent players who have worn it went on to switch to other numbers as their careers advanced.
Chet Nichols
The first Phillies to wear the 18 was righthanded pitcher Chet Nichols who donned it for eleven games in 1932. Nichols set a bad precedent for the number by putting up a 6.98 ERA. He was out of the league the following year.
Phil Collins
Before starting Genesis, Phil Collins spent seven years as a pitcher with the Phillies. (It’s possible that they are actually two different people.) Collins wore four different numbers in his career, and as it turns out, the season he wore 18 was one of his worst.
Al Smith
Three different players wore 18 in 1933, and none distinguished themselves. The number then went unused until 1938 when lefty Al Smith took it on. Smith would have some solid seasons in the majors, but none of them came with the Phillies.
Milo Candini
The number 18 was passed around to a bunch of players in the next few years. None of these players were especially noteworthy, and most quickly left town shortly after arriving. Sam Nahem even wore it twice, bookending military service with two unimpressive stints with the team.
Milo Candini wasn’t the best player to wear the 18, but he put up a decent season for the Whiz Kids in 1950. The righthanded reliever put up a 2.70 ERA in 18(!) games for the pennant winners.
Chris Short
Chris Short had a long successful career with the Phillies…but most of that success came wearing number 41. He switched out of the 18 after a three-game cameo in his first year in the majors.
Ryne Duren
Ryne Duren was a three-time All-Star with the Yankees early in his career. Those days were past him when he joined the Phillies in 1963, but he still pitched effectively that season. (3.30 ERA) The Phillies couldn’t have been that impressed, because they sold him to the Reds early in 1964. That may have worked out in Duren’s favor as he got to avoid the team’s September collapse.
Rick Wise
Similar to Chris Short, Rick Wise had a successful career that started out with an unsuccessful season wearing the number 18. He pitched in six September games for the 1964 Phillies, and understandably wanted to change things up when he returned to the majors two years later.
Richie Hebner
Hebner was a mainstay for the Pirates before signing with the Phillies as a free agent before the 1977 season. The first baseman turned in two solid offensive seasons for the National League East champs.
John Vukovich
“Vuk” didn’t have the most prolific playing career, but the infielder wore 18 while mostly sitting on the bench for the 1980 World Series champions. He was a very popular clubhouse figure and went on to serve as a coach for the team from 1988 to 2004. For his work as a coach, he was elected to the team’s Wall of Fame in 2007.
There aren’t good records on what numbers coaches wore but seeing that the 18 was sparsely used during that time, it stands to reason than Vukovich used it and might have occasionally switched if a player requested it.
As I warned you, that wasn’t the most prolific list of players in Phillies history. I’ll be back tomorrow with part two, which will consist of more guys you’ve heard of (for better or worse.)
