Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies jersey has seen many changes over the years. Dating back to 1883, they were known then as the Philadelphia Quakers.Their earlier jersey was very formal looking: all white with a large red “P” on the left chest side, and a large red collar.

The most prominent feature of the 1925 uniform was the more elegant Old English script font “P”.  They ditched the red collar and settled for the collarless button-down front style, more common to that era. By 1938 the Phillies opted out of their more traditional red and white colors to blue and yellow. Those colors may have been chosen to commemorate their first season in Shipe Park. These colors were short-lived though, and in 1942 they switched to a totally different light gray uniform with black lettering.

For two decades they tried many different styles and colors. Dark burgundy and gray became the main team colors, with a classic burgundy pinstripe on the white home jerseys and a burgundy “p” to accent. Dark blue was all but replaced, and their road jerseys became powder blue instead of the traditional gray. It was in the 70's that the Phillies adopted their distinctive shape and swirl of the Philly “P” which remains a favorite today.

The Phillies' most controversial uniform change came, though in 1979, when they switched to an all burgundy uniform with white trimming and lettering to be worn for their Saturday games. This earned them the nickname of the Saturday Night Specials. It was not a compliment. The uniforms were described by the fans, the media, and players alike as pajamas. These uniforms had probably the shortest debut in history—lasting one game, May 19, 1979.

The Philadelphia Phillies' current home jerseys are white with red pinstripes with blue being a contrasting accent—reminiscent of their “Whiz Kids” days of the 50's and 60's. Their road uniform is back to the traditional gray with red lettering.
The Phillies have retired 6 jerseys: #1 Richie Asburn, #14 Jim Bunning, #20 Mike Schmidt,
#32 Steve Carlton, #36 Robin Roberts, and #42 Jackie Robinson.

The Philadelphia Phillies have two World Series Championships under their belt and 7 National League pennants. They also have the infamous distinction of losing the most games of any professional American sports team.

The greatest rivalry the Phillies have known is with the New York Mets, and is noted to be one of the best in the National League. One of the more interesting facts about their rivalry was Jim Bunning's perfect game pitched on Father's Day, 1964, and that game also had the distinction of being the first perfect game in Philly history. The rivalry has intensified in recent years as the teams have been battling more often for winning the division championship.