The 1883 season was the first in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team was founded earlier in the year as a replacement for the Worcester franchise. It was the first year Philadelphia was represented in the National League since the original Athletics were disbanded in 1876 after refusing to finish the season. The American Association's Philadelphia Athletics had been founded a year earlier.

The team opened the year managed by Bob Ferguson; however, he was fired as manager after a disappointing 4–13 start and replaced by Blondie Purcell. The team finished the season 17–81, worst in the National League.

Preseason The Phillies played their first game ever on April 2, 1883, and defeated the amateur Manayunk Ashlands in an exhibition game by the score of 11–0 at Recreation Park.

Regular season The Phillies hosted Providence at Recreation Park in their first regular season game on May 1, 1883. One thousand fans saw John Coleman start the game for the Phillies and relinquish the first hit in the first inning to Providence first baseman Joe Start. The Phillies scored first and took a three to zero lead into the eighth inning when Providence scored four times to win the game. The Phillies would lose their first eleven games, and not win their first game at home in Philadelphia until June 6, 1883.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1883 Philadelphia Quakers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 57 231 71 .307 1 25 1B 99 377 88 .233 0 29 2B 86 329 85 .258 0 27 3B 97 425 114 .268 1 32 SS 80 326 75 .230 1 33 OF 73 280 62 .221 0 21 OF 98 420 112 .267 0 37 OF 38 160 40 .250 0 18

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 90 354 83 .234 0 32 60 221 42 .190 0 12 39 141 32 .227 0 13 18 73 12 .164 0 4 16 68 15 .221 0 3 5 19 3 .158 0 0 3 15 4 .267 0 4 3 12 6 .500 0 3 3 11 1 .091 0 0 2 8 0 .000 0 0 2 8 2 .250 0 1 2 7 1 .143 0 0 1 5 0 .000 0 0 1 4 3 .750 0 1 1 4 0 .000 0 0 1 3 1 .333 0 0 1 3 0 .000 0 0 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 65 538.1 12 48 4.87 159 17 137.0 1 14 5.45 39 11 80.0 2 6 4.39 30 8 61.1 1 7 6.90 13 3 26.0 0 3 5.54 8 1 9.0 0 1 19.00 2 1 7.0 0 1 15.43 2 1 5.0 0 1 9.00 0

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 1 0 0 0 9.00 0

Notes

References 1883 Philadelphia Quakers season at Baseball Reference