100 Greatest Phillies: 90 – Kent Tekulve

Kent Tekulve
Relief Pitcher
1985-1988

Career w/Phillies: 367.1 IP / 24-26 / 3.01 ERA / 196 K

For four years, the bespectacled Tekulve dazzled hitters with his submarine swagger. Durable as heck, Tekulve came to the Phils in a trade for Al Holland in 1985, and quickly established himself as the bullpen horse. He threw 110 innings for the Phils in 1986, recording a 11-5 mark with a fine 2.54 ERA. His ERA grew in his next two seasons, but remained below 4.00 while still throwing 80 or more innings. In 1987 he threw in an MLB-best 90 games. At age 40. After retiring, he joined the Phils as a commentator. Remember that?

Comment: What a cool pitcher. A throwback. Those awesome glasses. That cool sub style. A great pitcher for his entire career — easily one of the game’s greatest relievers. I’ll always see him in a black Pirates jersey, wearing that crude square yellow cap with the black lines, but for a while, he was a great Phillie.

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Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.

Get throwback Phillies styles from Shibe Vintage Sports in Center City Philly