100 Greatest Phillies: 71 – Jim Konstanty

Jim Konstanty
Relief Pitcher
1948-1954

Career w/Phillies: 675.2 IP / 51-39 / 54 SV / 3.62 ERA / 205 K

Casimir James Konstanty made his mark for the 1950 Phillies. Oh did he ever. He finished 16-7 with a 2.66 ERA that season. In relief. Yes, he had 22 saves that season, too. So, to recap, he was the important man on the mound for at least 45 games that year. That 22-save season in 1950 was by far tops in the majors, as he finished 62 games (also tops). The 74 games he pitched were then a major-league record, and in the 1950 World Series he actually started game one, despite not starting a game in the regular season. He won the 1950 Most Valuable Player award, truly defining “valuable.” Otherwise, Konstanty was an average pitcher, having a nice season in 1949 but a bunch of mediocre, league-average years after his MVP season. He also entered the league late, blossoming for too short a time.

Comment: One of a few Phillie MVPs, Konstanty was the Polish Rifle before there was a Ron Jaworski. For his immaculate 1950 campaign alone he deserves praise. He was the single greatest reason that team won the pennant.

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.