100 Greatest Phillies: 85 – Hal Carlson

Hal Carlson
Starting Pitcher
1924-1927

Career w/Phillies: 768.2 IP / 42-48 / 4.13 ERA / 214 K

A mediocre starting pitcher for his career, Carlson had two of his best seasons as a Phillie. In 1925, he went 13-14 with a 4.23 ERA. Sounds mediocre indeed, but when the league averages a 4.73 ERA (at the top of the live-ball ERA), it’s an impressive feat. In 1926 he was even better, posting a 17-12 record with a 3.23 ERA, scoring a 13th place MVP vote. In his four seasons as a Phillie, Carlson garnered 42 wins. Sadly, he died during the 1930 season at age 38.

Comment: He had a few really good seasons with the Phils, and was one of very few bright spots during a really bad era in franchise history. Give him his due.

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.