Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe (originally Phillippi) (May 23, 1872 – March 30, 1952) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played for the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

and the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Biography

Born in

Rural Retreat, Virginia Rural Retreat is a town in Wythe County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,483 at the 2010 census. History Rural Retreat was originally named Mount Airy. The name was changed because of confusion with other communities named Mount Ai ...

to Andrew Phillippe and Jane Margaret Hackler, Phillipe was one of eight children (two brothers and five sisters). When he was three, his family moved to the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

near the town of Athol, located in what is now the state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, where he would play semi-pro ball for many years.

Louisville Colonels

Phillippe first appeared in pro baseball with the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in 1899. He had a 21–17 record that year, which was highlighted by a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

in his seventh career game. While the Colonels disbanded after the season, owner

Barney Dreyfuss Bernhard "Barney" Dreyfuss (February 23, 1865 – February 5, 1932) was an executive in Major League Baseball who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise from 1900 to his death in 1932. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2 ...

moved a number of Louisville players, including Phillippe, to the Pirates, another team Dreyfuss co-owned.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Phillippe won 20 games for four straight seasons as the Pirates won three straight National League pennants from 1901 to 1903. In 1900, he pitched for the Pirates in Game 3 of the ''Chronicle-Telegraph'' Cup series to determine the National League champion between the Pirates and the

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

. Pittsburgh avoided the series sweep as Phillippe threw a six-hit shutout and the Pirates' bats added 10 runs. The Pirates lost the series 3 games to 1. In 1903, Phillippe earned the honor of starting the first World Series game for the Pirates against the

Boston Americans The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in 1903. In a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

victory, Phillippe struck out 10 batters and earned the win against

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered t ...

to start the best-of-nine series. He single-handedly guided the Pirates to a 3–1 series lead, earning the wins in each game, but when his arm wore down due to overuse, the Americans came back to win the series 5 games to 3, with Phillippe losing the last two. His five decisions in the World Series are still a record for a pitcher. To show their appreciation, Pirates' fans presented him with a diamond horseshoe stickpin and team owner

rewarded him ten shares of stock in the club. Phillippe missed half of the 1904 season due to a sore arm, before winning 20 games for the sixth time in 1905. However his years as an ace ended in 1908, when he suffered from another sore arm and missed nearly the entire season. Phillippe returned in 1909 to play a bit role on a Pirate team which went 110–42, en route to their first World Series title. In 1910, he was primarily used as a relief pitcher and had a 14–2 record. He retired after the 1911 season after making only three appearances that year.

Pittsburgh Filipinos

In 1912, he managed the Pittsburgh Filipinos, which were named after him, and began play in the

United States Baseball League The United States Baseball League was a short-lived prospective third major professional baseball league that was established in New York City in 1912 and lasted only one partial season. History In March 1912, organizers of the proposed league ...

. The Filipinos finished in first place during the league's inaugural season, which lasted only one month, with a 19–7 record. The team then moved to the new

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

in 1913 and, for a short time, was later renamed the Pittsburgh Stogies.

Legacy

Phillippe was widely renowned for his control. No pitcher who has debuted since 1893 (when the pitching mound was moved to its present distance of 60 feet and 6 inches away from home plate) has averaged fewer walks per nine innings than Phillippe. Deacon is a distant relative of actor

Ryan Phillippe Matthew Ryan Phillippe ( ; born September 10, 1974) is an American actor. After appearing as Billy Douglas (One Life to Live), Billy Douglas on the soap opera ''One Life to Live'' (1992–1993) and making his feature film debut in ''Crimson Tide ...

, who named his first son Deacon (born in 2003) in honor of the pitcher. The spring that supplies Rural Retreat, Virginia with water is called Phillippe Springs, after the pitcher. Phillippe was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

in 1982.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillippe, Deacon 1872 births 1952 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Louisville Colonels players Pittsburgh Pirates players Baseball players from Wythe County, Virginia Minor league baseball managers Fargo Divorcees players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Pittsburgh Filipinos players People from Rural Retreat, Virginia Baseball coaches from Virginia