Anthony Andrew DePhillips (September 20, 1912 – May 5, 1994) was a

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

with the

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

. He played in 35 games, all during the 1943 season.

Biography

DePhillips was born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, and attended

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. For his career, he compiled a .100

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 20

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s, with two

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. DePhillips was a standout basketball and baseball player at Newtown High School and at

. He played minor league baseball for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and played in the Major Leagues. In 1942, DePhillips voluntarily retired in order to spend more time with his wife and baby, Tony, Jr. He accepted a job in October of that year coaching

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

in addition to his job coaching high school basketball at St. Simon Stock High School in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. After retiring in 1942, he played for an amateur team in New York called the Bushwicks. In March 1943, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds. With the Reds, he had a reputation as a defensively gifted but offensively challenged catcher. As a result, he found his playing time limited and was frequently

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

for. On November 11, 1949, DePhillips opened a sporting goods store on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside. The grand opening was attended by sports greats of the times which included

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto ( ; September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to ...

of the Yankees,

Gene Hermanski Eugene Victor Hermanski (May 11, 1920 – August 9, 2010) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. A native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he attended Seton Hall University. Signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1939, ...

of the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the ...

, and Jake LaMotta, the middleweight boxing champ. In the spring of 1950, Tony started a youth baseball league in the neighborhood with 150 kids. By 1954, 600 youngsters were participating and by 1958 Tony's youth club had 1,200 members. Initially a baseball club, other sports were added that included basketball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

and

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

. The initial ages of the participants were 10–14 with 15–16-year-old division being added in 1952 and a 9-year-old group in 1953. Varsity baseball and basketball travel teams were also added, and players from those teams went on to participate in high school and college teams and receive major league tryouts. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, DePhillips served as the physical education teacher at the Henley School in

Jamaica Estates, Queens Jamaica Estates is a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. Jamaica Estates is part of Queens Community Board 8, Queens Community District 8 and located in the northern portion of Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica. ...

. Tony also officiated

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games and was a scout for the

Philadelphia A's The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

and the New York Yankees. In 1978, he was inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame. He died on May 5, 1994, in

Port Jefferson, New York Port Jefferson, also known as Port Jeff, is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,962 at the time of the 2020 census. Port J ...

, at the age of 81.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dephillips, Tony 1912 births 1994 deaths Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Queens, New York Minor league baseball managers Dayton Ducks players Akron Yankees players 20th-century American sportsmen Binghamton Triplets players Augusta Tigers players Newark Bears (International League) players Little Rock Travelers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Birmingham Barons players Bridgeport Bees players Fordham Rams baseball players Newtown High School (Queens) alumni Fordham Rams men's basketball players College men's basketball coaches in New York (state) High school basketball coaches in New York (state)