Jack Dorn Phillips (September 6, 1921 – August 30, 2009) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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whose career extended from 1943 to 1959. In the Major Leagues, he was a backup

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played for three different teams between the and seasons. Listed at tall and , Phillips batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, and was nicknamed "Stretch" for his flexibility when covering first base.

Early years

A native of

Clarence, New York Clarence is a town located in the northeastern part of Erie County, New York, United States, northeast of Buffalo. The population was 32,950 according to the 2020 census estimate. This represents an increase of 7.4% from the 2010 census figure. ...

, Phillips graduated from Lancaster High School in 1939 and

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...

in 1943. He served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Baseball career

Phillips entered the majors in 1947 with 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) Amer ...

, playing for them two and half years joining 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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1949–52) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1955–57). His most productive season came in 1956 with the Tigers, when he posted career numbers in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s (5),

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

(25) and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the bat ...

(34), while hitting for a .293

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

in 69 games. The highlight of Phillips’ career was his

ultimate grand slam In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will no ...

(a walk-off

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

that erases a three-run deficit) on July 8, 1950, which he hit against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

, with the ball tipping off the end of

Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...

's glove as it went over the outfield fence. Through the end of the 2016 season, Phillips is one of just 28 players in major league history to hit an ultimate grand slam. In a nine-season career, Phillips was a .283 hitter (252-for-892) in 343 games, including 111 runs, 101 RBIs, 42 doubles, 16

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, nine home runs and five

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. A member of the 1947 World Champions New York Yankees, Phillips also earned Pacific Coast League MVP honors in 1954, after hitting .300 with 17 homers for Triple-A

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

. In 11

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

seasons, he hit a combined .278in 1,212 games for five different teams between 1943 and 1959.

Later years

After a brief minor league

managerial Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

career, Phillips returned to Clarkson University where he devoted himself to

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, spanning 24 seasons as the Golden Knights’ skipper, amassing nearly 200 victories and molding over 300 student-athletes in the sport of baseball. He also coached several hundred more in

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 (appr ...

, cross country and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, guiding the golf team into the early 21st century as an assistant coach. In 1992, Phillips became one of the first 15 inductees into the Clarkson University Athletic Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was awarded with

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emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

status in 1988. On May 3, 2008, Phillips was further honored when the Golden Knights renamed their baseball facility Jack Phillips Stadium at Snell Field.https://adweb.clarkson.edu/~gmikel/2008JackDay/ Phillips died in 2009 in

Chelsea, Michigan Chelsea is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,467 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled as early as 1820 within the Michigan Territory by settler Cyrus Beckwith. It would be organized ...

, at the age of 87.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jack 1921 births 2009 deaths Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts managers Clarkson Golden Knights baseball players Clarkson University alumni College baseball coaches Detroit Tigers players Hollywood Stars players Major League Baseball first basemen Minor league baseball managers New York Yankees players Newark Bears (IL) players Norfolk Tars players Pacific Coast League MVP award winners People from Clarence, New York Pittsburgh Pirates players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players United States Navy personnel of World War II

Early years

Baseball career

Later years

References

Further reading

External links