Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that drops into your inbox like a Barry Zito curveball.

People forget about Barry - this man was nasty af.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a guy who, by the numbers, should be an easy hall of famer, but most baseball fans wouldn’t even know his name.

We’re talking about Tony Phillips. Ring a bell?

Guys like Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Rickey Henderson, and Dwight Evans took the spotlight away from Tony during his playing career.

Even when he played with the Athletics he was outshined by the Bash Bros - Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Don’t get me wrong, those guys are legends, but we gotta give Tony his flowers.

Phillips was a gamer from the jump.

In high school, he was 5’ 8” and 145 lbs.

Not really the ideal build for typical MLB prospect.

But he was a hard worker - the type of ballplayer you always want on your team because you know he’ll scrap it out until the last pitch.

Here’s a quote from Tony that gives you a little window into his mindset:

Phillips debuted in ‘82 with the Oakland A’s and played there for the first eight years of his career.

After a couple of rough years in ‘88 and ‘89, the Athletics granted him free agency and he signed with the Tigers, where his best years lied ahead of him.

Giving up on your future stars - classic Oakland A’s behavior.

Phillips had a lot of great attributes, but let’s start with his most impressive skill: his defense. 

You could put this guy anywhere on the Diamond and he’d be solid - many people argue that he is the game’s greatest “Super Utility Player” of all time.

He played second, third, shortstop, and in both corners of the outfield throughout his career.

He had a lifetime defensive WAR of 6.3, and a .968 fielding percentage.

One of his most ridiculous defensive performances happened on July 6, 1986, he recorded 12 assists, tying an AL record.

At the plate, Tony always did one thing VERY well:

Over the course of his career he drew 1,319 walks, and had three seasons where his OBP was north of .400.

His power seemed to increase as he got older too.

Tony hit 19 homers with 95 walks in ‘94, and 27 bombs with 113 walks the following year.

This man was legitimately Billy Beane’s wet dream.

His cumulative WAR was 50.9.

And to put into perspective how impressive that is, here’s a short list of guys who are in the Hall of Fame with a lower lifetime WAR:

• Harold Baines

• Phil Rizzuto

• Jim Rice

• Lou Brock

• Bill Mazeroski

Meanwhile, Tony never even got elected to a single all-star game.

We couldn’t agree more.

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STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

You've probably never heard of Butts, he only played one season, but you've probably heard of his brother Honus.

That's right, THE Honus Wagner.

Looks like Butts got the short end of the stick on both, names and athletic ability.

However, he was regarded as a great scout.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Long Road: From prison to the big leagues

• The Killer: Ty Cobb’s mom was a murderer

• The Dirty Blue: Baseball’s only umpire to receive a lifetime ban

That's it for today. Tomorrow we're back at it like a bad habit. See ya!

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