Every year we see things in sports we never thought we’d see happen. Take the coronavirus shutting down the Phillies season for example.
Well, on this date, March 20, 1958, the Phillies were a part of something that rarely happens in sports.
Going into the 1958 season the Phillies were coming off a 77-77 year where they finished fifth out of eight teams in the National League. Richie Ashburn was still an All-Star caliber player (he’d hit .350 in ’58) and 1,146,230 people packed into Connie Mack Stadium.
The team was solid with franchise players like Ashburn, Granny Hamner and Willie Jones leading the offense and a rotation that included Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, though Roberts lost 22 games and gave up 40 home runs that year.