With the Phillies preparing for their sixth World Series appearance, we’re looking back Phillies World Series history.

The Phillies started the second decade of the 1900′s a struggling franchise, finishing in anywhere from fourth through sixth in the decade’s first three years.  Then hope sprung in 1913, when the Phillies finished in second place.  Tom Seaton led the pitching staff with 27 wins, and Gavvy Cravath, Fred Luderus, and Sherry Magee pounded the ball at the plate.  There was hope in Philadelphia.

They weren’t able to build on this in 1914 primarily due to the start of the Federal League.  Pitchers Seaton and Ad Brennan, infielders Otto Knabe and Mickey Doolan, and catcher Bill Killefer all joined the Federal League, and the Phillies finished a disappointing 74-80, 20.5 games behind the champion Boston Braves.

1915 was a different story. With new manger Pat Moran, and led by the pitching of the great Grover Cleveland Alexander (led the NL with 31 wins), and the National League’s premier power hitter Cravath (lead the NL with 24 home runs and 114 RBI’s), they turned it around, finishing 90-62, capturing the National League pennant, and heading to the World Series for the first time.

Their opponents would be the American League champion Boston Red Sox.

It would be a battle of pitching staffs with the Phillies led by Alexander along with Erskine Mayer, and future Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey, while the Red Sox had Smokey Joe Wood, Rube Foster, Ernie Shore, Dutch Leonard, and a 20-year old rookie named Babe Ruth.

Game 1 featured Alexander, owner of 31 wins on the season against the 19-game winning Shore. The Phillies took an early lead in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Possum Whitted. With a 1-0 lead in the eighth, Duffy Lewis singled home Tris Speaker, knotting the game at one. In the bottom of the inning, the Phillies took the lead for good. After Shore walked Wes Stock and Dave Bancroft, Dode Paskert singled loading the bases. Cravath hit into a fielders choice, that scored Stock, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead. The next batter, Fred Luderus hit an infield single scoring Bancroft, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead. Alexander retired the side in the ninth, including a pinch-hitting Ruth (his only appearance in the series), giving the Phillies a 3-1 victory.

Game 2 was a historic moment, as it was the first time a United States President was in attendance at the World Series. Woodrow Wilson watched as Boston’s Rube Foster out dueled Erksine Mayer, as the Red Sox won 2-1. Foster allowed only three hits, two of them in the first inning, when Cravath scored on Luderus’s single, giving the Phillies and early 1-0 lead. Harry Hooper scored in the fifth inning when Phillies catcher Ed Burns, let the ball get past him, tying the game at one. In the ninth, the Red Sox capped the scoring, as Foster, helping his own cause, singled up the middle scoring Larry Gardner.

With the series even, it headed to Boston.

Game 3 featured Alexander (on only two days rest), this time against Dutch Leonard, it was Leonard who got the best of the Phillies. In the third, the Phillies got on the board, as Bancroft singled home Burns, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. That would be the third and final hit of the game the Phillies would see as Leonard was masterful retiring the next 20 batters he faced. Alexander threw a gem of his own, but the Red Sox were able to get to him. They tied the game in the fourth when Speaker scored on a ground out by Dick Hoblitzel. The Red Sox won the game in the ninth with Hooper scored on a Lewis single (his third of the game).

With the Phillies down two games to one, Pat Moran to skip the left handed Eppa Rixey, and 14 game winner Al Demaree in favor of George Chalmers. Chalmers was the least used starter for the Phillies in 1915, and spent much of the season in the bullpen. Facing him would be Shore, who was looking for revenge after losing Game 1. The Phillies threatened early. After the games first two batters, Wes Stock and Bancroft both reached base (on a single and a walk), Moran called for a double steal. Unfortunately both runners were thrown out, blowing a chance for the Phillies to score early. The Red Sox got on the board in the third when Jack Barry scored of Hooper’s single, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. They added another run in the fifth when Hoblitzell scored on Lewis’s double. The Phillies tried to rally in the ninth. Gravath hit a two out triple and scored when Luderus singled, but Possum Whitted couldn’t keep the rally alive, flying out to right field. Shore finished the Phils in the ninth, as the Red Sox won 2-1.

Game 5 was back in Philadelphia.

With the Phillies facing elimination, Moran was desperate. Instead of using Rixey or Demaree, he chose planned on giving the ball to Alexander. Unfortunately Alexander showed up to the ballpark too drunk to pitch (something he denied until his death, although Alexander battled alcoholism much of his life), so Moran turned to Mayer to save the Phillies season.

The Phillies drew first blood. After loading the bases with no outs in the first, Cravath hit into a double play (home to first), leaving runners at second and third. Luderus followed with a double, giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. The Red Sox cut the lead in half when Pinch Thomas singled home Gardner, and tied the game in the third when Hooper led off the third with a home run. Moran then removed Mayer in favor of Rixey (the only pitching change of the entire series), who retired the Red Sox in the third.

The Phillies took the lead in the fourth on a Luderus solo home run, and an error by Hooper scoring Burt Niehoff, making it 4-2. The score remained that was until the eighth when Duffy Lewis hit a two-run inside-the-park home run, tying the game at four. In the ninth, the Red Sox ended the Phillies World Series hopes when Hooper hit his second home run of the game, giving the Red Sox the 5-4 victory and the title of World Champion.

1915 was a special year for the city of Philadelphia. In the following seasons they remained competitive finishing second in 1916 & 1917. It was after the 1917 season that ownership traded Alexander and Rixey, which began a stretch that lasted decades before the Phillies would compete again.