Bill Phillips (first baseman)

Phillips, born on April 30, 1857, came from a large family of English heritage. He had nine siblings, consisting of two brothers and seven sisters, and his father worked as a cooper. However, according to Alfred Henry Spink, founder of the Sporting News, Phillips was playing baseball in the Chicago area at earlier date. It is certain the family settled in Chicago in the mid to late-1870s as Phillips was playing for a top amateur team of the area called the Pastime club He played with the Browns into mid-August, then joined another LA club, the Janesville Mutual, later that month for a four-day stretch. Phillips joined independent Forest City club of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1878, and in 65 games had a batting average of .296 to lead the team. The next year, the Cleveland team joined the NL, which began Phillips' major league career. ==Career==

Cleveland The Forest City team of Cleveland joined the National League for the 1879 season as the Cleveland Blues, and Phillips made NL debut on May 1, becoming the first native Canadian to play in the major leagues. In his first NL season, he led the league's first basemen in games played with 75, was sixth in the league with 365 at bats, while leading the Blues in runs scored, and hits. In the 1880 season, his batting average dropped from .271 in 1879, to .256; however, he finished in the top-ten among the league leaders in games played with 85, which was first among first basemen, was fifth in the league with 10 triples, and led the league in double plays. In that game, Phillips hit what appeared to be a single to right field, only to be thrown out at first base by the shallow-playing right fielder Lon Knight. The seventh-place finish by the Blues, along with the decline of fan support, resulted in the financial instability of the franchise, and it folded after the season. He continued his success for Grays 1886, establishing his highest seasonal career totals in games played with 141, which led the AA, and hits with 160, which was fifth among the league leaders. In 1887, he became the second Canadian baseball player to surpass 100 RBIs in a season, when he finished with a total of 101, Tip O'Neill having done so in 1886 with the St. Louis Browns. He led the league in fielding percentage among first basemen for the second time, and his 34 doubles were sixth in the league. ==Final years==

Phillips was sold to the Kansas City Cowboys during the off-season to make room for Dave Orr. Phillips was enshrined into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. ==Career statistics==

Bill Phillips' career totals as recognized by Baseball-Reference.com. • ' * ' denotes statistics that were not officially recognized during parts or all of his career, and are incomplete. ==References==