PHILADELPHIA WINS NATIONAL LEAGUE

 

Philadelphia Skyline.

And why is Philadelphia in the news?

BRYCE HARPER, most valuable player. 

$330,000,000

The Phillies won the National League Playoff.

Bryce Harper signed a 13 year / $330,000,000 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, including a $20,000,000 signing bonus, $330,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $25,384,615. In 2023, Harper will earn a base salary of $26,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $27,538,462.

Some background info: The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park, located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Founded in 1883, the Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in all of American professional sports.^[5][6][7][8]

The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008), eight National League pennants (the first of which came in 1915), and made 15 playoff appearances. As of October 1, 2022, the team has played 21,203 games, winning 10,019 games and losing 11,184.^[9]

Since the first modern World Series was played in 1903, the Phillies have played 119 consecutive seasons and 139 seasons since the team's 1883 establishment. Before the Phillies won their first World Series in 1980, the team went longer than any of the other MLB 16 teams of the first half of the 20th century without a World Series championship. Since the start of the Divisional Era in 1969, however, the Phillies have emerged as one of MLB's most successful teams, winning 14 division titles (including five consecutive such titles from 2007 to 2011), eight National League pennants, and two World Series championships.

The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts, in the National League. The team has played at several stadiums in the city, beginning with Recreation Park (1883–1886) and continuing at Baker Bowl (1887–1938); Shibe Park (which was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953 in honor of the longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack) (1938–1970); Veterans Stadium (1971–2003), and now Citizens Bank Park (2004-present).

Despite their longevity (and, in part, because of it) and their rabid fan base, the Phillies are a team historically associated with futility, being the first American sports franchise to amass over 10,000 losses; the team holds the world record for most ever losses by a single team in all of professional sports.^[10] Yet, also due in part to their longevity, the Phillies also are one of only nine teams to have won over 10,000 games in their history. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt is widely considered the franchise's greatest player of all time.^[11] Over the team's history since 1883, 32 Phillies players have been awarded entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who play at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, who play in Reading. The Class-A affiliates are the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, who play in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, and the Clearwater Threshers, who play at BayCare Ballpark.

The team's spring training facilities are in Clearwater, Florida.