Dating all the way back to 1883, the Phillies have maintained the same nickname; and are the oldest same city / same name franchise in American sport. Although it is debated among many baseball scholars, the team was originally called the Quakers; the name Phils, and Phillies began to appear in the local papers almost simulatneously with the team’s inception; thus the claim can be made without retort.
Let’s take a look at the which teams have been playing ball the longest and who their top 5 all time players are bases on WAR.
Atlanta Braves
On April 6, 2023, the Michigan Wolverines would play in their NCAA leading 27th Frozen Four in Tampa. Hopes were high as Michigan fielded an NHL laden roster, with the Hobey Baker Award winner and an offense that lead the NCAA in scoring. Michigan fans, myself included, were eager to show our support and felt confident that we would get a rematch of the Big Ten Championship with Minnesota (Michigan won 4-3).
“Frank the Tank, Frank the Tank.”
No, we’re not talking about Old School (2003; Dreamworks); we’re talking about the 2023 Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, those pesky Rays that draw an average attendance of a whopping 13K fans to the comfy confines of the Trop (located in St. Petersburg).
The Tampa Bay Rays have matched the 1982 Braves and the 1987 Brewers for the longest winning streak to start a season in Major League Baseball. Only one team has won more games in a row at the start of a season.
Posted better late than never, all picks and predictions can we viewed and verified on the March 29th Bleacher Bros Show available at the end of this article.
Bleacher Brothers gathered their biggest and best baseball experts and picked through the American and National leagues, division by division and team by team.
Tampa Bay Rays. So far in the 2023 MLB season, they’re standing alone (like Godsmack) as MLB’s only undefeated team in the season, with a 9-0 record. While undefeated starts in the sports world are common, the way the Rays have been doing it hasn’t been seen since the 1884 St. Louis Maroons started that season 13-0. The Rays have won all 9 games by 4 or more runs (the most dominant being a 11-0 victory against the visiting Oakland Athletics on April 9th)