Philadelphia Phillies playoff drought is nothing new

The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t been to the playoffs since 2011. At the time, it didn’t seem like a postseason drought was about to begin. The club had made it beyond game 162 each season from 2007-2011 and there was nothing to suggest the 102-60 club in 2011 was about to go in the wrong direction.

Since 2011, the Phillies have finished above .500 only once. This happened last year with the 82-80 team just inching over the mark by a single victory.

As devastating as it may feel for fans to see the season end on schedule, the ongoing playoff drought is nothing new for the franchise.

Long Philadelphia Phillies playoff droughts are nothing new for this franchise.

I began following the Phillies around the end of the 1996 season. I missed out on the fun in 1993 and didn’t realize the team would miss the playoffs every season until 2007. Enduring a full decade of watching playoff baseball without seeing my team make it there, it was especially amazing to see them finally cross over in 2007 and recreate what many fans got to experience in the 1970s.

Before 1993—the only year I was alive when the Phillies actually made the postseason prior to 2007—you have to go back to 1983 to find the Phillies in the playoffs. They lost in the World Series that year, but I think fans were willing to accept it because of all of the close calls seasons prior and the championship victory in 1980.

The ten years between 1983 and 1993 without a Phillies playoff game was surely a painful one for those old enough to experience it. Having gone to the playoffs all but two times from 1976-1983, it was an unfamiliar feeling for many who didn’t remember what baseball in Philadelphia was like prior to the 101-61 club in 1976.

Making it to the postseason was much tougher prior to 1969 when the divisions split between East and West. Rather than battle against six teams for the NL East title, it was a race between all ten National League clubs.

The Phillies had a tough time competing. In 1964, they famously collapsed down the stretch and fell one game shy of first place. Outside of that, fans saw little positivity.

The Whiz Kids of 1950 had been the last time the Phillies made the playoffs before 1976. That’s a long time to wait to see your team even get a chance at winning it all. And as bleak as that time period was, fans even older than this had to live through a lengthier stretch.

Starting from when they were the Philadelphia Quakers in 1883, the franchise would miss the playoffs (a single championship game) every season until 1915. That’s 32 years of hopelessness.

After failing to win it all in 1915, another 35 years would pass until Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts took the team back in 1950.

It took 32 years until the first time the Phillies franchise made the playoffs. Another 35 until their next appearance. Then 26 more.

The last ten years of Phillies baseball have been rough made more so by how many more teams can make the postseason each and every year. Smaller divisions, more wild cards, and everything else hasn’t helped the Phillies end this current drought. But that’s nothing new for fans of this team. A big part of rooting for the team is waiting for them to finally figure things out. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another decade.