By: Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Between 1915 and 1980, the Phillies won just one National League pennant. The 1950 Whiz Kids starred a plethora of Phillies legends, but no one quite had the season Del Ennis put together. Playing in 153 of the team’s 154 regular season games, Ennis hit .311 with 31 homeruns and a league-leading 126 RBIs.
Ennis had raw power at the plate, which may have been how he earned the nickname Ennis the Menace. My grandfather tells the story of a field trip he and his friends from his orphanage had to a Phillies game at Shibe Park. He claims to have witnessed Ennis hit the ball over the top of the stadium in deep center field before it landed on Lehigh Avenue. The pure strength that Ennis showcased with a bat was incredible.
Career Accomplishments
Perhaps the most underrated and underappreciated player in team history, Ennis finished seven seasons with over 100 RBI's and led the league once in 1950. A three-time all-star, Ennis finished top five in the league in slugging percentage and total bases five times each during his career. Despite being renowned for his bat, Ennis was more than solid defensively as well. He led the all leftfielders in assists four times, collecting as many as 17 in a single season. His range factor finished among top five leftfielders in eight seasons and his fielding percentage fell within the top five in six seasons.
Most Memorable Moment
It's hard to come up with a defining single moment of Ennis's career, but the 1950 Whiz Kids team is one of the most memorable seasons in Phillies history. Ennis played a major role on the Phillies' second ever pennant and first in thirty-five years. Despite being swept by the Yankees, Ennis led the Phillies to just their second World Series in almost 70 years of existence.
Reasons for Ranking Placement
Ennis finished one season in his career with a WAR above 5. In eight other season with the Phillies, Ennis finished with a WAR above 2. This gives him a total of 11 "WAR points" in our ranking formula (explained below). His 11 years with the Phillies gave him another five points in our rankings.
Additionally, he received points for being top 25 in organizational history in OPS as well as top 10 in hits, doubles, triples and RBIs. His ranking within the top three in homeruns in Phillies history also attributed points to Ennis' score.
In total, Short earned 34 points from our algorithm, which is enough to rank him the 16th greatest Phillie of all-time.
Formula Explanation
The player rankings formula combines both traditional and advanced statistics/metrics and assigns a point total to each category. These statistics only reflect the player's Phillies career.
Previous Entries
- No. 25, Garry Maddox
- No. 24, Roy Thomas
- No. 23, Gavvy Cravath
- No. 22, Chris Short
- No. 21, Cy Williams
- No. 20, Curt Schilling
- N0. 19, Cole Hamels
- No. 18, Ryan Howard
- No. 17, Sam Thompson
