Eddie Sawyer

Eddie Sawyer, 87, who managed the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" to an improbable National League championship, died yesterday morning at Phoenixville Hospital after a brief illness. He lived in Valley Forge. Two weeks earlier, Richie Ashburn, a longtime Phillies announcer who was Mr. Sawyer's star centerfielder, died of a heart attack in New York. "Rich's death was a big shock," Andy Seminick, the Whiz Kids catcher, said yesterday from Melbourne, Fla. "Eddie was up in age, but it's still a shock to hear that he's gone.

There is a sign in the garage of Eddie Sawyer's house on Valley Forge Mountain, about five miles outside of Phoenixville, that reads, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. " The sign is indicative of the no-nonsense approach Sawyer used as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950. Sawyer didn't sugarcoat anything as the team's on-the-field boss. "I felt baseball was the profession these fellas chose and they should treat it as such," said Sawyer, 83. "They had to be serious about it. " A lot has changed in baseball since those days, which probably explains why Sawyer no longer pays much attention to the sport.

Here are the results of the poll on Philly.com asking who is the best manager in Phillies history: 1. Charlie Manuel. . . 78.7 percent 2. Gene Mauch. . . 8.7 percent 3. Dallas Green. . . 8.5 percent 4. Danny Ozark. . . 2.3 percent 5. Eddie Sawyer. . . 1.3 percent 6. Jim Fregosi. . . 0.6 percent

To help get ready for Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Arizona, see what you know about past games. 1. The first All-Star Game was played in 1933. Where? a. Fenway Park, Boston. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. c. Polo Grounds, New York. d. Wrigley Field, Chicago. 2. When was the first All-Star Game played in Philadelphia? a. 1943. b. 1953. c. 1967. d. 1976. 3. When was the last time the game was played in Philadelphia?

First Rich Ashburn, then Eddie Sawyer, now Russ Meyer. Time is catching up to the Phillies' aging Whiz Kids. Meyer, a colorful character who pitched for the Phillies in the 1950 World Series, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at age 74. Meyer died in Oglesby, Ill., after five years of illness, said Jeff Idelson, spokesman for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ashburn, a Hall of Famer outfielder and longtime Phillies broadcaster, and Sawyer, the manager of the Whiz Kids, died in September.

The Phillies announced the firing of manager Nick Leyva today at an 11 a.m. press conference at Veterans stadium. The expected firing of Leyva was reported in yesterday's Daily News. Named as his replacement was special assignment scout Jim Fregosi, a former major league player and manager. He also had been working as a color analyst on Phillies games televised by the Sports Channel. Fregosi will be the Phillies' 44th manager. Leyva's dismissal came with the team's record at 4 and 9 , worst in the National League.

LOS ANGELES ? Pat Moran, Eddie Sawyer, Dallas Green, Paul Owens and Jim Fregosi are members of an exclusive club. They are the managers who took Phillies teams to the World Series. Make room for a newcomer, boys. Charlie Manuel joined the club last night. The 64-year-old baseball lifer, a heart attack and cancer survivor, became the latest Phillies manager to win a National League pennant when his team finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game 5 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

RUBEN AMARO SR. was the shortstop on that 1961 Phillies team that lost 23 games in a row. Finished with the worst record in baseball, 47-107. Were dead last in attendance, luring 590,039 masochists into Connie Mack Stadium, a decrepit ballyard in North Philly. Ruben Amaro Jr. is the general manager of this 2011 Phillies team that owns the best record in baseball. Has sold out its glitzy ballpark 182 times in a row, with no end in sight. Same town, same team, same family.

He could teach baseball and biology with equal aplomb. He could also tell the greatest, rich-in-detail stories one moment, then speak volumes soon afterward merely by fixing someone with a purposeful stare. He was Eddie Sawyer, the manager of the Phillies' famous Whiz Kids, champions of the National League in 1950. He was a multi-degreed college professor. He died yesterday in Phoenixville Hospital after a brief illness. Sawyer's death comes two weeks after the death of his centerfielder on the Whiz Kids, Richie Ashburn.

On Thursday, Charlie Manuel will pass Gene Mauch as the longest-serving manager in Phillies history, which is quite an accomplishment given the historically poor record the Phillies compiled until recent days. Manuel is not only the dean of Philadelphia team managers, but he is also unusual in that he has remained popular with a fan base known for its toughness and fickleness. The two managers were vastly different characters. Mauch was the baseball sharpie, honed in the Leo Durocher image of knock down your mother if it means winning a game.

On Thursday, Charlie Manuel will pass Gene Mauch as the longest-serving manager in Phillies history, which is quite an accomplishment given the historically poor record the Phillies compiled until recent days. Manuel is not only the dean of Philadelphia team managers, but he is also unusual in that he has remained popular with a fan base known for its toughness and fickleness. The two managers were vastly different characters. Mauch was the baseball sharpie, honed in the Leo Durocher image of knock down your mother if it means winning a game.

RUBEN AMARO SR. was the shortstop on that 1961 Phillies team that lost 23 games in a row. Finished with the worst record in baseball, 47-107. Were dead last in attendance, luring 590,039 masochists into Connie Mack Stadium, a decrepit ballyard in North Philly. Ruben Amaro Jr. is the general manager of this 2011 Phillies team that owns the best record in baseball. Has sold out its glitzy ballpark 182 times in a row, with no end in sight. Same town, same team, same family.

To help get ready for Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Arizona, see what you know about past games. 1. The first All-Star Game was played in 1933. Where? a. Fenway Park, Boston. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. c. Polo Grounds, New York. d. Wrigley Field, Chicago. 2. When was the first All-Star Game played in Philadelphia? a. 1943. b. 1953. c. 1967. d. 1976. 3. When was the last time the game was played in Philadelphia?

Here are the results of the poll on Philly.com asking who is the best manager in Phillies history: 1. Charlie Manuel. . . 78.7 percent 2. Gene Mauch. . . 8.7 percent 3. Dallas Green. . . 8.5 percent 4. Danny Ozark. . . 2.3 percent 5. Eddie Sawyer. . . 1.3 percent 6. Jim Fregosi. . . 0.6 percent

The first baseman was recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest. The catcher was playing with a fractured ankle. One of the star pitchers sat in the dugout wearing his military uniform. And the ace relief pitcher, the best reliever that year in all of baseball, was the starting pitcher in the opening game. The year was 1950, and these were some of the Phillies players the last time the team met the New York Yankees in the World Series. It was only the second time the Phillies had ever played in the World Series.

LOS ANGELES ? Pat Moran, Eddie Sawyer, Dallas Green, Paul Owens and Jim Fregosi are members of an exclusive club. They are the managers who took Phillies teams to the World Series. Make room for a newcomer, boys. Charlie Manuel joined the club last night. The 64-year-old baseball lifer, a heart attack and cancer survivor, became the latest Phillies manager to win a National League pennant when his team finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game 5 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

It sometimes is 30 minutes after a game when Charlie Manuel leaves his office to amble through the Phillies clubhouse. He still has his jersey on, like always, maybe because he still thinks he hasn't finished his workday. He stops at a player's locker, chats for a few seconds, and moves on. He repeats the process until he sees everybody he needs to see before the others head home for the night. "I've never had a manager try to make sure he saw everybody to tell everybody good job, go get 'em tomorrow or whatever," relief pitcher Scott Eyre said.

THEY CALLED him "The Little General" or "Skip" and he managed the Phillies for eight seasons, longer than anyone else in the team's modern history. But for any fan over 50 he is remembered for one thing: the collapse of the 1964 team. With a six-game lead and only 12 games remaining, the Phillies lost 10 in a row and saw the pennant go to the St. Louis Cardinals on the last day of the season. Gene Mauch never got over that loss and the tough Phillies fans never forgave him. He deserves better than that.

Russ Meyer, the scowling Phillies pitcher recalled as much for his temper and nickname as for his contributions to the pennant-winning Whiz Kids of 1950, died Sunday in Oglesby, Ill. Mr. Meyer, whose sour disposition and late-night habits led teammates to label him "Mad Monk," was 74. The cause of death, said family members, was congestive heart failure. One of those rare righthanders who threw a screwball, Mr. Meyer pitched for five teams in a 14-year major-league career, but most effectively for the Phillies.

First Rich Ashburn, then Eddie Sawyer, now Russ Meyer. Time is catching up to the Phillies' aging Whiz Kids. Meyer, a colorful character who pitched for the Phillies in the 1950 World Series, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at age 74. Meyer died in Oglesby, Ill., after five years of illness, said Jeff Idelson, spokesman for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ashburn, a Hall of Famer outfielder and longtime Phillies broadcaster, and Sawyer, the manager of the Whiz Kids, died in September.