Phillies Legends: Del Ennis

An RBI legend and 'Whiz Kids' great, today we look at the career of Philadelphia Phillies left fielder, Del Ennis.

© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Del Ennis was born on June 8, 1925 in the City of Brotherly Love. He was a Philadelphia native, so fans placed even greater expectations on his performance, but he often came through for them. 

In high school, Ennis was an All-State fullback for the football team, and one heck of a ball player. Philadelphia Phillies scout, Jocko Collins, was sent to Olney High School where Ennis played to scout a pitcher on the opposing team. That day, Ennis hit three home runs and a double. Collins no longer took any interest in the pitcher, and instead sought after the talents of the young Del Ennis.

Ennis refused to sign a contract for a while, but after a lot of convincing, Del agreed to join the team. Ennis’ rookie season in 1946 was a smashing success. He batted .313, the highest mark of his career, with 17 home runs and 73 runs batted in. The Sporting News gave him Rookie of the Year honors, and he received enough MVP votes to come in eighth place.

Ennis spent 11 of his 14 Major League seasons with the Phillies. As a member of the team, he slashed .286/.344/.479 with an .823 OPS. He collected 1,812 hits, 259 homers, and 1,124 RBI in Philly.

To get a better understanding of Ennis’ career, let’s look at some of his greatest achievements:

• 3x All-Star

• Received MVP votes in 8 different seasons

• Led league in RBI in 1950 - 126 RBI

• 20 double plays turned from left field - 30th most since 1900

• 1,290 games played in left field - 35th most since 1900

• 2,481 putouts in left field - 37th most since 1900

Perhaps Ennis’ greatest season came as a part of the Whiz Kids. The Whiz Kids refers to the Phillies in 1950 who won the franchises first National League pennant in 35 years and was composed of an extremely young group of players. Eleven men on the team were 25 years old or younger, this includes Del Ennis.

That season, Ennis led the league in RBI (126), was fourth in batting (.311), and fifth in home runs (31). He came in fourth place in MVP voting that year, the best finish of his career. Ennis, and the rest of the Phillies, struggled in the 1950 World Series as they got swept by the Yankees in four games. Ennis batted .143 with just two hits that included a double.

Ennis put together an extremely solid 10 year span from 1948 to 1957 where he dominated at the plate. In that span he batted .285 with over 1600 hits, 1,000 RBI, and 800 runs scored. He struck out a total of 556 times in 6,314 plate appearances, a strikeout percentage of just 8.8%.

Ennis’ biggest weakness was his fielding, and Phillies fans often were all over him for it. He would continually make a game-changing error in the outfield, but make up for it with game winning hits later on.

He was famous for accidentally over running deep fly balls and then pulling off impressive bare-handed catches to make the out. Most famously, Ennis pulled this off this feat at the Polo Grounds on a deep fly ball by WIllie Mays. Mays crushed the ball to the outfield gap, and while Ennis was tracking it down he tripped over the pitchers mound where the unenclosed bullpen was. As he fell to the ground, Ennis stuck out his non-glove hand and caught the ball.

Ennis’ Phillies career came to a close after the 1956 season where he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He had two decent seasons in Missouri before retiring during the 1959 season where he played a few games in Cincinnati with the Reds and a few games in Chicago with the White Sox.

After retirement, Ennis spent time with his wife, six children, and his grandchildren. He was the owner of the Del Ennis Lanes in Philadelphia which opened in 1958 and would last until his retirement from the bowling alley business in 1993. Ennis passed away on February 8, 1996 but earned a plaque on the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1983 and will remain there for all fans to see. His career may not have been Hall of Fame worthy, but his contributions to the Phillies franchise deserves an eternity of recognition. 

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