Greg Luzinski, Dave Cash, Garry Maddox, Larry Bowa And Mike Schmidt - Phillies Fever (1976)

The Philadelphia Phillies are finally in The World Series again for only the sixth time in my lifetime. Considering my days as a baseball enthusiast began in 1961 - the year of their infamous twenty-three game losing streak - that isn't very often. It's a record of futility that has never been broken. They finished that season with a horrid 47-107 record. UGH!

The Phillies are historically known for playing poorly all the way back to 1883 when the National League expanded to Philadelphia after disbanding a team located in Worcester, MA. Their original name was the Quakers and they played like pacifists. Most of their reputation as losers came from many terrible seasons that followed World War One until they finally assembled an outstanding lineup in the mid-70s. In 1976 the "Bicentennial Bombers" made the post-season for only the third time in their history, and they finally won their first ever World Series in 1980, ninety-seven years after the team first stepped onto a field of dreams.

The City of Brotherly Love continued to have great affection for their baseball team despite all of the frustrating losses, and the entire Delaware Valley became quite captivated by the boys from South Broad Street when they finally became perennial contenders.

That passion led to a 45 RPM single, "Phillies Fever," that has been resurrected during the current post-season run. It was recorded in 1976 by the heart of that team. From left to right on the record jacket are Greg Luzinski, Dave Cash, Garry Maddox, Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt.

This '76 Phillies roster also included prominent teammates Steve Carlton, Tug McGraw and Dick Allen - none of whom sang on this record. However, Allen was a fairly good vocalist and released a single of his own that you can read about here.

The session was organized by local producer Walt Kahn who worked with The Dixie Hummingbirds on their version of Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock."

The players said that of the five of them only Maddox could sing, and the guys were helped immeasurably by the background singers Kahn brought into the studio.

"Phillies Fever" has a funky, prominent, opening bass line and it's easy to hear that it was a product of the disco era. It sounds quite similar to the Gamble and Huff produced "The Sound of Philadelphia" by MFSB.

The record made no impact whatsoever outside of Philadelphia.