The Phillies were founded in 1883 and were informally known as both the Quakers and the Phillies (a shortened version of “Philadelphians”) until they officially adopted the Phillies name in 1890. The team was not an early success and first qualified for the play-offs in 1915, behind the pitching of all-time great Grover Cleveland Alexander (Alexander, Grover Cleveland). Philadelphia traded Alexander after the 1917 season and entered into a period of prolonged failure that saw the team finish last or second to last in the NL in 24 of the 30 seasons from 1919 to 1947. In 1950 star outfielder Richie Ashburn and pitcher Robin Roberts led a Phillies team of “Whiz Kids” to their first berth in the World Series in 35 years, where they were swept by the New York Yankees.

The Phillies began another extended play-off drought after 1950, during part of which (1963–69) the unpredictable behaviour of temperamental slugger Dick Allen kept things interesting. The team began a turnaround in 1972, when future Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt (Schmidt, Mike) and Steve Carlton (Carlton, Steve) made their Phillies debuts. Behind Carlton's dominant pitching and Schmidt's timely power hitting, the Phillies experienced the most prolonged period of success in franchise history, winning six NL Eastern Division titles between 1976 and 1983. Though the team advanced to the World Series only twice in those years, it won the franchise's only world championship, in 1980. In 1993 the Phillies returned to the World Series only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays on Joe Carter's dramatic series-winning home run in game six. The Phillies set an ignoble mark in 2007, when they became the first franchise in sporting history to lose its 10,000th game. The 2007 season ended on a bright note, however, as the Phillies won their first NL Eastern Division title in 14 years. The Phillies repeated as division champions in 2008, and they advanced to the World Series behind the dominant pitching of Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge. There they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in five games to win the franchise's second World Series title in its history.