Phillies Events on January 2
1954 – The Philadelphia Phillies signed pitcher Don Cardwell as an amateur free agent. Cardwell pitched three-plus seasons with the Phillies from 1957-1960, before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in the trade that brought Tony Taylor to Philadelphia. The right-hander pitched 14 seasons in the majors and would go on to throw a one-hit shutout in the 1960 World Series with the Cubs.

MLB Events on January 2
1977 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Braves owner Ted Turner for a year for tampering with free agent signings, a rare disciplinary action involving team ownership that also affected draft picks.

Phillies Birthdays on January 2
Pinky Whitney, born January 2, 1896 – Whitney was a longtime third baseman who played for the Phillies from 1928-1933 and again from 1936-1939. Whitney became known as one of the National League’s better hitters during the Deadball Era and later served briefly as a player-manager in Boston.
Jim Essian, born January 2, 1951 – Essian started his MLB career with in 1973 and played with them through the ’75 season. He was dealt to Atlanta along with Barry Donnell for Dick Allen and Johnny Oates. After his playing career, Essian went into coaching and was the interim manager of the Cubs in 1991.
Garrett Stephenson, born January 2, 1972 – A right-hander originally drafted by Baltimore in the 18th round of the 1992 Draft, Stephenson and pitcher Calvin Maduro were the players to be named later in the 1996 trade that sent Pete Incaviglia and Todd Zeile to Baltimore.

MLB Birthdays on January 2
Edgar Martinez, born January 2, 1963 – A Hall of Fame designated hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners, Martinez was a two-time batting champion and one of the premier hitters of his era. He played 18 seasons in the majors, all of them with Seattle.
David Cone, born January 2, 1963 – Cone enjoyed a 17-year MLB career as a pitcher, winning a Cy Young Award in 1994 and while with the Yankees in 1999, threw a perfect game against Montreal.
Fernando Tatís Jr., born January 2, 1999 – One of the standout young stars of MLB, Tatís has been a three-time All-Star and has won two Gold Glove awards with the San Diego Padres. Missed the 2022 season with an injury and serving a suspension for testing positive for PEDs.

A DEEPER DIVE… Pinky Whitney

Pinky Whitney, born Arthur Carter Whitney in San Antonio on January 2, 1905 was 23 years old when he made his major league debut with the Phillies on April 11, 1928. The timing mattered, because Whitney arrived as the Phillies were trying to cobble together a competitive club in the middle of the lively-ball offensive boom, and they badly needed a steady bat at third base.

Whitney immediately looked like a centerpiece. In his rookie season he played essentially every day and led the Phillies with 103 RBI, even though the team itself cratered to a last-place finish. That set the tone for a lot of his first stint in Philadelphia: big production, not much help around him, and a whole lot of losing.

First Phillies Stint, 1928–1933
From 1928 through the early part of 1933, Whitney was one of the National League’s most dependable run producers. He played all 154 games in 1929 and hit .327 while piling up extra-base hits, then took an even bigger step in 1930 with career bests in batting average (.342) and hits (207) while driving in 117 runs. His 1932 season was arguably the signature year of his Phillies prime: he again played all 154 games and knocked in a career-high 124 runs. By then he wasn’t just a good hitter on the roster, he was the team captain and a central figure in the clubhouse.

Whitney drove in 558 runs in his first go-around with the Phillies and hit .310 in over 730 games. In two seasons he had over 200 hits, including a career-high 207 in 1930 and he drove in 100 or more runs in four seasons.

GET READY: The official launch of Behind The Credential by PBN Editor Chuck Hixson is coming Monday, January 5th.

Why He Left Philadelphia in 1933
Whitney’s departure wasn’t about him suddenly forgetting how to hit. It was about money. In mid-June of 1933, with the Phillies strapped for cash, they traded Whitney and outfielder Hal Lee to the Boston Braves for players and a substantial cash payment widely reported in the $50,000–$75,000 range. That’s the key context: this was the Depression-era Phillies doing the thing they often did, turning a valuable star into payroll relief. Whitney also had dealt with a back injury that cost him time early that season, and he was hitting .264 at the time of the deal, which made it a little easier for Philadelphia to rationalize the move publicly.

Boston Years and the Road Back
In Boston, Whitney remained a useful, sometimes very good player on some historically rough teams. One especially grim footnote is that he was part of the 1935 Braves club that posted the lowest winning percentage, .248 (38-115) in National League history. Even so, he kept producing enough to stay relevant, and by 1936 the door opened for a return to Philadelphia.

Second Phillies Stint, 1936–1939
Whitney came back early in the 1936 season via trade, with Boston sending him to the Phillies for infielder Mickey Haslin. The “why” here is pretty straightforward: the Phillies were looking for a proven major league bat and stability at third base, while Boston was pivoting toward different roster pieces. Whitney also seemed to get a jolt from being back. In 1936 he made the National League All-Star team, the lone All-Star nod of his career.

Then in 1937, while in his early 30s, he had one more monster batting year, hitting .341 with a career-best on-base percentage of .395. Injuries started cutting into his playing time after that, and his career wound down in Philadelphia, ending in 1939.

What His Career Looks Like in One Picture
Whitney spent 10 of his 12 big league seasons with the Phillies, beginning and ending his career in Philadelphia. He finished with a .295 lifetime average and 927 RBI, a strong offensive resume for a third baseman of his era. His story is also a very “Phillies of the 1930s” story: a star who got sold off when money got tight, then returned later when circumstances and roster needs lined up again.

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