Pete Incaviglia: Forgotten Phillies

For every Ryan Howard, there’s a Ricky Jordan. And at Philthy Pride, we want to remember those players who -- for whatever reason -- seem to have slipped through the cracks of our collective sporting memory. And who better to start with than Pete Incavigilia, the greasy mulleted slugger we all knew and loved as “Inky”?





Inky probably isn’t the first name that comes to mind when you think of the infamous ’93 Phillies. Like most people, you probably conjure up the likes of Kruk, Daulton, Dykstra and The Wild Thing. You might even think of Mickey Morandini, the duck-faced speedster 2nd Baseman who hit 9 triples that season.

Or you might think of Dave Hollins, the box jawed 3rd baseman who – if it weren’t for Dutch – would have led the team in RBIs (93) and, sadly, strike outs (109) . At best, Inky is one of those “oh yeah, him!” guys that you only remember when you’re discussing the top 10 funniest Phillies haircuts or fattest outfielders ever.

But Inky was the man.

The legend of Incaviglia began at OSU with the young slugger’s amazing college career. He had the most impressive offensive year in NCAA history as a junior in 1985 when he set NCAA single-season records for home runs (48), RBI (143), total bases (285) and slugging percentage (.915) all of which still stands today. In addition he set the NCAA career records for home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.915). In 1999, Baseball America named Inky “College Baseball’s Player of the Century”. GLORY!

Inky was drafted by the Expos in ’86 and blatantly refused to play minor league baseball. The Expos traded him to Texas, where Inky went on to hit 30 HRs (10th best in the league). As a result of the Expos trading Incaviglia immediately after signing him, MLB instituted the “Pete Incaviglia Rule”, whereby a team cannot trade a drafted player until he has been under contract to the club for at least one year. Again, GLORY!

Inky arrived in Philly in ’93, just in time for one of the greatest baseball seasons in Philadelphia history. And he did his part to help the team, cracking a team-leading 24 HRs in just 369 appearances at the plate. Darren Daulton hit 24 HRs as well, but he had 510 At-Bats. Inky posted a decent .274 average (5th best on the team) while amassing 89 RBI’s (3rd highest on team, behind Dutch and Hollins.

But he sucked in the postseason. In the NLCS against the Braves, Inky batted .167, going 2 for 12 with 1 solo HR and 3 strike outs. In the World Series, he batted just .143, going 1 for 7 and striking out 4 times as the Phillies lost to Blue Jays. Who could forget the image of Joe Carter trotting the bases. . .still makes me sick. . .

Other notable facts about Inky:
He led the league in strike outs in both 1986 and 1988, and he struck out a total of 1,277 times in his career. Ouch. Despite those numbers, he finished his career in 1998 with 206 HRs, 655 RBIs, and a .246 batting average.

Wonder where he is now? Inky is the Field Manager for the Grand Prairie AirHogs, part of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. His nephew, Thomas, is a rookie LHP on the team.