More than Beards, Bellies and Biceps

Stubble scruffed up their chins. Tobacco wads ballooned their cheeks. The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies had the look of a slow-pitch softball team itching to kick some serious butt. They did kick butt, too, on and off the field. They lived the life of professional baseball players as fully as it can be done, manager Jim Fregosi said. Though they werent a photogenic bunch, their mugs were everywhere, on Baseball Today, on David Letterman, and on Saturday Night Live. Even President Clinton quipped about them. The newly revised edition of Robert Gordons and Tom Burgoynes More Than Beards, Bellies, and Biceps: The Story of the 1993 Phillies tells the complete story of this gang of baseball throwbacks that quickly seduced the hometown fans. By seasons end they had won over the rest of the country, too. Americas Most Wanted Team became Americas Team in a heart-thumping World Series against Toronto. The 93 Phils drew more spectators than any other Philadelphia franchise in the citys century-and-a-quarter of professional sports. More Than Beards, Bellies, and Biceps offers the story of a team that burned the candle at both ends and lit up a city like a firecracker.