R.I.P. - Howard "Ed" Phillips

Howard “Ed” Phillips, 80, of Hannibal, died at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at Willow Care Center in Hannibal.



Mr. Phillips was born July 8, 1930, in St. Louis to Raymond and Estella Schaffer

Phillips. He was married to Joyce Easley on March 6, 1959, in St. Louis. She survives.



Mr. Phillips was born in St. Louis in 1931 but grew up in Hannibal after his father, a railroad
engineer, was transferred here. As a kid, Ed played baseball as often as he could. A St. Louis Cardinal scout signed him in 1950 after seeing him play a handful of sandlot games. He was sent to a club in West Frankfort, Ill., in the Class D Mississippi-Ohio Valley League, where he batted .297. It was the first of many successful seasons offensively for Phillips, a switch-hitter. He would bat over .300 three times in the minors, including a .320 mark that netted him the Class A Western League batting crown in 1952. After Ed hit .306 for their Double-A team, Houston, in 1953, the Cardinals brought him up to the majors for the rest of the season. In each of the next two seasons, he was invited to the Cardinals’ major league spring camp, but wound up being assigned to Class AAA.



Mr. Phillips played infield and outfield during the era of Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, and it was tough to bump those legendary players out of a job. He stuck it out in the minors until 1960, then left baseball, realizing he’d never be called to the majors again.