Phillips was born in West Point, Mississippi. He graduated from Macon High School where he was a football standout and softball player in 1946. He was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi (then Mississippi Southern College) and was a multi-sport athlete. He excelled in baseball and football and began being watched by major league-scouts in 1946. He received "Little All-America" football honors as captain (running back) of the football team his senior year in 1950. While in college he chose a professional baseball career over a football career turning down the San Francisco 49ers of the All-America Football Conference for a contract with the Detroit Tigers organization in 1948.[1]
Phillipa was then drafted into military service for two years and spent 1953 and 1954 with the United States Army.
Major League Baseball
Detroit Tigers (1955)
Phillips made his major league debut on April 12, 1955, with the Detroit Tigers at the age of 27 and wearing number 11. Though he spent most of the year as a bench player, in 184 at-bats he hit .234. He started in left field on Opening Day and went 0-for-3 against the Kansas City Athletics. He hit three home runs, had 23 RBIs, in 95 games played.
In 1956, Phillips spent his first season on the White Sox team like Detroit, mostly a bench player. He was used sometimes as a pinch hitter, an outfield defensive replacement, and a one time as a third baseman. He hit .273 with 2 home runs, and 11 RBIs, in 67 games played.
In 1957, Phillips became the White Sox starting third baseman. He hit .270 with 7 home runs, and 42 RBIs, in 121 games. He took the starting job at 3rd base from Fred Hatfield who hit .202 that year.
In 1958, Phillips spent time almost evenly at third base and in the outfield, playing 10 more games at third base than in the outfield. He hit .273 with five home runs, and 30 RBIs, in 84 games. Unfortunately, on June 8, he broke his right foot for six weeks tripping over first base and was replaced by utility player, Billy Goodman. Phillips was a consistent hitter who did not walk much but did not strike out much either.
In 1960, Phillips batted only .207 with 4 home runs. He ended up having to relinquish time at third to Ken Aspromonte and other players.
In 1961, Phillips rebounded, finding a power stroke that led him to hit 18 home runs, including the only two grand slam's of his career. He finished the season hitting .264 with 72 RBIs. Manager Jimmy Dykes even tried for a time him as the Indians' cleanup hitter. He led the American League with 188 putouts as third baseman.
In 1962, Phillips was not as successful as he was 1961. He hit .258 with 10 home runs, and 54 RBIs. He was part of a rare back-to-back-to-back home run feat, in which he, Jerry Kindall, and Jim Mahoney all connected home runs in succession off pitcher Bill Stafford on June 17.
In 1963, Phillips was the Tigers starting third baseman, he hit .246 with 5 home runs. He had a career high of 6 stolen bases and led the American League with 10 sacrifice flies.
In 1964, Phillips lost his starting job to a young Don Wert. Phillips hit .253 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs. He finished his major league baseball career on September 18 as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning in a game against the Indians.
Summary
Phillips had a .255 lifetime batting average with 62 home runs and 356 RBIs. He had a .964 fielding average. He walked 182 times and struck out only 314 times in 3,278 at-bats. He collected his final major league hit off Gerry Arrigo and his final home run off Dave Stenhouse. According to Baseball-Reference, the player he is most similar to statistically is Mike Shannon. He was teammates with Barry Latman for 6 seasons, longer than any other teammate. He mostly wore number #5 during his career, although during part of the 1960 season he wore #7, and during his final two years at Cleveland he wore #1.
Post baseball
Phillips worked in real estate and was a tennis instructor at the University of Southern Mississippi and the city of Hattiesburg.
In 1972, he was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
