Ruly Carpenter, 81, Dies; Owned the Phillies’ First Championship Team

Ruly Carpenter, the third-generation owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, who in 1981 sold the team a year after they won their first World Series, saying he was troubled by the rising cost of player salaries, died on Monday at his home in Montchanin, Del., near Wilmington. He was 81.

His wife, Stephanie (Conklin) Carpenter, confirmed the death but did not cite a cause.

Mr. Carpenter, whose grandfather acquired the Phillies in 1943, took over the team from his father in 1972 and helped build it into a contender with players like the third baseman Mike Schmidt and the pitcher Steve Carlton, both future Hall of Famers, as well as Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox and Pete Rose, who signed with the Phillies as a free agent in 1979 after 16 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

But although the Phillies finished first in their division in 1976, 1977 and 1978, they lost the National League Championship Series in each of those years. Then, in 1980, they beat the Houston Astros in the N.L.C.S. and defeated the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in six games.

Nearly six months later, though, Mr. Carpenter announced his plan to sell the team, citing spiraling player salaries caused by free agency and arbitration.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/sports/baseball/ruly-carpenter-dead.html