Bill Giles, 1934-2026

Who is Mr. Phillies? Maybe it was Richie Ashburn, Hall of Fame player and beloved broadcaster. But Bill Giles oversaw the best years the franchise ever had -- and the years that replaced them as such.

William Yale Giles was born on September 7, 1934 in Rochester, New York, where his father, Warren Giles, was general manager of the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings. He grew up in Cincinnati, while his father was GM of the Cincinnati Reds.

Bill, naturally, was hired to work in the Reds' front office, and did so until he followed his father's successor as GM, Gabe Paul, to be part of the founding staff of the team now known as the Houston Astros in 1962. In Houston, Bill served as traveling secretary, then as publicity director, and then promotions director, including promoting the team's new home in 1965, the Astrodome, as "The Eighth Wonder of the World."

In 1969, he joined the Philadelphia Phillies as vice president of business operations. It was he who hired Astros broadcaster Harry Kalas away, starting in 1971, when the Phillies opened the new Veterans Stadium. With team owner Bob Carpenter giving his son Ruly Carpenter the keys to the kingdom, Ruly allowed vice president Bill Giles, general manager Paul Owens, and farm director, later manager, Dallas Green, from 1976 to 1983, 8 seasons, the Phillies made the Playoffs 6 times, won 2 National League Pennants, and won the 1980 World Series. Giles also created the Phillie Phanatic, baseball's most popular mascot, who debuted early in the 1978 season.

In 1981, the Carpenter family sold the Phillies to a group that included Giles and John Middleton. The Phillies won the Pennant again in 1983. They tailed off, but were rebuilt into Pennant winners again in 1993. In 1997, Giles was named Chairman, and he held that title until his retirement in 2015. This included the building of Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004.

When the Phillies lost the World Series in 1993, it was to the Toronto Blue Jays, whose general manager was Pat Gillick. In 2006, Giles hired Gillick to be Phillies GM. He built a team that won 5 straight NL East titles, 2 Pennants, and the 2008 World Series.

With the Commissioner's Trophy after the 2008 World Series

Giles had owned about 20 percent of the Phillies' stock, but sold his shares in 2013. As his father did from 1951 to 1969, he served as President of the National League starting in 2001. By that point, though the offices of both Leagues' Presidents were pretty much ceremonial only, with their main duty being the delivery of the trophy for winning the Pennant to the winning team's owner. In the case of the NL, Bill Giles handed the Warren Giles Trophy to, among others, his Phillies cohort David Montgomery 3 times: 2008, 2009 and 2022.

With the trophy named for his father

Bill and his wife, the former Nancy Kirwin, had 3 children: Mike, Joe and Chris; and 8 grandchildren. Nancy died in 2020 -- not from COVID. Bill Giles died this past Friday, September 25, 2026, at the age of 92.