It's October, that means title season for the Phillies. They won 97 games and their 4th-straight division title. Now, they seek their 3rd-straight National League Championship.Future Hall-of-Famer Roy Halladay had never pitched in a playoff game. He had never stood on that stage. His new teammates Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt had done it and had shined there. Would he? Not only did he shine on the big stage, he stole it. Against the team that led the NL in hits, runs, HRs and RBIs, Roy "Doc" Halladay, "Doctober" as one fan's sign read, allowed only a single walk in 9 innings.
"It's surreal, it really is," Halladay said. "I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it's a dream come true."
Joey Votto, the Reds' 1st Baseman and likely NL MVP, said it best: "We never envisioned that. I don't think anything we did would have mattered... It's no fun out there. It's like trying to hit nothing. He's an ace among aces."It was the 2nd time a pitcher has thrown a no-hitter in the playoffs in baseball's long and storied history.
Most pitchers rely on 1, maybe 2 truly effective pitches. Halladay throws a sinker, cutter, curveball and changeup.
"You go back and you see pitches guys were throwing 50 years ago and they might have the old fastball and maybe something else, maybe a curveball," Phillies closer Brad Lidge said, "But I think 50 years from now, people are going to look back and say, 'Roy had everything then that we have now.'"
Teammate Cole Hamels was asked if Doc's stuff was better in game 1 of the NLDS than it had been during his regular season perfect game on May 29th of this year:
"Way better," Cole Hamels said. "Way better."
Halladay became the 5th pitcher in history to have 2 no-hitters in 1 season and the 1st to record one in each the regular and the post-season:
| Year | Pitcher | Team | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Roy Halladay | PHI | 5/29, 10/6 |
| 1973 | Nolan Ryan | CAL | 5/15, 7/15 |
| 1952 | Virgil Trucks | DET | 5/15, 8/25 |
| 1951 | Allie Reynolds | NYY | 7/12, 9/28 |
| 1938 | J. Vander Meer | CIN | 6/11, 6/15 |
I was asked many times throughout the season if this Phillies team would make the playoffs, let alone make another run for the title. It was touch-and-go there for a while this summer. There were times that it seemed the only title they were destined for was "has-been." "Has been" a great team, "once-promising," "former champs." The bats looked limp and the team couldn't beat the bad teams, getting whipped by the dregs, like Washington, Pittsburgh and Houston.
"To be in the category of being the greatest, the best, you have to prove it. You can't have the team that woulda, shoulda, coulda. A lot of people can talk about how great a team was, but if you don't have anything to show for it, then it's really hard to convince people." -- Cole Hamels.
On week 2 of the season, at 5-1, they were considered to be a top-MLB team. It took them the rest of the season to reclaim that reputation. They spent most of the season ranked 15th in the league. By the 2nd to last week of the season, they had re-claimed #1 ranking in baseball.
How did they do it? The same way they will win in the postseason, the same way all teams win championships: pitching. The Phillies had a MLB-best 1.25 WHIP this season.
Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, known as "H2O" in Philly, were a combined 21-7 with a 2.33 ERA in their starts since Oswalt's Philly debut on July 30th. The Phils won 25 of those 32 games. Oswalt has the NL's lowest ERA since Aug. 1 at 1.41. Amazingly, the Phils will be able to start Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels in 17 of a potential 19 postseason games. They also hold home-field advantage throughout the postseason. That's a huge boost for a team that has sold-out 124-straight games.The Phils will leap over the Reds. It's fitting that this is the hurdle they should jump 1st in this historic postseason, because it was the "Big Red Machine," the 1975-76 Reds who were the last NL team to play in 2-straight World Series until the Phils did it in 2008 and 2009. So, the Phils start by battling history before etching their names in their own unique glory. "The Big 3" of Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels are trying to lead the Phillies to their 3rd-straight appearance in the Fall Classic. That was last accomplished by a National League team when the St. Louis Cardinals did it from 1942-44, 76 years ago. [More on this: link.]
I got a call of concern from a fellow Phils fan leading up to the Phils NLDS 1st round playoff series: "Should I worry?" We're Philly fans, "worry" is our nature-- and our teams make sure it stays that way. None-the-less, the Reds feature the postseason's worst starting rotation, while the Phillies boast the best. The Reds have out-hit the Phillies this year and have NL MVP likely Joey Votto leading their club. However, the Phillies are hotter and have more veterans who know how to get good at-bats.
One of their most patient hitters is Jayson Werth. For 2 seasons, Werth has led the league in pitches-per-at-bat. He also led baseball with 85 2-strike hits this year. So, it should have come as no surprise on September 19th, in the bottom of the 9th, trailing by 1, when his at-bat featured 8 pitches: Ball, Ball, Strike (foul), Ball, Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, before he hit a walk-off home run over the center field wall to cap a 4-run bottom of the 9th breathtaking comeback before a delighted home crowd. "It seemed like some people left there [at the end of the 8th]," Werth said after the game. "I don't know why you're leaving."The Phils won 15-out-of-16 and 23 of that 27 game stretch, including 11-straight.
However, what looked like the best Phillies' lineup ever assembled on Opening Day, turned in several "F" for effort games this year. In one startling stretch at the end of May, they were shutout 5 out of 6 games by underwhelming pitchers like Anibal Sanchez & Hisanori Takahashi.
My February predictions were a beacon of light to me this season, showing me the path of this team's greatness.
On Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010, in my post: Phillies Eye 3rd Straight World Series,
I wrote, "These are the great years to be a Phillies' fan, the years that make up for so much heartache, for so many low points we and our fathers and their fathers suffered through for 100 + years of predominate futility."
I noted then that Werth's contract year and Hamels' pivotal and defining season, as well as potential injury to core players (only 16 games this season, their starters were healthy and played together) were some of the key stories of the season ahead. I defined the NL as a 4-team race, ruling out the Dodgers, which shocked many people. Even more uniquely keen was my belief in the S.F. Giants, which was an anomalous, yet accurate prediction. Everyone said that the Giants didn't have the hitting, but I knew their pitching would pave the way, and it did ultimately win out.
I also predicted Roy Halladay would turn in a Cy Young season, but that shouldn't have surprised anyone.
However, when the Phils had completed 2/3 of the season and had lost almost as many games as they'd won, they found themselves trailing the Braves by 7 games for 1st place. I got calls from embittered fans, throwbacks to the old regime of hometown loser Phillies, the team that can lose like nobody else, historically, epically, setting the standard and losing more times than any sports team in any sport in human civilization: over 10,000 losses, to be truthful.
"I keep thinking about the fact that you said, 'They can't possibly lose the division this year. You said that, and now look at them. Your words keep ringing in my ears!!" snarled one angry caller. Well, rest assured, I was right.It has been said, 1st by Phillies' TV play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy, then by former Phillies all-star turned ESPN commentator John Kruk, that this is the best Phillies team ever, although his '93 Phillies team won just as many games: 97.
When you consider the fact that the 1976 and 1977 Phils won 101 games a-piece, I find that a difficult claim to stake. However, the argument is there and it's a strong one and their postseason performance may yet prove it true. Although, can it honestly be said that this year's version is definitively better than even the 2008 team? The starting pitching is obviously better, but is the hitting? In potential, perhaps, but not in final season statistics, and this year's bullpen wasn't the stellar cast of '08.
Before Madson-Lidge come to the mound in the 8th and 9th innings, if needed, the middle relief is slim pickings for manager Charlie Manuel. Lucky for him, the starting pitching led baseball with 14 complete games (Roy Halladay led baseball with 9). The Reds starters, in contrast, mustered merely 4.
18 of 27 ESPN experts went on record today as saying the Phillies will win the World Series. Undeniably, they have all of the pieces in place, from starting rotation to timely veteran hitting to backend bullpen relief in Madson-Lidge, who've returned to former greatness as if by magic, to make it happen. Madson has a 1.04 ERA since July 31 and Brad Lidge an 0.73 ERA since Aug.
1.For the 3rd year in a row, the Phillies trip to the World Series appears headed through California. This time, they'll likely travel up North to San Fransisco. The Giants' big three (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez) are a combined 12-3, 2.13 in Sept., comparable to the Phils' Big 3: 13-1, 2.16.
Phils fans will enjoy jeering and booing former Phil Scott Rolen (7-time Gold Glove 3B) while battling the Reds, but they'll likely cheer former fan-favorite Pat Burrell if not Aaron Rowand, now Giant outfielders. Burrell energized the Giants in a late-season acquisition, and Philly fans may be kidding themselves to look past the Giants as a formidable opponent.
What's clear is that the Phillies are, right now, the hottest team in baseball. They are the defending NL champs 2 years running and the AL's Yankees, Twins and Rays all limped to the finish line.
The Phils went 49-19 in their final 68 games. They were 21-5 on the road in their last 26 road games, winning 9 straight series. They played 10 series and 29 games in their last 68 against teams that were .500 or better. They won all 10 series and went 24-5.
The Phillies winning percentage against the qualifying playoff teams is better than any of those teams have fared against their postseason brethren. The Phils were 21-15 against the Braves, Reds, Giants, Yankees and Twins this year. They were 4-0 against the Reds. They may not need that many games this time around.
Jayson Werth led the Phils to their 2nd-ever World Series title by hitting a team-best .444 in the World Series in '08.
In the Phillies' 45-17 stretch from July 22 to the clincher this season, Werth hit .314 with 13 homers, 33 RBI and 50 runs scored.
In the 11-2 stretch to the clincher, he hit .354 with 6 homers, 17 RBI, scored 14 runs and gathered 9 walks.
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