This September was one to remember as the Phillies clichéd their 4th straight division title last night against the Washington Nationals and who better on the mound to do that for them then Roy Halladay. The guy the Phillies got last December to help them get to the postseason. Halladay won his 1st game as Phillie at Nationals Ball Park and this would be where he would win his 21st game of year as a Phillie and also win the NL East title for the Phillies. Roy Halladay has been everything the Phillies have asked him to be this year winning 21 games, 9 of them being complete games, 5 of them being shutouts, and 1 of them being a perfect game back on May 29th. Halladay would have to be the guy to win the NL CY Young Award I can't see anyone else winning it over him. Not only has Roy Halladay been very good but so has Cole Hamels who has pitched like the old Hamels of 2008. His number may not show it but he looks like he is a whole lot better than he was back in 2009 and that was the key for the Phillies if they were going to have any success down the road this year. Hamels this year is 12-11, with an ERA of 3.09, with 209 strikeouts. Some would say that both Halladay and Hamels should have at least 5 or 6 more wins on the year, but hey this is baseball and it's not always fair. Then during the trade deadline the Phillies last year went out and got Cliff Lee to help them with their postseason run, well this year they went out and brought in Roy Oswalt who has been great with the Phillies year and has really helped them out big this year. Oswalt with the Phillies this year is 7-1, with ERA of 2.80 overall and 189 strikeouts. This guy has really done great this year with the Phillies and with him in the starting pitching rotation it also might be the key for the Phils in the postseason. So hats off to those three outstanding pitchers.
Now the Phils right now stand at 94-63 the best record in the NL and in baseball and have also clinched home field advantage throughout the postseason and they will also have home field advantage in this year’s World Series if they make it that far because this year the NL won the 2010 All-Star game and at that moment during that part of the year it looked like the Phillies would be playing for nothing at that point. On July 21st the Phillies were 7 games out of first place to the Braves and it seemed like this team would not even make the postseason with so many injuries things weren't going the Phillies way but somehow someway they overcame everything and proved everyone wrong. The Phils record is the best in Phillies history since 1976 when they went 101-61, also by the Phillies winning their 4th straight division title it’s the most in Phillies history as well. For some reason this year it feels a little different than other years. In 2007 they won it on the last game of the year and surprised every sports writer and everyone in the city of Philadelphia by beating out the New York Mets. In 2008 they came back down 7 games with 17 to play and won the division again over the New York Mets and also won the World Series. In 2009 well let’s just say everyone knew they were going to the postseason, they also went back to the World Series but lost to the New York Yankees. In 2010 it was a different story with some many players being hurt and that bats not clicking at the right time it seemed like this team would no longer be "Kings of the East". But somewhere in the month of September a light came on and said WAKE UP and that's just what the Phillies did. 2010 will forever be a season to remember as the team that would never give up that's why they call them the "Fightin' Phils".
Game 1 of the NLDS (National League Division Series) the Phillies will either play the San Diego Padres or the San Francisco Giants. Now the only way the Phillies could play the Giants is if the Braves win the NL Wild Card or if the Giants win the NL Wild Card and the Padres win the NL West division. In a 5 game series with the Giants it could be a scary thing to have happen with facing 2 time back to back CY Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Johnathan Sanchez or Barry Zito depends which lefty they would want to start against us. Now if we were to play the Padres as it stands right now the Phillies would have to face Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, and Jon Garland. Now I would rather play the Padres only because we have pretty good number against them and their pitching staff and hey am I forgetting that any one of those teams would have to face our pitching staff with Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt. Also one of their pitching staffs would have to pitch against our line-up, probably one of the best in the NL besides the Reds. But right now the Phillies are one of the hottest teams in baseball and if I was any team I would not want to face them. Phils win their 4th straight division title by a score of 8-0. Congrats on an outstanding year, way to go Phils!
Besides the Phillies winning their division the Twins and Rangers have also clichéd their divisions as well. Game 1 of both the NLDS and ALDS will all begin on October 6th on Fox and TBS. I'm Seth Lempert and this beyond a memorable 2010 season, this is beyond baseball.
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