Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two months, you know that the Philadelphia Phillies have put together what could be one of the great starting pitching rotations in baseball history. With the December signing of free agent Cliff Lee, the 2011 Phillies will have four different pitchers capable of anchoring a major league rotation.
Phillies Pitching Rotation Features "Four Aces"
Roy Halladay, who pitched a perfect game, a post-season no-hitter, and won National League Cy Young award for the Phillies in 2010, will anchor the staff.
Then comes Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young winner who went a combined 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA in the 2009 and 2010 postseasons.
Third man Roy Oswalt was the ace of the Houston Astros staff for a decade before coming to Philadelphia last July. A three-time All-Star and two-time 20-game winner, Oswalt dominated in his half-season with the Phillies, going 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.895 WHIP. Finally, there is Cole Hamels, the MVP of the NLCS and World Series in 2008, who regained his top form last season after a disappointing 2009. (By the way, veteran Joe Blanton, who is no slouch, has a shot at being the best No. 5 starter in the big leagues.
Of course, the four - who've been touted as the Four Aces, the Four Horsemen and the Fab Four in the Philadelphia media - haven't yet accomplished anything together. Injuries, age, bad luck, crappy run support - any of these things can derail the Phillies this season. And as history has proven, even four aces isn't always enough to win a World Series. In fact, four of the very best pitching rotations in baseball history haven't been able to win the World Series.
The 1905 Philadelphia Athletics
Connie Mack's 1905 Athletics pitching rotation featured future Hall of Famers Eddie Plank, Chief Bender and Rube Waddell, and a young hurler named Andy Coakley. Waddell led the American League in wins (27), ERA (1.48) and strikeouts (287). Plank won 24 games, posted a 2.24 ERA and a had a league best 35 complete games. Bender and Coakley (who had his best season that year) won 18 games apiece.
The four hurlers combined for 88 wins, a 2.06 ERA, a .709 winning percentage and an American League best 19 shoutouts. The Athletics won the American League and faced the New York Giants in the World Series, where they ran into Christy Mathewson, the best starter in the National League. Mathewson almost singlehandedly beat the A's, hurling complete game shutouts in Games 1, 3 and 5, beating Plank, Coakley and Bender in the process.
1954 Cleveland Indians
Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn were all future Hall of Famers. Mike Garcia was a three-time All-Star. Together, the foursome won 78 games and lost only 29, a .728 winning percentage. The team won 111 games (the most in American League history at that point) and faced the New York Giants in the World Series.
Lemon, who led the A.L. with 23 wins, started Game 1 against Sal "the Barber" Maglie, but lost 5-2 when pinch hitter Dusty Rhodes (not the wrestler) hit a 3-run game-winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Early Wynn pitched well in Game 2 but lost 3-1. The Giants hammered Mike Garcia in Game 3, knocking the 19-game winner out of the game in just three innings. Lemon was even worse in Game 4, pitching four innings and giving up six runs, as the Giants closed out the Series in a sweep.
1971 Baltimore Orioles
In 1971, Orioles starters Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson became only the second pitching foursome to win at least 20 games apiece in the same season. The only other rotation to accomplish the feat was the 1920 Chicago White Sox.
Together, the four starters won 81 games, posted a .723 winning percentage, threw 70 complete games and hurled 12 shutouts.
The team won the American League East and then swept the Oakland A's in the ALCS before facing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
Baltimore won the first two games on the strength of Palmer's and McNally's pitching. But the Pirates took four of the next five contests and won the Series in seven games. Although the Orioles pitched well (2.66 ERA), they still weren't able to win the big one.
1993 Atlanta Braves
The nod could have gone to the 1998 Braves, who also had a stellar rotation, but the Braves staff was a lot younger and just a little better in '93. Staff ace Greg Maddux won 20 games and took home his second straight Cy Young award. The next three starters, Tom Glavine (22-6, 3.20 ERA ), John Smoltz (15 wins, 208 strikeouts) and Steve Avery (18-6, 2.94 ERA), all made the All-Star team.
But in the National League Championship Series, the Braves lost to the Phillies in six games, mostly due to clutch hitting and strong pitching performances from Curt Schilling and Danny Jackson. Although the Braves pitched well for most of the series, the Phillies hammered Maddux in the final game, scoring six runs in just 5 innings.
The moral of these stories is simple: even the best 'starting four' can go home without a championship. Will the Phillies join this infamous list?
James Lincoln Ray - Real Name: James Lincoln Ray Jim has been the Feature Baseball Writer for Suite101 since March, 2007, where he has written more then ...
