What Gillick didn't say was the Phils would win the World Series because he knows better. FYI the 2001 Mariners lost the the Yankees in the ALCS 4-1. So much for consolation prizes. Trivia question--who had the most wins on that 2001 Mariners staff--stay tuned for answer.
A lot of Phillies fans consider last year a disappointment because the team failed to win back to back World Series titles. The hitting went south in the NLCS against the Giants and that doomed them. Let's use the 2010 Phils and the 2001 Mariners as perfect examples of teams that were killed, in the post-season, by a lack of hitting. The 2001 Mariners, take out a 14-3 blowout of the Yanks in game 3 of the series, averaged just 2 runs in their 4 losses to the Bronx Bombers. Very hard to win a short series scoring just 2 runs/game. During the '10 NLCS the Phils averaged just a bit over 3 runs a game in the series against the Giants. It seemed like every time they needed a big hit one of their key players like Howard, Utley or Werth came up short in that series loss.
This once again proves the point to win the regular season you need strong pitching but you can endure some slumps by key players. In the post season if you have the kind of poor postseason that key Phils hitters had you will go down in flames.
I still think the Phils are a favorite to win the World Series. Top to bottom they have the best starting rotation and maybe the best hitting line-up in the National League but that is on paper. You have to play the 162 game regular season and then roll the dice in the post-season.
Answer to the trivia question is Jamie Moyer was 20-6 with a 3 and a half ERA for the 2001 Mariners.
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