Phillies' Postseason Streak Continues with Division Title

You know, a small thing that fascinates me: I do love that out of all of the MLB teams who wear red, it's the Philadelphia Phillies who use the "Hunt for Red October" title to describe their postseason push. I think they're the only "red" team who do this. I want to say I remember the Angels doing this during their 2002 run, but I don't think so. So yeah, the Phillies are on quite a streak, and to think, it all started with the team firing Joe Girardi during the middle of the 2022 season.

Rob Thomson took over, and the Phillies skyrocketed. The Phils managed to snag a postseason spot and took the third and last Wild Card position; this was the first year that MLB allowed six playoff teams per league. They turned that shock appearance into a magical run that saw them win the pennant for the first time since 2009, but they fell just two wins short of winning the World Series. Last year, the Phillies were a Wild Card once again, and they returned to the NLCS, but were stymied in Game Seven at home by the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks.

This year was a tad trying for the Phillies. Bryce Harper was banged up, so was J.T. Realmuto, though Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm continued to flourish. The pitching remained strong as well, and as a result, the Phillies actually dominated this season. A big thing that the team capitalized on was the Atlanta Braves having many, many injuries, which led to Philly replacing Atlanta on the top of the National League East heap. On September 20, the Phillies clinched their third straight postseason appearances, but the next step was winning the division. The team managed to get their Magic Number down to one during their weekend set against the New York Mets, but the Phils lost the last two games of that set. Monday would be the charm, as the Phillies' 6-2 home win over the Chicago Cubs gave them the East crown.

The Phillies are NL East Champions for the first time since 2011, a 13 year drought. That year was the final year of a streak that started in 2007 with a surprise comeback division title, but they were unable to stop the Colorado Rockies' red-hot Cinderella run. 2008 was their big year, as the Phillies went on to win the World Series, and 2009 saw them back in the Fall Classic, only to be defeated by the New York Yankees. 2010's run was centered by the late, great Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game One of the NLDS, which the Phils went on to win, but their third straight NLCS appearance saw them defeated by the San Francisco Giants. 2011 was the last year of that run, and it saw the Phils ousted by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Phillies aren't done yet. They're still in strong contention for the best record in all of MLB; a close race between themselves, the Dodgers and the Yankees. Regarding Magic Numbers, Philly's number is two to get a first round bye straight to the NLDS, and it's six to get the NL's best record, as they did win the season series over the Dodgers. However, the Phillies were swept by the Yankees in their three-game set, so they'll have to stay ahead of the Bronx Bombers at all times, as a tie in the standings could result in the Yankees having home field in a possible rematch of the 2009 Fall Classic.

The Phillies have a bit of a cushy final week; they will continue against the Cubs, and then it's a finale series against the Washington Nationals. We'll see how things end up for the Phils in this final week, but I sense a very interesting run for this amazing group of players.