The 2010 Phillies and the 5 Greatest Pitching Rotations of All Time

One of the best rotations in the MLB belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies.  They started this offseason with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.  Now, the Phillies have lured Cliff Lee into their rotation.  Does this give them one of the best rotations of all time?  Let's take a look at baseball's greatest rotations, and you can decide for yourself.

No. 5: 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers

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COOPERSTOWN, NY - JULY 26: Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax waves to the crowd as he is introduced at Clark Sports Center during the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 26, 2009 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Sandy Koufax (27-9, 1.73)

Don Drysdale (13-16, 3.42)

Claude Osteen (17-14, 2.85)

Don Sutton (12-12, 2.99)

Think Felix Hernandez winning the Cy Young defies win-loss records?  Well, despite two .500-or-lower pitchers, the staff had a 2.65 ERA, with 840 strikeouts between them.  They would have three HOFs (all but Osteen) and allowed the fewest hits in the league.  The Dodgers were swept by the O's in the 1966 World Series, but that doesn't take too much away from this great rotation.

No. 4: 1954 Cleveland Indians

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COOPERSTOWN, NY - JULY 25: Hall of Famer Bob Feller attends the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on July 25, 20010 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Early Wynn (23-11, 2.73)

Mike Garcia (19-8, 2.64)

Bob Lemon (23-7, 2.72)

Art Houtteman (15-7, 3.35)

Bob Feller (13-3, 3.09)

The 1954 Cleveland Indians racked up 111 wins, and you don't get there with just any rotation.  After you get past the astounding win totals, it seems as if this team was just showing off: The team ERA was 2.78, and the team WHIP was 1.2. Garcia, Lemon and Wynn finished first, third and fourth in the league ERA standings, and the same order in adjusted ERA+.  Lemon was first and Wynn third in complete games, and Garcia tied for the AL lead with five shutouts.  The only thing missing was a World Series, but you can't argue with five stellar pitchers.

No. 3: 1986 New York Mets

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1989: Ron Darling of the New York Mets winds back to pitch during a game in the 1989 season. ( Photo by: Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Ron Darling (15-6, 2.81)

Dwight Gooden (17-6, 2.84)

Sid Fernandez (16-6, 3.52)

Bob Ojeda (18-5, 2.57)

Rick Aguilera (10-7, 3.88)

When most people think about the 1986 Mets, they think Bill Buckner, Mookie Wilson and a thrilling World Series with the Red Sox.  It was a great moment, but it would never have happened without this rotation.  Sid Fernandez, Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling were among the top seven in NL strikeouts, and both Gooden and Fernandez were All-Stars.  Four starters pitched over 200 innings.  Gooden and Fernandez struck out 200+ batters and Bob Ojeda, Darling and Gooden’s ERAs all ranked in the top five in the National League.  Without that rotation, the famous 1986 World Series would never have happened.

No. 2: 1971 Baltimore Orioles

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Baltimore Orioles mascot tosses a ball before play against the Chicago White Sox July 28, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Sox won 6 - 4 on a ninth inning grand slam home run. (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

Mike Cueller (20-9, 3.08)

Pat Dobson (20-8, 2.90)

Jim Palmer (20-9, 2.68)

Dave McNally (21-5, 2.68)

Well, this isn't exactly the most fitting picture, but it gives you the general idea.

Anyway, this rotation is the first one since 1920 to have four 20-game winners.  Each of the four had ERAs above 3.10.  Palmer, McNally and Dobson finished 3-7-8 in ERA, and all four cracked the top 10 in wins (with McNally taking the winning percentage crown).  To put it simply, these guys absolutely dominated the AL.

No. 1: 1998 Atlanta Braves

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WASHINGTON - APRIL 12: John Smoltz #29 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the Washington Nationals April 12, 2008 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Greg Maddux (18-9, 2.22)

Tom Glavine (20-6, 2.47)

Denny Neagle (16-11, 3.55)

Kevin Millwood (17-8, 4.08)

John Smoltz (17-3, 2.90)

In this era, where truly dominant pitchers are scarce, most GMs would probably kill to have one of these five guys as their ace.  Incredibly, the '98 Braves had all five at their best—and boy, did it help.  The Braves won 106 games en route to an absolute domination of the NL East.  They were so dominating that by the end of the season, they had the East locked up by 18 games!  Despite losing the NL Pennant to the San Diego Padres, the Braves rotation had plenty of hardware to go around: Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux were All-Stars, Maddux won a Gold Glove and Glavine was a Silver Slugger.  They were two well-rounded pitchers!

So, What about the Phillies?

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SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 21: Roy Halladay #34 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in Game Five of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at AT&T Park on October 21, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra

The Phillies, much like most of these five rotations, have four great pitchers.  But remember: Only the '86 Mets won a World Series, so there isn't guaranteed success.  Will history repeat itself?  Or will the Phillies win the World Series?  Drop a comment and make your voice heard.

Sources

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 23: Roy Oswalt #44 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches against the San Francisco Giants in Game Six of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff

Thanks to the following websites for info:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=list/greatestrotations

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/524645-50-best-pitching-teams-in-mlb-history#page/1

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/strait-8-the-greatest-pitching-rotations-ever/

http://www.wikipedia.org