Baseball

Roy Halladay has already had a pretty impressive career, he's won a Cy Young award, thrown a perfect game, and played in seven All Star games. The only thing that Halladay didn't have on his resume was playoff experience. Coming into today Halladay had pitched in more games (320) than any other active pitcher who had never pitched in the postseason.

Today Halladay finally got to pitch in the playoffs, and he made the most of it to say the least....

On the surface, it sounds like a silly question: Does Derek Lowe or Tim Lincecum have the edge in Game 1 of the NLDS Series between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants?

On one hand, you have the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner in Lincecum, and on the other, is the Braves “15 million dollar mistake” in Lowe. Yet when you look deeper, Lowe might be better suited to pitch in this game than you would think. 

Amid the early months of autumn, baseball keeps getting better and better. The tone is dazzling. The words are beautiful. The unhittable ace accomplished the unthinkable on the mound, and the city of Philly screamed with delight, enough to widen the crack in the Liberty Bell.

Talk about Tim Welke screwing Carlos Pena. Talk about the Rays struggling on offense. Talk about Joe Maddon’s bizarre decision to play Rocco Baldelli as the designated hitter.

Those played a role in the Rays’s 5-1 loss to the Rangers, but that wasn’t the reason why the Rays lost the playoff opener.

They lost because David Price did not pitch well. Price’s job was to keep up with Cliff Lee in every inning, but it did not happen yesterday.

Statistics can prove anything, but more often than not, they mean nothing. I enjoy bits of trivia, not because I want to win a bet with my friends, but because they can shed light on trends and highlight new things. As a baseball fan and sports junkie, I love hearing something and saying, "Wow, I never knew that."

Keeping that in mind, here are a collection of stats, facts, and notes about your American League playoff teams, thanks to Elias Sports Bureau, SABR, press officers, and media reps. Enjoy the information overload.

Wow! Roy Halladay just pitched a playoff no hitter for the Phillies.

I'm trying to remember the last time I remember a no-hitter in the playoffs. I'm sure Sandy Koufax had some. No? Curt Schilling? No? The Big Unit? No? All those Atlanta Braves guys? No?

Okay! You're forcing Stan Silliman to Google. I'm too old to Google.

Don Larsen? The perfect game in the 1956 World Series? Geez, what was I doing October 8, 1956? Hmmm?

The postseason is finally here, and now it’s time to preview each team that has a chance to win the World Series.

I’ll list the MLB odds on every team to win it all while also giving you some insight to every clubhouse. 

I'll also be covering the postseason with more baseball articles on a weekly basis.

Philadelphia Phillies: (+225)

ALDS: Tampa Bay Rays (96-66) vs. Texas Rangers (90-72)

While I really like this Texas Rangers team, I have to give the edge to Tampa Bay. The Rays have had the Rangers number, especially at home. Tampa Bay has won its last four overall against Texas, and 17 of its last 22 at home in this series. Tampa Bay won all three of its home games against Texas this season. The Rangers played below .500 ball on the road this year, and ultimately not having home field should cost them in this series. 

The 2010 NLDS has arrived and it has pitted David against Goliath.
 
It’s the mighty Philadelphia Phillies against the “happy to be here” Cincinnati Reds.
 
Going from 78 wins to 91 is an outstanding achievement. The Queen city enjoyed quite the celebration when the team went out to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati to celebrate the teams’ first postseason appearance since 1995 on Monday.
 
But is that it? Are you satisfied Reds fans?
 

The calendar has turned to October, the weather has gotten chillier, and the regular season of the 2010 MLB season is finally over.

Playoff baseball has arrived!

The Yankees, who earned the Wild Card, finished 2010 at 95-67, just one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the A.L. East division over the defending champions.