NL East

The 2010 Atlanta Braves ended their season with a line-up that had seven different starters from the one that ended the 2009 season.

Brain McCann was the only stable.

Through off-season trades, signings and in-season trades, Braves General Manager Frank Wren, significantly redesigned the team's roster.

Now that the 2010 MLB regular season has been completed and the divisional playoff pairings have been decided, all of the baseball prognosticators will be out in force, attempting to give their predictions on which team will likely emerge as World Champions.

These same scribes, statisticians, former players and sabremetricians will no doubt distribute mountains of data and spew out fact-based analysis to support their arguments.

They will also undoubtedly base their findings on their own spectacular histories in correctly predicting previous winners.

As the Atlanta Braves fought for the right to play into the second phase of the season on Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies started Cole Hamels against Atlanta’s Tim Hudson.

And then after Hamels came Roy Oswalt.

And then after Oswalt came …

And so it was for the Phillies on the final day of the regular season, their National League East title wrapped up long ago.

No Philadelphia pitcher worked longer than Hamels’ two innings, with manager Charlie Manuel using Game 162 as a “staff” day to get eight different pitchers some work.

As a diehard Atlanta Braves fan, I can honestly say that five years doesn't seem like all that long to wait, but it felt like eternity to me.  In five years, I have gotten married, had three kids, had three jobs, joined the Army, and have seen several family members go to be with the Lord.  Well, Braves fans, the wait is over.  The Atlanta Braves have clinched the Wild Card and are set to face the San Francisco Giants in the National League Divisional Series, starting October 7, 2010 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.&nbs

October is upon us once again.  It is one thing that is almost as certain as death and taxes, yet at the same time, can never be scripted as FOX claims.  The plot is about ready to thicken as September ends and October commences.

There is something about the aura of October that always keeps us guessing, its essence is so subtle and can never be fully explained.  The things that have happened in past Octobers  are still mysteries that will remain unsolved. 

Another MLB postseason is here! 

And for the third straight year, I have prepared my assessments and predictions for each and every series. 

Past assessments and predictions on my part have been mixed: In 2008, I successfully predicted the winner of four of the seven possible series; in 2009, I successfully predicted the winner of five of the seven possible series, including the two pennant winners. 

Part 5 of 7 Phillies Championship Advantages

The Philadelphia Phillies are fortunate to call Citizens Bank Park "home." The stadium is both part and parcel to the greatest era in the organization's history.  

The initial champagne has been popped and the celebrations have come and past. Now that the playoff series are set, we can begin talking about matchups and how far each team will go.

Which National League team will play for all the marbles?

We have the Wild Card winning Atlanta Braves going to San Francisco to start their series with the NL West Champion Giants on Thursday.

The NL East Champion Phillies will host the NL Central's Reds starting on Wednesday.

Was there a more surprising 2010 performance than R.A. Dickey’s?  Signed as a minor league free agent, he didn’t open the year in the Mets rotation.  By year’s end, however, he had entrenched himself as their most dependable starter.

In the 'Year of the Pitcher,' the batters never stood a chance.

There were five no-hitters thrown (but really six), including two perfect games. There were also nine one-hitters, and a major-league debut that featured 14 strikeouts by a certain Stephen Strasburg.

Several pitchers, among them Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, and Ubaldo Jiminez, have had so many jaw-dropping performances this year that they could populate this top 10 list all by themselves.

But 2010 was no ordinary year. It was the pitcher's year.