Rankings/List

As more and more of the offseason days have rolled on by it has become more and more apparent that the Florida Marlins are not leaning towards retaining Edwin Rodriguez as their manager next season. The current interim manager received a strong recommendation from the players and a approval of the front office in the work he has done.

Rodriguez went an even 46-46 after taking over for Fredi Gonzalez and inheriting a series of bullpen woes and freak injuries along the way. 

In one of the most thrilling moments in postseason history—and what must be the most thrilling moment in divisional series history—Roy Halladay pitched the second postseason no-hitter in baseball history in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS on Wednesday night, becoming the first pitcher to pull off the feat since Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

But where does this feat rank amongst the top 10 postseason moments in Philadelphia Phillies history?

Let's take a look.

In order for a team to be successful in the playoffs, it is imperative that it has at least one dominant starting pitcher.

Each year, the winner of the World Series features one, if not a few starting pitchers who are capable of tossing eight innings of shutout ball on any given night.

Halladay did one better last night.

With his electrifying performance in Game 1 of the National League Division Series came visions of postseason dominance gone by. Here are the five greatest postseason pitching performances of all time.

The Boston Red Sox missed the postseason this year for the first time since 2006, after injuries to key players like Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Josh Beckett derailed their chances at a good season.

But despite plugging up their lineup with an assortment of minor league veterans (Darnell McDonald, Eric Patterson) and rookies (Daniel Nava, Ryan Kalish), the Red Sox still managed 89 wins.

Not good enough for Red Sox Nation.

There's certainly going to be an influx of Roy Halladay articles popping up in the next day or so, and it's easy to see why.

Halladay is only the second pitcher in MLB playoff history to throw a no-hitter and the first in over 50 years since Yankee Don Larsen pitched his perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

He's also thrown his second no-hitter of the season, the first being a perfect game.

Roy Halladay's performance on Wednesday was masterful.  The Doc was indeed surgical.   

In his first career playoff game, Roy Halladay may have pitched the best game of his life against the Cincinnati Reds.  

The only other performance that is comparable is his perfect game earlier this season against the Florida Marlins.  

However, he was only one walk shy of pitching another perfect game.  

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.

During the regular season, quality baseball, consistent pitching, and measured tactics are the key to victory. Come October, and these methods go out the door. It's all about who can hit the most homeruns. Outside of simply including the Yankees starting nine, here are the most prolific power hitters in the 2010 postseason.

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In Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game is Wrong, Nate Silver and Dayn Perry tackled a question that had mystified fans and analysts for more than a century: What are the most important qualities for a team to have in the playoffs?

Through the magic of statistics, Silver and Perry found that only three aspects of the game had any correlation with teams doing well once they got to the postseason. The results: Good defense, a lights-out closer, and a pitching staff’s strikeout rate.

It's playoff time!

I know fans of the Yankees, Twins, Rays, Rangers, Giants, Phillies, Reds, and Braves are all gearing up with their jerseys, hats, and probably car flags to show their support as the playoffs get underway this afternoon.

What happened during the season means nothing at this point. Every team starts 0-0 and it become a whole new, albeit short, season.