Roy Halladay

Was that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro in the middle of the celebratory pile-up on the Citizens Bank Park infield Wednesday night after Roy Halladay's no-hitter? 

If so, who could blame him?  

Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game 1 of the NLDS is without question the greatest starting performance in Phillies' playoff history. But it certainly isn't the only great one.

Here are the 10 best postseason starting pitching performances in Phillies' history.

Keep in mind that the following rankings are not just based on the excellence of the pitching line itself, but also on the relative magnitude of the game in which the performance came (basically, World Series performances counts for extra).

Enjoy this trip through Phillies' history!

Last night's postseason no-hitter by Phillies ace Roy Halladay kind of gets us thinking that maybe people are right when they say that this is the year of the pitcher.  This stands as the sixth no-hitter of the year,  including two perfect games.

There have even been more than just no-hitters and perfect games.  There have been near no-hitters, one-hitters, complete game shutouts, things like that.  Here I am going to recognize some of the games in this season that have hinted that this year may truly be the "year of the pitcher".

When it comes to describing the emotions of a middle-aged woman who witnessed Roy Halladay’s once-in-a-lifetime postseason feat, I simply don’t have the words.

My husband says, “Add that to the other things you don’t have: boobs and couth.”

That might be true, but he wasn’t disappointed the day I proved I didn’t have man-parts either.

So much for first postseason jitters.

On Wednesday night, the incomparable Roy Halladay set the bar even higher, cementing his name in the record books as he threw a no-hitter in game one of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

Halladay's performance was only the second no-hitter in postseason history, (Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 world series the only other), and simultaneously marked the first time since 1973 (Nolan Ryan) that a pitcher completed two no-hitters in one season.

I've had so many people ask me what is was like to be there last night—I can't articulate it.

It's impossible.

After the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, it took me until the morning before the parade, the parade I had dreamed of for far too long, to realize that every sports game I'd ever attended, every game I'd ever watched, every dollar I'd ever spent, every hour of sleep I'd ever lost, and every ounce of energy I'd ever exhausted, was all for that day. That morning. That moment.

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 the eyes of the Philadelphia Phillies, as good as Cliff Lee is, Roy Halladay would always trump him. On the first day of the 2010 MLB playoffs, “Doc” did that.

At last season’s trade deadline, the Phillies strongly pursued Halladay. The asking price was too high, so they “settled” on Lee.

Yesterday afternoon, as Roy Halladay was preparing for yesterday's NLDS opener, Cliff Lee was putting the finishing touches on another brilliant postseason pitching performance. 

Lee dominated the AL's most potent offense, striking out 10 Tampa Bay Rays batters while holding them to one run to give the Texas Rangers their first playoff win in 14 years. 

Baseball traditionalists never cede the high ground. From the supremacy of Babe Ruth to the joy of day baseball, there are many who just refuse to acknowledge the times when the modern game evolves far beyond the reaches of "Baseball's Golden Age."

Such entrenchment is nearly always myopic, and nowhere more so than in the recent insistence that Don Larsen, who threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, performed a greater feat than Roy Halladay, who threw the second-ever no-hitter in playoff history Wednesday.