Ryan Madson

When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, they did so primarily on the strength of their bullpen. With a weak starting rotation, the Phillies shortened games by bringing in reliever after reliever that could shut down the opposition for a single inning. One of those relievers was right-hander, Ryan Madson.

The Kansas City Royals had two prized pitchers heading into the offseason. The first was 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner, Zack Greinke. He was known to be available after having voiced his disgust with the Royals, and a few months later, they shipped him to the Milwaukee Brewers for four of the Brewers' top prospects.

According to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the press release had barely gone public when teams started calling about the Royals' second most valued commodity—closer, Joakim Soria.

In a season plagued by underachievement, inconsistency, and injuries, one controllable aspect of the Philadelphia Phillies' 2010 is the bullpen.

From the dominant bullpen that lead the Phillies to a World Series title in 2008, earning the nickname the "Bridge to Lidge," the Phillies' relief corps of 2010 took a big step back, finishing 18th in ERA despite pitching the fewest innings in the National League—with only the Seattle Mariners logging more out west in the American League.

Games like this make baseball the greatest sport there is. Playoff baseball at its best, with one team trying to reach the World Series for the first time since the Barry Bonds era and the other attempting to keep their season alive. Philadelphia was packed full of fans not ready to say goodbye to 2010, while the San Francisco Giants blocked out the enthusiasts in their effort to end the National League Championship Series here and now.

For Phillies' fans, it’s that time of year again. A fourth straight division title is all but clinched following 11 straight wins. Giving the Phillies the momentum of a team that is the odds-on favorite to make its third consecutive appearance in the World Series.

With the Atlanta Braves coming into Philadelphia this week for a three-game series, the Phillies couldn’t have it set up any better.

On Monday evening the Phillies had a three-game lead over the Braves in the National League East and still had three games at Atlanta remaining on the schedule.

If Philadelphia wanted to lock up the N.L. East crown, this series would go a long way towards popping the champagne.

And that’s precisely why manager Charlie Manuel had his best three guys ready to take the mound.

Over the next week or two I will be taking a division-by-division look at every team’s closer situation.  Who is closing now?  Who is next in line?  Who could get a look down the line?  Let’s kick things off with the NL East:

I woke up with a stiff neck. The problem is that it lasted more than four hours.

For a second, I thought my husband slipped me some Viagra.

Someone definitely slipped the Phillies something. They’ve taken the lead in the wild-card race and won twenty or so of their last bunch of games.

Let’s face it, we’ve all had those moments during the 2010 Phillies season.

Charlie Manuel casually strolls to the mound, head down, and then signals to the bullpen to send some relief for his reliever.

As we watch another bullpen arm head for the dugout, we reiterate that nobody in the Phillies front office listened to our concerns about relief pitching at the trade deadline and beyond.

In the last two years, the Phillies closer role has been filled by "a veritable who's who of incompetent puppets," as said by Dr. Kelso from ABC's television show Scrubs .