Roy Oswalt

Roy Oswalt got roughed up in his first postseason game for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, giving up three earned runs in just five innings in what would eventually become a Phillies' Game 2 victory. This was on the heels of Cliff Lee's first postseason appearance with the Texas Rangers, in which Lee went seven innings, allowing only one earned run with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

So will Oswalt or Lee guide their newly adopted teams to postseason glory? If past midseason pitcher acquisitions are any indication, the odds aren't good.  Let's have a look.

The 2010 Phillies beat out the 2010 Atlanta Braves for the NL East title. But in the postseason, Philly will have to beat the ghosts of the 1991-2005 Atlanta Braves. What? Well, hopefully it’ll make more sense by the end of this slideshow.

Right now, the Phillies have their own “Big Three,” and with it, a great chance to win their second World Series in three years.

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.

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. 

Sorry Blanton. You have really helped the Philadelphia Phillies out the past few years when we needed you. But Joe, we just don't need you this year.

In their 127-year history, this is the most dominant top end of the rotation for the Phillies. If you doubt that, just ask yourself if there has ever been a Phillies team that you have been more confident in.

Part 4 of 7 Phillies Championship Advantages

As they say, timing is everything. After a highly challenging 2010 season wrought with unending obstacles, that little bit of wisdom might particularly ring true for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Part 2 of 7

The Philadelphia Phillies current era of success has been built around a nucleus of talented players. Some players have come and gone, but that core has been present through the team's rise and current reign as one of baseball's elite teams. 

Players such as Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels are at the center of the core and have served as the key catalysts to the organization's ascension from an "also-ran" to an elite ball club. 

It began in Washington on April 5, and fittingly, it has ended in Washington with the Philadelphia Phillies crushing the Washington Nationals, 8-0 en route to a divisional clinch.

And with every ending comes a new beginning.

Now, Dem Phightin' Phils will begin the process of gearing up for their fourth postseason berth in as many years.

And they do it HEALTHY!

Jimmy Rollins will return as soon as today, and the rest of the musketeers are in good health and playing at an incredibly high level.

Monday night, the Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East for the fourth straight season in a row.

Up in Toronto, the New York Yankees evening could have been a champagne party too. Instead, AJ Burnett imploded worse than ever on the mound and the Blue Jays won the game 7-5.

Burnett could not even get out of the third inning, and he was to blame for all seven runs scored.

Rock bottom?

Now that the Phillies (93-63) have made the playoff's it's important they finish first in the National League.

If the Atlanta Braves (87-69) win their remaining games, they can finish with no more than 93 wins.

The San Diego Padres (87-68) and San Francisco Giants (88-68) are competing for the NL West championship with the Giants holding a slim half-game lead.