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Nine years ago, the entire world changed as 19 terrorists boarded four commercial jets and committed one of the works acts of violence in the world's history.

On tragic day, those terrorists flew two planes into the Twin Tower in New York City, another plane into the Pentagon and the final plane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania that was believed to be targeted at hitting the Capitol Building in Washington DC.

The Philadelphia Phillies obstacle course of a season currently finds them one game up in the National League Eastern Division. The club's 2010 campaign has been akin to a season of The Amazing Race in terms of duration, complexity, and challenge. 

Let’s take a look at some of the bigger stories from yesterday, including another surgery for Johan Santana and the return of two must-start shortstops:

Three Hot  

Returning Shortstops

September 11, 2001 started off as any other regular day. I was in eighth grade at the time, school had just started a few days before, and I basically didn't have a care in the world.

However, the events of that day struck fear into the nation, to the point where we still feel the effects today.

Just when you thought there was at least one reason to watch the Red Sox for the remainder of the 2010 season, Clay Buchholz reminded Sox fans that the final Sunday can’t come soon enough.

Yankees' starter Andy Pettitte is inching closer to his return. If all goes according to plan, he could return right before a key series against the Rays in New York, exactly one month after going on the disabled list with an injured groin.

Pettitte threw a scoreless four innings in a minor league rehab start for Double-A Trenton on Thursday. The outing was pain free, a big step in the right direction.

Having a lot of superstars is great for obvious reasons. But the thing that makes a team great is having guys on the roster who can step in for those superstars when needed and make the plays that need to be made, or just play in a supporting role and do all the little things.

Fortunately for the Phillies, they have a lot of both types of guys. The superstars (Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Jimmy Rollins) aren't hard to pick out. But what makes this 2010 team so dangerous is just how stacked the roster is with great supporting players.

One of the greatest moments in Yankee history occurred on October 8, 1956.  In fact, it is the only such accomplishment of its kind.  Don Larsen threw the only postseason no-hitter and perfect game in Major League Baseball history.  It was done in Game 5 of the World Series.

Another Yankee game ended in a walk-off, but unfortunately it wasn’t the Yankees doing the walking as they blew a 4-1 lead to lose to the Rangers 6-5 in 13 innings last night in Texas

May 6. 

That is the last day the Giants were in 1st place. Four months later, the Giants stand atop the NL West, tied with the San Diego Padres.