Can the Phillies Be Beaten?

Frank Doyle is impressed with the Phillies’ rotation too, but still thinks there are no unsinkable teams in a game with round balls and round bats.

The Phillies broke two records last night when they swept the Reds in Cincinnati. It’s the first time the Phillies have been 41 games over .500 in thirty-five years, and it’s the first time the Phillies swept the Reds in Cincinnati in ninety-five.

Whatever way you slice them, the 2011 Phillies are one hell of a baseball team. The team is currently projected to win 105 games for the season – if they do it, it’ll be the most wins ever in the Phillies’ 129 year history.

Looking the at MLB Odds, the Phillies are the clear favorites for the World Series. Sports Interaction has the Phillies at +150, Boston at +300, the surprising and dangerous Brewers at +550, the Yankees at +600 and it’s +900 the field.

Does this mean that the Phillies are unbeatable, and that the season is over in the first week in September? Oh no. If anything, the season is only just beginning.

Our understanding of the game of baseball is dominated by statistics. The game is so complex its only through statistics that we can try to understand it. But the history of baseball is studded with events where stats went right out the window. It’s a game where a round ball is hit with a round bat – funny things are always going to happen. And often at the funniest of times.

By the numbers, the 1906 Cubs had the best team of all time. 116 wins in a 152 game season. They lost the World Series to the hitless wonders of the ’06 White Sox.

Lou Piniella’s 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 out of 162 games. They lost the American League Championship Series to the 95 win Yankees.

This year’s Phillies are projected to win 105 games. But the Red Sox project for 99 wins. The Yankees project 98 and the Braves, the team that nobody’s talking about, project for 97.

Anybody who thinks the playoffs cannot end in anything other than a parade down Broad Street could be due a rude awakening. Not least as what happens in a 162 game season doesn’t always repeat in a seven game series.

One bloop single, one stolen base, one bad infield bounce can change seasons, careers and history. And what brought you to the playoffs isn’t always what keeps you there, as more than one team has discovered.

The baseball season over? It’s only just beginning.