50 best MLB teams that didn’t win the World Series
Lost in NLDS. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies. 13. player. 6. . 102-60
Interestingly enough, the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies are one of the 50 best MLB teams to fall short of a Wolrd Series title, and after the Phils lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, they might have knocked the 2010 Phillies off the list. That team went 97-65, but was beaten by the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
The 2011 squad was an even more impressive 102-60 and beat the Braves by 13 games in the NL East standings. Philadelphia clinched the franchise’s fifth consecutive division title for the franchise on September 14 – with more than two weeks left to play.
With Cy Young runner-up Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35), Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40), Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79), Roy Oswalt (9-10, 3.69) and surprising youngster Vance Worley (11-3, 3.01), the Phillies had one of the best starting rotations of our generation. They also had a lights-out closer in Ryan Madson (2.37 ERA, 32 saves).
Offensively, Ryan Howard hit 33 home runs and 116 RBI to lead the club, though there wasn’t an easy out in a lineup that included Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placid Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, and Hunter Pence. Had Philadelphia not run into the buzzsaw Cardinals in the division series – who overcame a huge deficit just to make the playoffs and rolled to the World Series title – the 2011 Phillies might have gone down in history as one of the best teams of the 21st Century.
Next: 1988 New York Mets