Phillies aim for three-peat in 2010

With the 2010 Major League Baseball season fast approaching, we will be looking at some of the top contenders to make the post season this year. Our first subject will be the Philadelphia Phillies, who are coming off their second consecutive World Series appearance. In 2009 the Phils fell short of the title, losing in six games to the juggernaut New York Yankees, who were simply not going to be denied last year. In 2008, the Phillies won the championship for just the second time in their long history with a five game Series victory over the upstart Tampa Bay Rays.

This season, the Phillies, who have won the National League East three years in a row, will be attempting to achieve a feat that has not been done in over sixty years. The last team to win the NL pennant three years in a row was the Saint Louis Cardinals, who pulled it of in 1942 through 1944. They still have 162 games to play and anything is possible, but the Phillies have a very legitimate chance to get back to the World Series for a third consecutive year because unlike many teams who lose important players after successful years, the Phils may have actually improved.

All of the key players who have led Philadelphia on their recent run of dominance will be returning, and they are all in their prime. Starters Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Jason Werth, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz will all return, and third base will be patrolled by veteran Placido Polanco, who was signed in the off-season to replace Pedro Feliz. Plus, the team added the man that many feel is the best pitcher in baseball: one Roy Halladay.

There are no guarantees, but the Phillies will be fielding a veritable all-star team that is post-season tested over the last three years, so the rest of the National League is going to have their hands full wresting the title away from Philadelphia.