Bill Conlin: For Phillies, Sergio Escalona's shifts have saved rocky moments

As for the can't-miss therapy the addition of Halladay would represent, don't buy into the hype. The 1977 Reds stunned the baseball world by trading at the deadline for the great Tom Seaver. The Phillies were eliminated by the Dodgers in the playoffs that season. Despite Seaver's 14-3 contribution for Sparky Anderson, the Reds won just 88 games.

CC Sabathia, last year's prize, was last seen in the National League Division Series watching Shane Victorino touching 'em all behind three teammates. And CC hasn't exactly been dealing B-Bs for the Yankees. Sabathia has the same 8-6 record as Jamie Moyer.

The Phillies are going back to the postseason for a third straight season, unless the rest of the division is showered with fairy dust. And once the games of October begin, all bets are off for every team. Two hot pitchers in the unforgiving best-of-five division series format can leave the best team in the game facing a long winter.

Just ask Pat Gillick, whose magnificent 2001 Mariners went a record-tying 116-46, then were taken out by the Yankees in five games. *

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