Cliff Lee’s dominating series "Welcome to Playoff Baseball"

Cliff Lee’s: 6 and a half months down, 4 teams remaining. Welcome to Playoff Baseball! The LDS round brought plenty of drama and memorable moments. From Roy Halladay’s epic no-hitter to Cliff Lee’s dominating series-clinching game 5 W against the Rays to give the Texas Rangers their first postseason series victory EVER, the 2010 LDS round will be remembered as one of the good ones.

One thing that has carried over from the 2010 regular season: amazing pitching. In what has been widely hailed as “The Year of the Pitcher”, 2010 gave us 5 no-hitters (1 being a perfect game by Roy Halladay…cough cough, go Phils!) and 15 starting pitchers that ended the season with an ERA under 3.00. The first round of this year’s playoffs showcased masterful pitching, with Roy Halladay (see above), Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Tim Lincecum each throwing for a complete game victory.

There were also some painful memories made in the LDS, most notably Atlanta Braves infielder Brooks Conrad’s game 3 against SF. Kid had 3 errors, which led to a difficult, and tough to watch Atlanta loss.

But now we shift our focus to happier times; the League Championship Series round. Symmetry is present in both series’; both have the respective league champion against a championship-starved franchise. In the National League Championship Series, we have the San Francisco Giants looking to dethrone the two-time National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies, while in the American League Championship Series, we have the Texas Rangers trying to overcome the defending World Champion New York Yankees.