With 2 HOF pitchers in their prime,throwing every other night? They were virtually guaranteed to win 3 games out of a 7 game series.
But even the best are bound to have bad games.
Minus that you act like they weren't going up against Clemens, Pettite, and Mussina, all 3 HOF level pitchers even though there's tarnish to them.
Plus even with Schilling and Johnson pitching, they still won't have a 0.00 ERA, you have to outscore a team with a lineup consisting of CraigCounsell, Matt Williams, Tony Womack, Damian Miller, Reggie Sanders, and Mark Grace. The lone legit talent was Luis Gonzalez. Matt Williams was decent, but it was like when we got Troy Glaus, a guy who used to be quite awesome who could provide a few great moments, but mostly failure. Same with Grace.
Reality was that Diamondbacks team was lucky. Sure they were a good team, they had 2 of the best pitchers of their era pitching at their best, that's something. But they still had to get lucky. I point no further than 1996. Maddux, SMoltz, and Glavine were all lights out. 36.2 IP allowed 7 runs, 5 earned over 5 starts. Yankees won the right games. Because that's the type of **** that happens in the playoffs. Sometimes you do everything right one way, and then the other team just manages to get a few lucky wins. They string together all their hits in a short pan of a few games, etc.
Also consider the cast of the 2008 and 2009 Phillies. 2008 Phillies won the world series with a rotation of Hamels, Blanton, Myers, and Moyer, 2009 swap out Myers for CLiff Lee and Moyer for Pedro. In2009 they returned basically the same lineup except for Raul Ibanez instead of Pat Burrell. By most metrics they were a better team in 09 than 08, except for the Hwoard factor of course. But anyway, instead of winning the series 4-1 they lost 4-2, why does it matter? They hit a better team. Even with Lee pitching great, it didn't amtter because Blanton and co couldn't get Yankees out. 2010 Phillies should have been better, with Hamels, Oswalt, and Halladay, but they didn't even make the World Series as they were bested by Cody Ross and the Giants.
