One of the best rotations in the MLB belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies.  They started this offseason with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.  Now, the Phillies have lured Cliff Lee into their rotation.  Does this give them one of the best rotations of all time?  Let's take a look at baseball's greatest rotations, and you can decide for yourself.

No. 5: 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers

Sandy Koufax (27-9, 1.73)

Don Drysdale (13-16, 3.42)

Claude Osteen (17-14, 2.85)

Don Sutton (12-12, 2.99)

Think Felix Hernandez winning the Cy Young defies win-loss records?  Well, despite two .500-or-lower pitchers, the staff had a 2.65 ERA, with 840 strikeouts between them.  They would have three HOFs (all but Osteen) and allowed the fewest hits in the league.  The Dodgers were swept by the O's in the 1966 World Series, but that doesn't take too much away from this great rotation.

No. 4: 1954 Cleveland Indians

Early Wynn (23-11, 2.73)

Mike Garcia (19-8, 2.64)

Bob Lemon (23-7, 2.72)

Art Houtteman (15-7, 3.35)

Bob Feller (13-3, 3.09)

The 1954 Cleveland Indians racked up 111 wins, and you don't get there with just any rotation.  After you get past the astounding win totals, it seems as if this team was just showing off: The team ERA was 2.78, and the team WHIP was 1.2. Garcia, Lemon and Wynn finished first, third and fourth in the league ERA standings, and the same order in adjusted ERA+.  Lemon was first and Wynn third in complete games, and Garcia tied for the AL lead with five shutouts.  The only thing missing was a World Series, but you can't argue with five stellar pitchers.

No. 3: 1986 New York Mets

Ron Darling (15-6, 2.81)

Dwight Gooden (17-6, 2.84)

Sid Fernandez (16-6, 3.52)

Bob Ojeda (18-5, 2.57)

Rick Aguilera (10-7, 3.88)

When most people think about the 1986 Mets, they think Bill Buckner, Mookie Wilson and a thrilling World Series with the Red Sox.  It was a great moment, but it would never have happened without this rotation.  Sid Fernandez, Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling were among the top seven in NL strikeouts, and both Gooden and Fernandez were All-Stars.  Four starters pitched over 200 innings.  Gooden and Fernandez struck out 200+ batters and Bob Ojeda, Darling and Gooden’s ERAs all ranked in the top five in the National League.  Without that rotation, the famous 1986 World Series would never have happened.

No. 2: 1971 Baltimore Orioles

Mike Cueller (20-9, 3.08)

Pat Dobson (20-8, 2.90)

Jim Palmer (20-9, 2.68)

Dave McNally (21-5, 2.68)

Well, this isn't exactly the most fitting picture, but it gives you the general idea.

Anyway, this rotation is the first one since 1920 to have four 20-game winners.  Each of the four had ERAs above 3.10.  Palmer, McNally and Dobson finished 3-7-8 in ERA, and all four cracked the top 10 in wins (with McNally taking the winning percentage crown).  To put it simply, these guys absolutely dominated the AL.

No. 1: 1998 Atlanta Braves

Greg Maddux (18-9, 2.22)

Tom Glavine (20-6, 2.47)

Denny Neagle (16-11, 3.55)

Kevin Millwood (17-8, 4.08)

John Smoltz (17-3, 2.90)

In this era, where truly dominant pitchers are scarce, most GMs would probably kill to have one of these five guys as their ace.  Incredibly, the '98 Braves had all five at their best—and boy, did it help.  The Braves won 106 games en route to an absolute domination of the NL East.  They were so dominating that by the end of the season, they had the East locked up by 18 games!  Despite losing the NL Pennant to the San Diego Padres, the Braves rotation had plenty of hardware to go around: Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux were All-Stars, Maddux won a Gold Glove and Glavine was a Silver Slugger.  They were two well-rounded pitchers!

So, What about the Phillies?

The Phillies, much like most of these five rotations, have four great pitchers.  But remember: Only the '86 Mets won a World Series, so there isn't guaranteed success.  Will history repeat itself?  Or will the Phillies win the World Series?  Drop a comment and make your voice heard.

Sources

Thanks to the following websites for info:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=list/greatestrotations

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/524645-50-best-pitching-teams-in-mlb-history#page/1

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/strait-8-the-greatest-pitching-rotations-ever/

http://www.wikipedia.org