Phils Ride September Sizzle to (Another) N.L. East Crown

20 - 5.
20 and 5.
20 wins and 5 losses.

That's the September bottom line of why the Philadelphia Phillies are heading to their fourth straight postseason party.

But, it's not the entire reason. After all, this was a team that, for once, started quickly out of the springtime blocks and looked like (as I would later regret labeling them) an offensive juggernaut. This, despite shortstop Jimmy Rollins' injury absence and closer Brad Lidge's malaise.

Most never dreamed of the coming lumber slumber.

That peculiar aspect of the Phils season began around the middle of May and lasted for much of the next two months. Suddenly, the Fightins' lineup (except for Carlos Ruiz) was whiffing and flailing at pitches. Add an even broader injury bug, and the once-vaunted batting order resembled something south of triple-a ball.

Roy Halladay's perfect game was a brief respite from the dip. And taking full advantage of the Phils power outage -- the Atlanta braves. Bobby Cox's crew went on a tear, building up a seven-game lead on the Phillies by mid-July.

Then, two body parts hundreds of miles apart turned things around:  Roy Oswalt's arm and Chipper Jones' knee.

Phils general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. pulled the trade deadline trigger and acquired Oswalt from Houston. All the veteran has done since coming here is go 7-1 with a sub-2 e.r.a. As for Jones, he went down with a torn-up knee a few weeks after the Phils had whittled a few games off Atlanta's lead. The braves lost their best hitter, and the Phils would pounce on the braves' misfortune.

Following a funky south Philly home sweep by Houston, the Phils started methodically winning game after game after game. The impetus started with a sweep at playoff contender San Diego en route to a 7-1 western road trip. It continued through a marvelous month of surgically-sharp starting pitching, clutch hitting, and steady relief work. It ended with a coup de grace sweep of the Braves last week and Halladay's latest two-hit gem in Washington last night. "Doc's" Cy Young stock paid its latest dividend; the Phillies are division champs again.

There are lots of intangibles that helped build the Phils roundabout path to this year's N.L. east flag. Was it Wilson Valdez's nifty spelling of injured infielders J-roll and Chase Utley?  Was it the firing of batting coach Milt Thompson in July? Was it manager Charlie Manuel's unswerving faith in Brad Lidge? Was it an endless string of sellout crowds at Citizens Bank Park? Who knows? Who cares?

Whatever drives this unflappable band of red-striped ballplayers and handlers is beyond analysis. The thing that lasts is their collective excellence, especially in September. A deep World Series run this year will cement the early 21st century Phillies legacy in baseball history.

And that's no Philadelphia phallacy.