This piece was originally going to be a sort of "Best of 2010" recap, but I remembered our pal Wet Luzinski's fine Thanksgiving piece and didn't want to retread those waters, so please go read his work and then check back here.
The 2010 season was about as tumultuous as any in memory, with the team experiencing the highest of highs (two Roy Halladay no-hitters, MLB best win total) and the lowest of lows (NLCS defeat, the goose-egg sweep in Queens), with a lot of what Chris Wheeler would describe as "goofy" in between (Roy Oswalt in left field).
Most of all, 2010 was the year the Phillies turned the corner and became one of the "big boys" in Major League Baseball. In the past, the Phillies had acquired top-flight talent through drafting, mid-season trades, and the occasional free agent overpay. But in mid-December, the Phillies did the unprecedented -- beat out two high-spending franchises in a competitive bidding environment to snag the most coveted free agent on the market. I'm talking, of course, about J.C. Romero. Okay, no, Cliff Lee, you silly geese.
To put it another way, in 2010, the Phillies took the big step from being a "first-rate second-rate" franchise, to being a legitimate titan in the sport, alongside the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox. It's a destination team for players and fans alike, something that would have been incomprehensible just 10 years ago.
It's only gonna get funner. Happy New Year to all my Phightrons out there, you make this all possible.