TGP’s Opening Day Starter Madness: The Finals

We started with 32, and now we’re down to just two. In our quest to determine the best Phillies Opening Day starter of the past 32 years, we’ve pared the list down to our final competitors: 1997 Curt Schilling and 2010 Roy Halladay.

Despite being seeded third, 2010 Halladay topped his 2011 self to emerge from the Steve Carlton Region. (It’s pretty impressive that a guy who threw two no-hitters and won the National League’s Cy Young Award had only the third best bWAR of the past 16 years.) And the top seed of the Robin Roberts Region, 1997 Schilling topped his second-seeded 1998 counterpart.

Here’s a quick tale of the tape between our finalists:

So, who’s going to win? Let’s be serious here. Halladay is pretty much universally beloved by Phillies fans, and his 2010 season was one of the best ever turned in by a Phillies starter. And while 1997 Schilling turned in an excellent, if inferior, season, we should also acknowledge that at least half the Phillies’ fanbase can’t stand the guy due to his political and societal views. I doubt that the fact that Schilling’s Opening Day line (8 IP, 0 ER, 11 K ) was actually better than Halladay’s (7 IP, 1 ER, 9 K) will carry much weight.

But hey, if a 15 seed can make it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, maybe Schilling can find a way to pull off an upset here. Now’s your chance to decide!