The Audio Vault- The 2011 Phillies

2011 was the last time the Phillies made the playoffs. It was the year of the Four Aces. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, got them 102 wins. It did not end as great as it started. But with the Phillies breaking the drought, it felt like a good time to dust that season off and relive the highs, and the lows, of the 2011 season. Here was the lineup for today's Audio Vault, as put together by Andrew Salciunas.

The Phillies opened the year against the Astros at home. They trailed entering the 9th but tied it up. It came down to John Mayberry Jr with the bases loaded. And he hit one out to the center field to walk it off. It was a great start, to a great regular season.  And Andrew found the audio of that rally down in the Vault.

The team may have had 4 Aces, but the Ace of this team was without a doubt Roy Halladay. Halladay was the best of the best. He was coming off a Cy Young campaign and could have won a second one in 2011. One of his shining moments was a complete game shutout vs the Mets. And Andrew found the audio of that down in The Vault.

Of Course, Cliff Lee was also filthy that year. The great thing with him, is one, that he never walked people, and two, he threw a lot of complete games. One of those came against the Giants. And Andrew found that Audio down in the Vault.

You don't see as many baseball brawls nowadays. But the 2011 Phillies got into one in that Cliff Lee Shutout. Shane Victorino got hit, and the benches cleared. And it was a real one. It was not your run-of-the-mill stand in a crowd and shove each other baseball brawl. There was some actual fighting. And Andrew found the audio of it down in the Vault.

Cliff Lee had many shutouts that year. We already talked about the one vs the Giants, but he got his 6th shutout of the year against the Braves later in the season. And Andrew pulled that audio from the Vault.

Not to be forgotten, Cole Hamels had a great year too. It is easy to forget how good he was behind Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. But he truly was an ace as well. That showed up when he threw a complete game shutout against the Nationals. And he hit a triple to put some runs on the board as well.

Raul Ibanez had a knack for being clutch. And that showed in a crucial Braves series in July. He hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 10th inning, to give the Phillies a victory to win the first game of the series. It was Charlie Manuel's 600th win.

Things did not go well for the Phillies in the playoffs. They were in St Louis, with Roy Oswalt on the mound. And then a Squirrel ran onto the field. Many Phillies fans know how much we hate that Squirrel. It turned into a good luck charm for the Cardinals.

With Roy Halladay on the mound, vibes were high going into game 5. But the game started on a low note. Rafael Furcal opened the game with a triple, and then Skip Schumaker drove him in with a double. Doc settled down from there, but the Phillies struggled to get a run off of Chris Carpenter.

The Phillies were down 1-0. Raul Ibanez had a chance to win it. He hit a towering drive into right field. It felt like it could be the moment that carried them to a win. But the wind knocked it down. The flyball died on the warning track, and Lance Berkman caught it for an out. And they never really had another chance. They would go on to lose that game 1-0, despite a brilliant outing by Roy Halladay.