10) CLIFF LEE'S AMAZING TURNAROUND
After winning 46 games from 2004-06, Cliff Lee's 2007 campaign was immediately derailed when an abdominal strain he suffered in spring training forced him to start the season on the disabled list.na ON HIS BACK, THEN HITS THE JACKPOT
If Ramirez's trade to LA wasn't the biggest midseason move, the Milwaukee Brewers acquisition of Cleveland Indians ace CC Sabathia was.na into the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
3) YANKEES MISS PLAYOFFS IN FINAL YEAR OF STADIUM; THEN SPEND LIKE "DRUNKEN SAILORS"
While Sabathia helped the Brewers to their first postseason appearance in 26 years, the Yankees' run of 13 straight playoff appearances came to an end in the final year of Yankee Stadium.
New York had been a part of the postseason every year since 1995, but injuries and an improved AL East led to a third-place finish for the Yankees in Joe Girardi's first year as Yankee skipper. Meaning, of course, that the building that had hosted more postseason games than any other was quiet in October of its final year.
The Yankees, who wrapped up nine of their 26 World Series titles on 161st Street and River Avenue, will move across the street to a $1.3 billion upgrade next April.
2) PHILLIES END CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE'S FRUSTRATION
Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and even So Taguchi will likely never have to pay for another meal when dining in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies captured the franchise's second-ever World Series title and gave the city its first major championship since 1983 with a relatively easy five-game win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Hamels solidified himself as an elite starter in the playoffs, while closer Brad Lidge completed his perfect season, making good on all 48 of his save opportunities.
1) THE RISE OF THE RAYS
Following 10 years of serving as the doormat in the AL East, this was supposed to be the year that the Tampa Bay Rays took the next step. But, that next step was expected to be in the form of the franchise's first .500 season.
What actually transpired, though, you could not have found a person on the planet to predict, as the upstart Rays won 97 games on their way to winning the division, holding off the high-spending Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees to do so.
The Rays continued their run in the playoffs, knocking off Chicago in the first round before dismissing the Red Sox in seven games of the ALCS. Tampa's magical run ended in Philadelphia, but the groundwork for something much more important had already been laid.
Now they just need those fans in St. Petersburg to stop dressing up like empty seats in April and May.
