Route to the series Philadelphia Phillies Main article: 2009 Philadelphia Phillies

Route to the series
Philadelphia Phillies
Main article: 2009 Philadelphia Phillies season
During the off-season the Phillies promoted assistant general manager
Rubén Amaro, Jr. to general manager, succeeding Pat Gillick who retired at the end of a three-year contract. [3] Their most notable offseason player change was in left field , as Pat Burrell departed due to free agency and was replaced by free agent Raúl Ibañez . [4] Another notable acquisition was free agent pitcher Chan Ho Park.[5] Park was originally signed as a backup option for the bullpen , as
reliever J. C. Romero was assigned a 50-game suspension after violating the Major League Baseball drug policy , but Park won the fifth starter 's job in Spring Training.  In July 2009, Phillies scouts evaluated pitcher Pedro Martínez in two simulated games against the Phillies DSL team , leading to a one-year, $1-million contract. [8][9] Replacing Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, 2009, Philadelphia won each of Martínez's first seven starts, the first time in franchise history that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher. [10] The Phillies made one large acquisition at the
trade deadline, trading four minor league players to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco .[11] Lee won seven of his twelve regular season starts for Philadelphia in 2009. [12]
During the regular season, the Phillies led the National League East for most of the year, taking first place for good on May 30. [13] Ibáñez had started the year strongly, batting well over .300 with 17
home runs and 46 runs batted in (RBI) in the first two months of the season, which led the New York Post to call him an "early MVP candidate". [14][15] He was placed on the disabled list in mid-June for a groin injury, however, and though he returned he did not bat above .260 for any other month that season. [14][16] Although Ibáñez did not receive MVP votes his teammates Ryan Howard and Chase Utley had successful years, finishing 3rd and 8th in the balloting respectively.[17] The Phillies finished the season with a record of 93–69 (.574), six games above the second-place Florida Marlins in their division. [13]
The Phillies defeated the wild card
Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series (NLDS), three games to one, advancing to the National League Championship Series (NLCS). [13] Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers , the Phillies won the NLCS, four games to one, [13] becoming the first team to repeat as
National League champions since the
1995 –96 Atlanta Braves .[18] Ryan Howard won the NLCS MVP for his strong offensive performance during the series. [19] Howard tied Lou Gehrig 's postseason record by having at least one RBI in eight straight games across the NLDS and NLCS. [19] They became the first World Series champion to return to the World Series the following year since the 2000 –01 New York Yankees .