1977 Philadelphia Phillies: Division champions
In 1977, the Phillies again won 101 games and clinched a postseason berth, an astounding feat for a team that, before 1976, had never reached 100+ wins or made back-to-back postseason appearances in almost a century of play.
The squad was largely similar to the year before, though future Wall-of-Famer and Cuban Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Taylor had been released in November 1976 and hired by the club as a coach for the 1977 season.
Mike Schmidt had another All-Star and Gold Glove season and hit 38 home runs for the third year in a row, a feat even more impressive considering he did so in fewer games than the two years prior.
This time around, the Phillies managed to do something in the postseason that they hadn’t done since their very first October run: they didn’t get swept. After winning Game 1 of the NLCS, the Phillies dropped the following three to the Los Angeles Dodgers.