Halladay no-hitter provides yet another night we won't soon forget

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Remember this night -- Oct. 6, 2010.

Remember it 10 or 12 years down the road when the Phillies may slide toward Pirates or Royals level and the callers are griping on WIP and somebody wants to run the manager, GM and owner out of town.

Remember how special this era of Phillies baseball is -- four straight division titles, back-to-back World Series appearances, and, on this night, Wednesday night, a playoff no-hitter by Roy Halladay. It's just the second no-hitter in baseball postseason history, of course, and the latest, greatest night in a golden era of Phillies baseball.

As Charlie Manuel said after the game of Halladay: "Absolutely unreal."

The Phillies are without doubt the envy of the National League, and possibly, all of baseball.

The franchise that is still the losingest in all of sports in terms of total number of losses is hardly a loser at the moment.

They've got the best pitching staff in baseball and a relentless offense that never is out of a game no matter the deficit. If there's a better game-night atmosphere than the sellout crowds at Citizens Bank Park, I'd like to see it.

It's a far cry from the late 1990s at the Vet when the team was going nowhere and the atmosphere was as drabby as the club.

Wednesday night could be just the start of another amazing October for this team.

I was in the Reds clubhouse after the game, and you're already seeing shoulders shrug and heads shake.

Can't blame them. You just get no-hitted and next you face someone with a 23-3 lifetime record against you in Roy Oswalt.

This team isn't good enough to beat the Phillies, at least not three times in the next four games.

If the Reds rally back to win this series after getting no-hitted in Game 1, it will be one of the more remarkable comebacks in division series history.

I don't see it happening, even though the Phillies didn't exactly tear the cover off the ball tonight either and had just one hit after the second inning.

I was talking with Phillies radio play-by-play man Scott Franzke for a column before the game. Little did I know that I'd be talking to a guy who would later get to make one of the more historic calls in baseball history.

Franzke's one helluva good guy, by the way, and a very enjoyable broadcaster to listen to, especially the chemistry he has with Larry Andersen.

Franzke arrived here in 2006 and he was talking about how sometimes you just get lucky and find yourself in the right place at the right time. He definitely considers himself blessed to be the radio voice of this team at this particular time. Who wouldn't?

On Wednesday night, I think all of us in the press box felt pretty damn lucky to be there and experience a remarkable and historic performance -- a night that may never be duplicated.

I am not a Phillies fan and will never become a cheerleader for them. It's not what we're there for, although some see themselves that way.

But I have to acknowledge that Halladay's performance was just one more in a growing collection of amazing moments for this special team and special era of Phillies baseball.

And you have to wonder "What's next?"

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