The 5 best offenses and defenses in Phillies history

One of the best parts of being a sportswriter is getting to answer questions no one asked.

Which teams in Philadelphia sports history have had the best offenses ever? Which have had the best defenses ever?

The ultimate goal of this statistical and mental exercise is to eventually tackle an ambitious list, ranking the best offenses and defenses of all time across the four major teams in the city.

But before we get there, we are going to look at each of the teams one by one, starting with the Phillies — who are having a season on both sides of the ball worthy of being on this list when all is said and done.

The offenses from the past few seasons — led by mashers of the baseball — didn't quite make the cut. Which teams did? And which pitching staffs/defensive lineups were the most difficult to hit against in team history?

Our sports staff took time to research and rank their picks for the top offenses and defenses. Below is a look at the averaged out ranking order of our selections for the five best offenses in Phillies franchise history:

1. 2007 Phillies

89-73, Lost in NLDS | 892 runs scored | 2 Silver Sluggers, NL MVP

To start, this squad totaled the most at-bats of any team in franchise history, which is interesting. Their 1,558 hits are the most since the year 1930, and they had the most RBI and best on base percentage since '30 as well. This team smacked the most doubles ever in Philadelphia, and they were led by some impressive individual seasons — including Jimmy Rollins' unicorn MVP campaign:

2. 1977 Phillies

101-61, Lost in NLCS | 847 runs scored 

This is one of the more high-powered offenses ever to roam South Philly. They held the team's home run record for 27 years, and still hold the high water mark for modern era team's batting average at .279. Extremely impressive is their slugging percentage, second in the modern era only to the aforementioned 2007 club — and still better than any other Ryan Howard or Bryce Harper-led squads. The '77 club had five players in the top 25 for NL MVP, though Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw were two of them. The others:

3. 1993 Phillies

97-65, Lost in World Series | 877 runs scored | Silver Slugger

There are a lot of things one can say about the 1993 Phillies' offense but you can't accuse them of lacking patience. No Phils squad ever drew more than the 665 free passes that team had en route to their World Series appearance. Four starters hit for .300 and three had more than 100 walks. Lenny Dykstra came in second to Barry Bonds for MVP honors that season:

4. 2009 Phillies

93-69, Lost in World Series | 820 runs scored | Silver Slugger

Last year's Phillies came four homers shy of tying the 2009 team's 224 dingers, led by Ryan Howard's 45. He also had a major league-best 145 RBI. This lineup was stacked top to bottom, hot off a World Series win the season prior. Whenever the 3-4-5 portion of the Phillies batting order was due to the plate, it was must-see TV. There are three versions of this team on our list, so we'll just dive into the offensive MVP votes, which saw four hitters in the top 18 this season:

5. 2006 Phillies

85-77 | 865 runs scored | 2 Silver Sluggers, NL MVP

These were the baby contending Phillies, and they were the second version of the team ever to hit 200 homers — the recent move to Citizens Bank Park no doubt helped. Howard won an MVP in his first full season in the majors and Chase Utley finished in the top 10, as the duo combined for 90 homers and 215 RBI. The best was yet to come for the team as a whole, but this was one of the five best offenses ever for the franchise.

The next three...

And now on to the five best defenses (and pitching staffs) in Phillies franchise history:

1. 2011 Phillies

102-60, Lost in NLDS | 529 runs allowed | Gold Glover, 3-All-Star pitchers, NL Cy Young runner up

I did not fully realize how good this team was on the mound and in the field. They have the modern record for the fewest runs allowed by a Phillies team. They have the lowest team ERA in modern history at 3.02, and the best modern era WHIP at 1.167. Placido Polanco won a Gold Glove award at third, anchoring a defense that committed just 74 errors, the third fewest ever for the franchise. And they tied for the best fielding percentage in team history. It was very very hard to score against a team that — and I can't believe I am just now mentioning this — had four aces with Roy Halladay (second place for NL Cy Young), Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt atop their rotation.

2. 1976 Phillies

101-61, Lost in NLCS | 557 runs allowed | 2 Gold Glovers, 

This '76 squad had the second best team ERA of the modern era in 3.08 and had extremely impressive control on the mound, as the '76 and '78 arms issued the fewest free passes of any team since the 1950s. Every single pitcher on the staff had an ERA under 4 — they led the entire league in ERA+, while Steve Carlton finished fourth for Cy Young honors. A look at the staff (everyone on this list pitched in at least 26 games):

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