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Phillies having a tough time finding a reliable lefty bullpen arm

The best Phillies teams of the last half-century, during which period in baseball history bullpen usage has become more and more critical, have featured strong left-handers helping the team get through the late innings and close out tight ball games.

Most famous of all was the late screwballer and Phillies Wall of Famer Tug McGraw. The popular Tugger slipped blew a fastball past Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals to close out the 1980 World Series.

That 1980 team also got 40 appearances from Kevin Saucier and dealt for veteran southpaw Sparky Lyle, who was a tremendous help during the push to the NL East crown in September.