The 2009 NY Yankees Parade

As the Yankees celebrate their 27th World Series title by parading around Manhattan, let’s look back to how the Yankees won the World Series by defeating the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies.

*Starting pitching: Many questioned manager Joe Girardi’s decision to remain with the 3-man rotation, even with the pitchers having to pitch on short rest after their first start in the series. When AJ Burnett could not get out of the third inning in Game 5, Yankees fans and the media groaned about the 3-man rotation. However, this was the only poor start the Yankees had during the entire series. Outside of Cliff Lee for the Phillies, the Yankees rotation out pitched the Phillies. CC Sabathia and Burnett proved worth the cost as they pitched brilliantly in the playoffs and the World Series, both of their first times in the World Series.

* Mariano Rivera: Rivera could be the best postseason pitcher ever. His career postseason numbers are ridiculous (8-1, with a 0.74 ERA and 39 saves in 88 games) and every team wishes they had someone as reliable as him. In Games 3 and 4 combined, Rivera threw just 13 pitches to get five outs against the Phillies. If that’s not a dominant closer, I don’t know what is.

* The bullpen: Everyone questioned both teams’ bullpens heading into the World Series, but the Yankees bullpen was just a bit better. Despite losing Game 5, the Yankees bullpen pitched 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs, with Dave Robertson and Alfredo Aceves pitching 2 shutout innings a piece. Despite giving up the game-tying homerun in Game 4, Joba Chamberlain pitched well, giving up just that one run. Throughout the World Series, lefty Damaso Marte shutdown the Phillies left-handed bats, without giving up a hit. He also struck out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard on just 6 pitches. If that’s not dominant, I don’t know what is.

Hideki Matsui waves to the crowd during the parade

*Hideki Matsui: Matsui carried the Yankees in Game 6 (3-for-4 with 6 RBIs which tied a World Series record for most RBIs in a single game) and thus was awarded the World Series MVP. But it just wasn’t Game 6. Matsui was Pedro Martinez’ nemesis in both Games 2 and 6. He went 8-for-13 overall in the series with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs. It didn’t matter who was pitching, a left-hander or a right-hander, Matsui was raking.

*Johnny Damon: Damon struggled in the ALDS and many were concerned about his production. Damon proved all of the doubters wrong by being clutch throughout the World Series. Damon’s numbers were 8-for-22 with 2 doubles, 3 walks, 4 RBIs, and 3 stolen bases, none bigger than the two he stole off of Brad Lidge in Game 4. His Game 4 at-bat against Lidge was classic as he battled to reach base and rattle Lidge, leading to the Yankees winning and taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The Yankees finally proved that spending money can equate to a World Series championship. Many feel that they should make it back to the World Series again next season, along with the Phillies to battle it out once again.

Tags:

AJ Burnett, CC Sabathia, Damaso Marte, Dave Robertson, Hideki Matsui, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon, Mariano Rivera, NY Yankees, World Series

The NY Yankees win their 27th World Series title

Yankees 7, Phillies 3: The Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series victory by jumping up and down like little kids. Even closer Mariano Rivera was jumping around in jubilation on the podium after hoisting the World Series trophy. It never gets old, as four of the Yankees have now won 5 World Series titles (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Pettitte). It is sort of surreal because every little kid who plays baseball dreams of winning the World Series. That’s the goal every year when spring training begins for all 30 MLB clubs.

Pedro Martinez of the Phillies began the game with a max fastball of 85 mph. It was not a good sign. After issuing a leadoff walk to Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui battled Pedro, with Matsui winning the battle by crushing a 2-run homerun into the right field upper deck seats. The Yankees held an early 2-0 lead. With one out in the top of the third, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz ripped the pitch from Andy Pettitte off of the left centerfield wall for a triple. Jimmy Rollins followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the Yankees lead to 2-1. After a misplay in centerfield by the Phillies Shane Victorino on a ball hit by Derek Jeter, Pedro then walked Johnny Damon and hit Mark Teixeira to bring up A-Rod. Pedro struck him out looking, but it brought up Matsui with the bases loaded. Instead of going to the bullpen, manager Charlie Manuel decided to stick with Pedro, which blew up in his face. Matsui was 8-for-18 against Pedro in the postseason before this at-bat. On a 0-2 pitch, Matsui laced a single back up the middle to drive in two more runs, increasing the Yankees lead to 4-1.

The NY Yankees hoist their 27th World Series trophy

The Yankees increased the lead to 7-1 in the fifth inning off the Phillies bullpen combination of Chad Durbin and JA Happ, highlighted by a 2-run double by Matsui. Matsui finished the game 3-for-4 with 6 RBIs, which tied a Major League World Series record for a single game). Ryan Howard tried to get the Phillies back into the game by hitting an opposite field 2-run homerun off of Pettitte to cut the lead to 7-3. This ended Pettitte’s night, yet the Phillies could do nothing against the Yankees bullpen. Damaso Marte continued his postseason mastery of lefties as he struck out both Chase Utley and Howard on just 6 pitches. Howard struck out 13 times in the World Series, which set a World Series record. This meant the Phillies would have to score against closer Mariano Rivera, who came in to record the final five outs. Though it took Rivera 41 pitches to get those final outs, he was the one on the mound in the celebratory moment when Victorino grounded out to end the game.

Hideki Matsui wins mvp

As the Yankees players ran around the new stadium celebrating with their teammates, coaches, fans, and family, the Phillies players looked on from the dugout in disbelief. Matsui, deservedly so, earned the World Series MVP. In the World Series, Matsui, the free-agent to be, was 8-for-13 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs. “They’re partying in Tokyo tonight,” teammate Nick Swisher said. “I know that. What a great job Matsui did for us, coming up in clutch situations all year long. He deserved that MVP trophy, no doubt about it.”

Tags:

Andy Pettitte, Carlos Ruiz, Damaso Marte, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera, Pedro Martinez, Phillies, Ryan Howard, World Series Game 6, Yankees

Yankees 3, Phillies 1: The game began with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performing their hit song (and Derek Jeter’s entrance song) and most felt this was an omen that the Yankees would win. This was a game many felt would be high scoring with the bullpens battling it out, myself included. However both starting pitchers pitched gems like their Game 1 counterparts. The veteran for the Phillies, Pedro Martinez, entered the field to the expected “Who’s your daddy?” chants. He fed off the hostile crowd to, for the most part, dominate the potent Yankee lineup, a lineup most expected would kill the Phillies pitching. So far, that hasn’t happened. The Yankees are hitting .222, with the red-hot Alex Rodriguez going completely cold, 0-for-8 with six strikeouts. Pedro made just two mistakes, two sole homeruns by Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui, before being taken out in the seventh. Watching Pedro take the mound in the seventh, it reminded me of the 2003 playoffs when he was with Boston and manager Grady Little left him in the game too long (and got fired soon following). With double-barreled action in the Phillies bullpen, manager Charlie Manuel decided to stay with Pedro to start the seventh and it backfired as he gave up back-to-back hits, leading to another run.

Yankees starter AJ Burnett avoided the big wild inning, throwing first pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 batters he faced. Burnett’s curveball was working throughout the night, making the Phillies hitters look silly. He gave manager Joe Girardi seven solid innings, allowing him to go to closer Mariano Rivera for another six out save. Rivera looked hittable in Game 2, especially in the eighth inning when the Phillies had two men on and only one out. Manuel decided not to send the speedy runners (Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino) on a 3-2 count and the batter, Chase Utley, grounded into a double-play to end the inning. Utley meanwhile, extended his consecutive on-base streak in postseason games to 27 with a walk in the 3rd inning, continuing to add on to his Major League Baseball record.

Has Girardi completely lost faith in his entire bullpen? I’m not sure Girardi can continue to go to Rivera for six out saves, especially if he continues to throw close to 40 pitches an outing. We will see as the World Series continues.

Neither team is tearing the cover off of the baseball and both teams RBI machines have cooled off. I mentioned A-Rod earlier, but Ryan Howard went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts last night against the combination of Burnett and Rivera and never looked comfortable at the plate. Unlike in Game 1, Burnett only showed the fastball on the first pitch to most of the hitters and they were taking it for a strike, trying to be patient and run up Burnett’s pitch-count. That approach never really worked. The Phillies struck out 15 times in Game 2, yet only lost 3-1.

The Phillies left Yankee Stadium with a split, something they did last year in the World Series against Tampa Bay and something they just did in this year’s NLCS. They left smiling, with all of the confidence that they have retaken home-field advantage and can win three straight to celebrate in Philadelphia behind their wild and raucous fans. The Phillies have lost just one postseason game at home in the past two years (11-1).

Tags:

AJ Burnett, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, NY Yankees, Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Howard, World Series Game 2

Yankees 5, Angels 2: After getting an extra day off due to the rainy Saturday night, the Yankees seemed to be the fresher team from the start. The Angels however struck first. Jeff Mathis, the hot-hitting catcher who was receiving another much-deserved start, doubled to lead off the top of the third. With 2 outs and Mathis still on base, Bobby Abreu drove him in with a base hit up the middle. The RBI was just his second RBI of the series. With runners on base in almost every inning, the Yankees finally broke through against Angels starter Joe Saunders with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. Johnny Damon came through with a 2-run single to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead and Alex Rodriguez walked to drive in the third run and that was all for Saunders. Darren Oliver came on in relief to get Jorge Posada to hit into a double-play, ending the inning and keeping the game at 3-1. Oliver held the Yankees scoreless through his 2.2 innings. Yankees manager Joe Girardi chose to go with closer Mariano Rivera for a six out save, bringing him in to start the 8^th inning. Rivera may be one of the best pitchers in postseason history and had not given up a postseason run at home since 2001…until Game 6 of the 2009 ALCS. Vladimir Guerrero drove in Chone Figgins in the inning to make it a 3-2 game. The Angels had their chances in the inning, but great defense and positioning by the Yankees kept their lead. However the Angels defense failed them in the bottom of the 8^th inning. After Ervin Santana walked Robinson Cano, lefty Scott Kazmir came in and got Nick Swisher to sacrifice bunt but Howie Kendrick dropped the throw at first base. So now with 2 men on base, Melky Cabrera laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Kazmir sailed the throw over Kendrick’s head, allowing a run to score. Kazmir got Derek Jeter to groundout, but then walked Damon to load the bases, leading to a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly. Kazmir was out and Jered Weaver was in. Weaver walked A-Rod but struck out Posada to finally end the inning. The bottom of the 8^th inning completely deflated the Angels. With the Yankee fans on their feet, Rivera went quickly through the Angels order in the 9^th inning, highlighted by a strikeout of Gary Matthews, Jr. to end the game…and the celebration began. “It feels good,” Sabathia said. “We came in with the goal in Spring Training of winning the championship, and we’re one step closer. It’s a close team, and we have a lot of fun together. It just feels good to be able to celebrate with those guys in there.” But the celebration cannot last too long as Game 1 of the World Series begins on Wednesday, as A-Rod will be making his first World Series appearance.

Major League Baseball awarded the ALCS MVP award to the Yankees CC Sabathia. Sabathia made two starts against the Angels in the ALCS, Game 1 and 4. He won both starts with a 1.13 ERA. Sabathia pitched in 16 innings with 12 strikeouts. “He’s been huge,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “To shut their team down twice and really give our bullpen almost a whole day off when he pitched, he’s been able to do that in almost each one of his games — he’s been incredible.” Every Yankee felt that Sabathia deserved the award as he completely shutdown the Angels and to win in the postseason, a team needs great starting pitching. Sabathia is most likely to start Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Tags:

ALCS Game 6, CC Sabathia, Darren Oliver, Jeff Mathis, Joe Girardi, Joe Saunders, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, LA Angels, Mariano Rivera, NY Yankees

The LA Angels and NY Yankees matchup looks to be a hard fought battle that may take the seven games to crown an American League Champion. The two teams split the season series 5-5 and the home team won 7 out of the 10 games. Both teams are evenly matched. Where the Angels use speed and athleticism, the Yankees use power and strength to win games. Both teams have solid starting pitching, with the Angels more confident in using four pitchers than the Yankees. The Angels beefed up their rotation by acquiring Scott Kazmir from the Rays and getting John Lackey and Joe Saunders back from injuries. Jered Weaver has been the ace all season long. The Yankees have the stronger bullpen with the combination of Alfredo Aceves, Dave Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Coke, and Phil Hughes getting the lead to closer Mariano Rivera (who may be the best closer ever) in the ninth inning. All have the ability to strike anyone out (Robertson: 63 K in 42 2/3 innings, Hughes: 65 in 51 1/3 innings). The one weakness to the Yankees bullpen is their youth and inexperience in big games, and their overuse all season long. The Angels have the stronger outfield, with better range and throwing arms, and more offensive firepower. The Angels go first to third better than any team in baseball and will take advantage of the Yankee outfield of Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Nick Swisher. Behind the plate, the Angels sometimes sacrifice defense for offense with Mike Napoli over Jeff Mathis though Napoli has gotten better behind the plate. The Yankees have Jorge Posada and Jose Molina and it’s almost a guarantee the Angels will run, just like they did against the Boston Red Sox. The infields are evenly matched: the Angels (Chone Figgins, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Maicer Izturis, and Kendry Morales) are more athletic and have more range and the Yankees have a gold glover at first base in Mark Teixeira, who saves errors by his teammates. The Yankees infield produces more homeruns though the Angels have more speed. The entire Angels team is patient at the plate (except for Vladimir Guerrero) and the Yankees pitchers tend to walk a few too many. This could be the key to the entire series.
The biggest question mark for the Angels has been their bullpen. Veteran Darren Oliver has been stellar all season long and against the Red Sox he was just the same. Closer Brian Fuentes is not conventional or automatic, but he got he job done against the Red Sox in the ALDS. As I mentioned above, the middle relief for the Yankees is a question mark. It looked strong in the ALDS against the Twins. How will the young guys react to the added pressure of being one series win from the World Series? Will Joe Girardi be able to use the same guys everyday like he did in the ALDS?

Game 1: John Lackey @ CC Sabathia
Lackey was dominant against the Red Sox in the ALDS and he made one start against the Yankees in 2009. Lackey went seven innings giving up six hits and two runs, while striking out six. His one start was in LA. Yankees manager Joe Girardi is hoping to have Sabathia pitch in Games 1, 4, and 7, all on three days rest. Sabathia thrived down the stretch last season with the Brewers when he pitched the entire month of September on three days rest.

Game 2: Joe Saunders @ AJ Burnett
Saunders faced the Yankees twice in LA, pitching 13.1 innings, giving up 16 hits and seven runs. However his second start after the All-Star break was excellent, going into the 9th giving up just two runs without walking a batter. Burnett has had problems with his command throughout his career and his start against the Twins was no different. However, if he can find a way to escape the jams he put himself into, he can be dominant. In his two starts against the Angels this season, Burnett struggled against their left-handed hitters, giving up five runs. In all, Burnett pitched 12.2 innings, giving up 15 hits and six runs, while walking four and striking out 16.

Game 3: Jered Weaver vs. Andy Pettitte
Weaver struggled against the Yankees in three starts this season. Weaver has been better at home (17 GS, 9-3, 2.90 ERA, 27 BB/ 99 K) than on the road this season, so manager Mike Scioscia lined him up to pitch in LA. Pettitte may be the wild card for the Yankees. He has the playoff experience and success. Plus he has one of, if not the best pickoff move in the game. His presence on the mound could keep the Angels running game in check. However, Pettitte has not had success against the Angels this season in three starts (16 IP, 21 H, 14 R, 8 BB, 6 K), two of which came in LA.

Game 4: Scott Kazmir vs. ?
The Angels acquired Kazmir for these situations. Kazmir had success in his career against the Red Sox and though he struggled in his Game 3 start, he kept the Angels in the game long enough for them to come back and win. Kazmir also has had success against the Yankees. In 3 starts this season, Kazmir pitched 19.2 innings, giving up 17 hits and seven runs while striking out 14. He also only allowed one homerun. Yankees manager Joe Girardi is planning on using a 3-man rotation for this seven-game series, though weather permitting. With the extra days off, the Yankees can get away with only using three starters, though the weather forecast for the first two games in NY is rainy and cold. This could force the Yankees to go with Joba Chamberlain or Chad Gaudin to start Game 4.
Key Matchups:
Brian Fuentes vs. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez: This may be Fuentes toughest test. To get to the World Series, Fuentes will need to keep Teixeira and A-Rod in check. Fuentes has pitched better on the road than in LA. Against right-handed hitters in 2009, Fuentes has struggled, giving up 6 homeruns (0 to lefties). Against left-handed pitchers, Teixeira’s power numbers were down (just 9HR and 31 RBI), though his batting average was over .300. A-Rod’s power numbers were also down against left-handed pitchers (just 8 HR, 21 RBI). He also struggled this season in late-inning at-bats.

Mariano Rivera vs. Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vladimir Guerrero: In four games against the Angels this season, Mo gave up just two hits (0 runs) with 5 strikeouts. In 41 late-inning at-bats, Abreu hit well over .300, with 7 RBIs and the typical 12 walks, getting on base for those behind him to drive him in. Late in the game Hunter has thrived, hitting over .380 in 49 at-bats, with 4 homeruns and eight RBIs. Vlad also thrived late in the game, hitting close to .450 in 31 at-bats, with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs.

Chone Figgins: In his career, Figgins has owned the Yankees. This year he hit over .330 against them. However, Figgins has struggled throughout his career in the postseason, with a batting average hovering around .180. The Angels will need Figgins to step up and get on base for the Angels to win the league crown.

Tags:

ALCS, Alex Rodriguex, Andy Pettitte, Angels, Brian Fuentes, Chone Figgins, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, John Lackey, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, Scott Kazmir, Yankees