11/05: The Ghosts are Back! Yankees Take Home 27th World Title
Posted by: Seamus
OK, so we all know what happened by now. Hideki Matsui went absolutely berserk on the Philadelphia Phillies and Andy Pettitte gave the Yankees a solid start in Game 6 as the Yankees wrapped up their 27th World Championship, defeating the Phillies 7–3 at Yankee Stadium.
Andy Pettitte gave the Yankees 5 and 2/3 very respectable innings, pitching on short rest as the Yankees went with a 3-man rotation for this series. The only blemishes on Pettitte in this one were a sac fly off the bat of Jimmy Rollins and a two-run homer by Ryan Howard.
Pettitte was impressive, but we'd be headed for Game 7 tonight in the Bronx if it weren't for Hideki Matsui. Matsui completely demolished the Phils, driving in 6 of the Yankees 7 runs (Mark Teixeira drove in the other one), en route to taking home the World Series MVP award. Matsui put the Yanks ahead with a two-run homer off of Pedro Martinez in the 2nd to make it 2–0. He made it 4–1 with an RBI single in the 3rd, and then he pretty much put the nail in the coffin with a two run double in the bottom of the 5th inning that made it 7–1 Yankees (Ryan Howard's home run in the 6th made it 7–3). The 6 RBI for Matsui on the night tied a World Series record.
There were no bullpen issues to speak of in this one. Joba Chamberlain allowed a hit and a walk in his inning of work, but left unscathed after Damaso Marte helped him to get out of a jam by finishing out the 7th with a strikeout of Chase Utley. Utley, who had tied Reggie Jackson with a record 5 home runs in a single World Series, was neutralized in this game as he went 0-for-3 and struck out twice.
After Marte struck out Ryan Howard to start the 8th, Joe Girardi brought in Mariano to close this series out. At that point, we pretty much all knew it was over. Rivera did cough up a double to Raul Ibanez later in the 8th and walked Carlos Ruiz in the 9th, but that was the extent of any damage. With two outs and a runner on second, Shane Victorino grounded a 3–2 pitch to Robinson Cano, who made a short throw to Mark Teixeira to end the game, and the Yankees were champions of Major League Baseball for the 27th time.
Hideki Matsui, as mentioned was named the MVP of the series. Matsui hit a sizzling .615 for the series, driving in a total of 8 runs and homering 3 times. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player ever to be named MVP of the World Series.
Andy Pettitte was serenaded with chants of "Andy Pettitte! Andy Pettitte!" as he was being interviewed on the outfield stage after the victory. Pettitte was a horse all throughout October, going 4–0 this postseason and winning the final game of each postseason series.
A lot was made of course about the big four (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Pettitte) getting their fifth Yankee rings and there were a lot of interesting stats thrown around after the game, but what stuck out most to me was a statistic that scrolled through on the bottom of the screen on YES that stated that Derek Jeter became the third player to hit .300 or higher in FIVE DIFFERENT World Series. My first reaction to that one was astonishment that this had even been done twice before. Another noteworthy statistic was that Joe Girardi became the third Yankee (Billy Martin and Ralph Houk being the other two) to win a World Series with the Yankees as both a player and a manager.
So that's all she wrote for the 2009 season. It's been a great ride, and soon it'll be time to talk about offseason moves, arbitration and all that good stuff leading into the 2010 baseball season. But for now, let's just soak this one in. You never know how many years it will be before the next one comes.
Andy Pettitte gave the Yankees 5 and 2/3 very respectable innings, pitching on short rest as the Yankees went with a 3-man rotation for this series. The only blemishes on Pettitte in this one were a sac fly off the bat of Jimmy Rollins and a two-run homer by Ryan Howard.
Pettitte was impressive, but we'd be headed for Game 7 tonight in the Bronx if it weren't for Hideki Matsui. Matsui completely demolished the Phils, driving in 6 of the Yankees 7 runs (Mark Teixeira drove in the other one), en route to taking home the World Series MVP award. Matsui put the Yanks ahead with a two-run homer off of Pedro Martinez in the 2nd to make it 2–0. He made it 4–1 with an RBI single in the 3rd, and then he pretty much put the nail in the coffin with a two run double in the bottom of the 5th inning that made it 7–1 Yankees (Ryan Howard's home run in the 6th made it 7–3). The 6 RBI for Matsui on the night tied a World Series record.
There were no bullpen issues to speak of in this one. Joba Chamberlain allowed a hit and a walk in his inning of work, but left unscathed after Damaso Marte helped him to get out of a jam by finishing out the 7th with a strikeout of Chase Utley. Utley, who had tied Reggie Jackson with a record 5 home runs in a single World Series, was neutralized in this game as he went 0-for-3 and struck out twice.
After Marte struck out Ryan Howard to start the 8th, Joe Girardi brought in Mariano to close this series out. At that point, we pretty much all knew it was over. Rivera did cough up a double to Raul Ibanez later in the 8th and walked Carlos Ruiz in the 9th, but that was the extent of any damage. With two outs and a runner on second, Shane Victorino grounded a 3–2 pitch to Robinson Cano, who made a short throw to Mark Teixeira to end the game, and the Yankees were champions of Major League Baseball for the 27th time.
Hideki Matsui, as mentioned was named the MVP of the series. Matsui hit a sizzling .615 for the series, driving in a total of 8 runs and homering 3 times. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player ever to be named MVP of the World Series.
Andy Pettitte was serenaded with chants of "Andy Pettitte! Andy Pettitte!" as he was being interviewed on the outfield stage after the victory. Pettitte was a horse all throughout October, going 4–0 this postseason and winning the final game of each postseason series.
A lot was made of course about the big four (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Pettitte) getting their fifth Yankee rings and there were a lot of interesting stats thrown around after the game, but what stuck out most to me was a statistic that scrolled through on the bottom of the screen on YES that stated that Derek Jeter became the third player to hit .300 or higher in FIVE DIFFERENT World Series. My first reaction to that one was astonishment that this had even been done twice before. Another noteworthy statistic was that Joe Girardi became the third Yankee (Billy Martin and Ralph Houk being the other two) to win a World Series with the Yankees as both a player and a manager.
So that's all she wrote for the 2009 season. It's been a great ride, and soon it'll be time to talk about offseason moves, arbitration and all that good stuff leading into the 2010 baseball season. But for now, let's just soak this one in. You never know how many years it will be before the next one comes.
Patrick wrote: