If you were looking for anything about a player's reaction towards winning a championship, the main focus had to be on Alex Rodriguez. This is a man who didn't win for 14 seasons, on three different teams, as the best player in the game.

And that doesn't even begin to tell the story.

A-Rod is a man of infinite nicknames and infinite moments. Up until this season, all of those moments were either negative or considered "tainted" by many.

He was loathed for his past postseason performances, which conveniently ignored much of his time in Seattle, his 2004 ALDS in New York and half of the ALCS. He was singled out for the 2004 collapse and some people even dubbed "the Curse of A-Rod" (RIP) on the Yankees after they signed him and suffered the said collapse. He was singled out for his postseason failures during a time when most of the Yankees' hitters ranged from inconsistent to just as cold.

Alex Rodriguez was the most successful failure, perhaps in any sport.

His signature moment in the playoffs was slapping a ball out of a pitcher's hand in desperation. His signature moments of the regular season consisted of yelling "Mine" while running the bases or the shirt his wife once wore in the crowd. For all his long balls, for all his career milestones, Rodriguez's worst moments and back page gossip were more memorable than say, his 500th career home run or his 10 RBI game against the Angels.

Why? Because he was easy to pick on, always. He represented the frustrated Yankees fan and his pay check represents everything other fans hate about the Yankees, even if misunderstood and blind hatred at times. His career was a microcosm of the current status of the New York Yankees before this season. Willing to spend, willing to win enough to get a chance, but ultimately fizzling out when it mattered most.

But from being a "bad" baseball player A-Rod then evolved into what was considered a bad person (I've never met him and I don't know exactly what happened on both sides of his personal life so I'm not qualified to make a distinction). He cheated on his wife, he failed as a husband and as a father. He cheated the game he "loved" just like he cheated the family he "loved".

With all of his money, all of his supporting staff he paid to support him and his agent he grew up with who he paid to get him all the money for him to pay everything else, A-Rod was a failure in every facet of his own life in the public eye.

That's why he hit rock bottom with the steroid allegations, with the clubhouses' dirty laundry in the Torre book and with the divorce he went through at the end of 2008. The Yankees hit rock bottom at the end of that season, just like Alex Rodriguez.

Then something happened.

People who weren't paid to pay support to this man, supported him. His teammates, whether it looked genuine or not, sat next to their teammate and took the blows with him. The money barrier was finally broken, even if just symbolically and that was aided by the fact the Yankees added two other handsomely paid members to their team with all the money they lost in a losing effort the year before. Since then we've seen the following:

1. Rodriguez fired all of his supporting cast and distanced himself from his agent.
2. Rodriguez thanked his teammates in seemingly every interview he had all season.
3. Rodriguez stopped talking about himself and instead talked about his team.
4. Rodriguez finally had a contract which would last his entire life so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself in more ridiculous negotiations.
5. Rodriguez had a second year manager, second year ownership, and a veteran core of teammates along with enough new ones to make a good first impression.

These five factors were equal to a brain transplant for A-Rod.

Maybe it's stupidity, maybe it's being a Yankees' fan, or maybe I'm right, but I believed everything Alex said when he held up that championship trophy. I believed him when he says his career changed when his teammates stood beside him. It makes sense to me. When you're considered the top dog all your life and you're finally in a vulnerable and lowly position, and you're given forgiveness, it's easy to lose the ego. I think from then on Alex really concentrated on playing for them, and not just himself, and for playing to change his legacy, which had been destroyed by allegations and confessions anyway.

A-Rod knew being a world champion in New York, and being successful and a contributor towards doing that would be his own way of rewriting his life. It would be the only way. And in a strange sense of pressure, it was enough to set him free.

And that's exactly what happened.

I would never tell anyone's kids who their role model should be (including my own when I have them), nor do I think Alex Rodriguez is one. He may be a terrible person, a perceived jackass, a bad husband and a bad father, I don't know one way or another but there's certainly enough evidence to draw your own conclusions.

The only thing I can say for sure is if I ever need to point to someone who changed for the better from their own adversity and from when they hit rock bottom only to rise to the top, there is a clear-cut story to tell.

It's the story of how Alex Rodriguez finally got his World Series ring.

If this was his last night in pinstripes, Hideki Matsui had one of the most memorable careers we will almost definitely overlook.

His last moments could have come during the same game as Andy Pettitte and Johnny Damon. One is a decorated hero of postseason history and a staple of the old guard of Yankees' homegrowns. The other is perhaps the biggest figure in Yankees-Red Sox rivalry history and loud and accessible.

So it was completely fitting Matsui would share perhaps his last night with them; the night he won an MVP award for his performance in the World Series.

I remember the first time I saw Hideki play on TV where I really zeroed in on him. It was against the Twins on the home opener in his first season in Pinstripes. Matsui, as if he was born for theatrics, hit a Grand Slam that day. Why don't more people remember? Because it was the home opener.

The first time I heard of Matsui as a Yankee? When I found out in Broadcast Journalism class in high school he had homered in the games the Yankees played in Japan. He did it for his biggest fans. The hoopla of the Yankees making the first trip to play real games in Japan overshadowed it.

I remember the first time I saw Hideki in person. It was an interleague game on my birthday against the Mets. Matsui hit a Grand Slam that day and my sister automatically dubbed him her favorite player.

So why don't more people remember that day? Roger Clemens started.

Then there was Matsui delivering a big hit in Game Seven of the 2003 ALCS. But we remember the Posada bloop which scored him and the Boone home run which won it.

Matsui has never been the main man on this team even during his brief stint hitting clean up. He has just simply been the most consistent Yankee and beloved on the back-burners for years.

Hideki Matsui did everything you ever wanted out of a hitter. He manufactured runs, he was fundamental, he was powerful, he was clutch. It's only fitting that the game the Yankees bring the World Series back to the Bronx, Matsui had perhaps one of his best games ever, delivering a World Series tying six RBI and catapulting himself to an unexpected World Series MVP honor.

And when you think about it, he was quiet earning that too, but it was rightfully deserved. Hideki won Game Two with a clutch long ball. Then he hit another one off the bench in Game Three. Then he single-handedly provided the offense to win Game Six.

He has always been classy, always clutch and always there when we as fans needed him most.

If winning the World Series was his last game in Pinstripes, it was a fitting ending for such a winner. I don't know if Matsui fits into the team's plans for 2010 and I would understand if he didn't, but now I can finally take a moment to honor Hideki Matsui, the player. He made quite a nice little career for himself in the Bronx, but he managed to do it without the bright lights.

Here's to you Hideki, and I hope your entire country is as proud of you today as we Yankees fans are.

When your favorite sports team wins a championship I think it's important to document every single moment of that championship. As a writer, I'm trying to document all of my emotions at the time.
One moment which really sticks out came with one out in the top of the ninth.

I received a phone call from my Dad.

Baseball is a sport with a bond generally formed from the Father to the child. In this case, my Dad and I share a special bond over the Yankees. It means that if we disagree on anything or everything, we will always still cherish the happy memories with New York. That's why it was so very important to receive that phone call.

I spoke to Vincent Mercandetti Sr. through the second out and the 127 pitch at bat to Shane Victorino (ironically my favorite non-Yankee). It was even funnier because since he lives in Florida, his TV was about 3-4 seconds delayed from mine so I knew what was happening first.

I was sitting in a family room with a bunch of friends who were Yankees' family. I had Steve and Bri (two of the people I was at the ALCS clincher with), Andy and Kim (two more Yankees fans) and my girlfriend, Rhiannon, who is now a Red Sox AND Yankees fan (she was wearing my Yankees' sweatshirt!). This is somehow acceptable to her despite her family's Red Sox roots and being from Maine because the Red Sox were already eliminated and the Yankees winning keeps me in a good mood. I guess when you care about someone and you don't breathe a passion, you're allowed to bend the rivalry rules to see someone else happy. Would I ever in a million years do that for her? There's no chance, but I'll consider that my seven month anniversary present.

Either way the room was full of Yankees' fans for the night and my Dad there in spirit and through Blackberry connection. When the final out was made we didn't say anything because we were all shouting and hugging each other where I was sitting. My Dad told me he'd let me have my moment and that we'd talk later, but the important thing is we were together when the deed was done. It was special for me to be able to share that moment with my real family and my Yankees' family at the same time.

So with that I open the floor. Where were you last night? How did your clinching story go? I'm actually just as curious about Red Sox fans as I am Yankees fans so the comment section is open to anyone.

I can tell you in 2007 I was in my common room with almost all Red Sox fans and in 2004 I was alone in my family room with just my Dad.

So how about you? What made the night of November 4th special for you?

It's kind of funny when you mention a ticker tape parade to a non-New Yorker. Most of them have never heard of one. When you try to explain it's like any other parade but businesses dump garbage on top of the floats, it's even more confusing. But alas, that is a lot of the beauty in a ticker tape parade.

It's a parade where it's like confetti is constantly falling.

I had the great experience of going to three ticker tape parades in the 90's and can tell you they are awesome if you get the chance to go to one. I skipped out in 2000 because I was bored of them and thought I had seen enough.

Let me tell you right now, if you have the chance to see a Yankees' victory parade, don't ever feel the way I just described. Those things will never get old and it's unlikely you will have a run like the Yankees did in the late 90's.

I was young and stupid and paid the price for nine years.

Now there is another ticker tape parade scheduled for a Yankees' world championship.

It is said to be Friday, 11AM in New York City.

If you have never been and even if you have, it would be in your best interest to attend one. I still vividly remember being packed like a sardine can into the subway but being around everyone donning Yankees' colors and having the whole subway yell "let's go Yankees!" When I got off the train and went up the steps of Penn Station, the chant remained and it would continue the entire day.

It's a great bonding experience and it's the only time you'll see two million New Yorkers out of work and happy. The players love it too.

So try to go out and enjoy your last moments of the 2009 World Champion New York Yankees because we don't know when there will be another team like this one.

It took all of my high school and college years, then it took an additional baseball season, but the Yankees are once again World Champions. There is too much to say about 2009, it was everything 2008 wasn't and it started and ended like a movie script. As fans we had good vibes when Joe Girardi loosened up, when candy was allowed in the clubhouse again, when the teams skipped practice to go out on team outings and when they played well in exhibition games.

We knew this would be a "team" when A-Rod endured the world and the players stuck by him. We knew this team would be a winner when they faced a Joe Torre book and stood up against adversity before they even played a game. The season started troubling enough with two bad games in Baltimore, lead by a terrible Sabathia debut and a regretful Wang performance. Immediately there was doubt in our former and future aces. The season looked bad when the Yankees came home and were destroyed in the home opener, when Carl Pavano started to pitch well elsewhere, when home runs flew out of the new ballpark like someone made a major architectural mistake.

There were plenty of reasons to give up on this club.

When the team had a league worst ERA, when Wang, Marte and Nady went down, when Joba wasn't pitching well, when the bullpen was a weakness.

Finally, the team was once again swept by the Angels and it seemed like the same old story over and over again.

And then the Fairy Tale began.

New York became a championship ball club after the All Star Break and they never looked back. Sabathia took over his new role, AJ, Joba, Hughes, Aceves and Rivera all played roles either brand new or the same old thing and they did it to the best of their abilities. This team was all about adapting. AJ was great at home, Pettitte on the road. Aceves and Hughes in the bullpen, Joba (for a period after that ASB) and CC in the rotation. Nick Swisher went from a bench role and stepped up as a solid right field starter.

Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera both produced enough to fulfill the coveted center field. Matsui and Damon both stayed healthy and Posada got it done behind the plate. When Jorge didn't produce, Molina did. When Molina went down, Cervelli stepped up. When Marte was down and out, Coke was up and in and then Marte had his back when Coke struggled in the playoffs. How invaluable was retiring the last 11 batters in lefty on lefty match ups?. Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin allowed for the playoffs to take shape to begin with.

Their efforts allowed the Yankees to have enough endurance in their starters to go with a three man rotation in the playoffs. It's a fact which will go mostly unnoticed, but like everything else about this team, it is something worth noting. These guys stepped up for each other. Take a look at their walk-offs.

It ranged from A-Rod and Damon to Juan Miranda and Francisco Cervelli. When A-Rod was hurt, Cody Ransom tried to step in and then Ramiro Pena stepped in when that plan failed.

Jor Girardi was the master of adapting, changing his personality and his management style to make this all possible. He could have quit too, having missed the playoffs in his first season and faced his share of criticism right down to Game Six and the Game Six starter.

All season long, the team reloaded. The Free Agents stepped up, the core stayed healthy and consistent and the home growns made huge impacts. Effort and success came from everywhere and it culminated in the postseason.

Andy Pettitte pitched the AL East clincher, and then he pitched the ALDS, ALCS and World Series clinchers as well.

Credit Brian Cashman with finally providing the depth needed to last a full season. The aforementioned Gaudin and Mitre, the little moves like Freddy Guzman, and having the right pieces ready to step up. The Yankees used their one major advantage and set themselves up for the present and the future. They did it by planning to make their major moves in 2009 and it already paid dividends.

The World Series is back in the Bronx and it couldn't have worked out any better. They eliminated Carl Pavano and the Twins in the first round, then slayed the dragon in the ALCS by beating the Angels who had just beaten their own nightmare team in the Red Sox. Bobby Abreu went down with that club.

In the World Series, New York was honored with the right to face the defending champions. There can be an argument made the Phillies are the class of baseball, they are one of the best teams in the game and they have built a quality core and organization. They too, used their money and their trades effectively. The Yankees were blessed to be able to face the best, and in order to take over, they had to beat the best. That was exactly what happened in a well-fought World Series. The Phillies fought like defending champions, but eventually they couldn't get it done against a better baseball team. Now it will be the Yankees setting out to do an equally impressive job in 2010 as Philadelphia did in 2009.

This was a magical World Series which saw Alex Rodriguez come alive, it saw Johnny Damon, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui perhaps go out on top in the Bronx, and it came the same time guys like Jeter, Posada and Rivera regained their success. You couldn't ask for better opponents, a better storyline and a better ending.

The Yankees are one of the most storied teams to ever exist. Now they have added an extra special chapter and one that anyone can remember and experience.

For me, being old enough to appreciate what waiting is like (even if it still wasn't comparable to other fans) when I had to wait my social development years for this to happen, makes this my favorite championship. I saw the other four victories, and I appreciated them, but this is the first of my adult life.

The Yankees are the past, present and have a bright outlook for the future.

Today they are on top of the world.

Chapter 27 was written with the most meaning of them all.

If you were looking for the theatrics and gut check emotions which go with two evenly matched teams meeting in the ultimate test of talent, tonight exemplified those sentiments in a nine inning game. With the Yankees up 2-1 in the series, it was ace, CC Sabathia against the clear-cut Phillies' 4th starter, Joe Blanton. It was Girardi's gutsy decision against Manuels, a rematch in Philly, the driver's seat on the line with Cliff Lee, the "other" ace set to go in Game Five in a 2-2 series tie if the Phillies won, or anybody set to go for the Yankees with a 3-1 stranglehold if New York won.

By that description alone, tonight was going to be a fun one for anybody who enjoys watching the sport. Factor in the fact whenever the Yankees play there is strong emotion of love and hate and that their opposition is located within 150 miles and has their own emotionally charged fanbase, and you have yourself a real heavyweight fight. None of this includes the other fact the two cities had its football teams match up across the street earlier that day or that the team at home is the defending world champions.

The game itself didn't disappoint either.

The Yankees jumped on Joe Blanton, who has a history of bad starts against the Bombers, with two runs in the first, set up by a Jeter single and Damon double to begin the game. Finally, perhaps as an encore from last night, the Yankees manufactured runs with back to back productive outs to drive in both runners from scoring position.

Up 2-0 it was the Phillies' turn not to roll over and die on a field they were previously confident and labeled nearly unbeatable on, and they came back to tie the game against a non-dominant, CC Sabathia, on short rest.

You know the Yankees are playing their best baseball when they can take a shot to the chops and strike right back and that's what happened multiple times tonight. Instead of jarring back and forth tied at 2-2, New York immediately answered, producing another two run rally to eventually take a 4-2 lead into the sixth where Sabathia would get through the inning unscathed.

With neither bullpen invoking much trust, Girardi elected to stick with Sabathia, who pitched through two thirds of the seventh before Chase Utley took him deep for the third time in the series to cut the lead to 4-3. The Phillies to that point had hit six homers in the series, and none of them came with a runner on base.

Even so, as a fan you wait for the other shoe to drop naturally. I had all the faith in the world the Yankees would win tonight in a pitching mismatch but once the game is taking place and it's 4-3 and you're on the road in a must win for the defending champion home team, you're more praying to not lose than to win.

So clearly when Joba Chamberlain was cruising right along, looking like the Joba of old and the Phils' had a patented game tying home run (another solo shot) with two strikes and two outs in the eighth inning at home, you figured this was the moment the series reached the next level. This was when the Phillies did what they do to everyone lately; avoid the finishing move and reverse with one of their own. I can fully admit for a few minutes I expected Ruiz to go back to back, but unlike in year's past, once he struck out, I didn't think the game was over and the series would be tied. In 2008? Definitely. In 2007? 2006? 2005? It was probable.

In 2009 these are the games which have made the Yankees the best in the game. These situations moved them from a third place team to the best in the league in one year. With this team, the fans never feel it's over regardless of how much "momentum" may be favoring someone else. This Yankees team has had that "special" feeling all year because of it. You simply wait for the happy ending instead of over-thinking it.

When Brad Lidge entered from his exile having not pitched for 10 days and coming in in a non-save situation to face the top of the Yankees' lineup, it was almost like a fairy tale. Lidge, if you remember, was the only other closer besides Rivera in this postseason not to make a fatal mistake. The Phillies' bullpen was supposed to be their biggest weakness, but to that point both middle relief's had been shaky and it was the Yankees' who had given up the biggest hit the inning before.

If you truly look deep within yourself, you could see the fatal flaws in your favorite team year in and year out. Any Red Sox fan could tell you they didn't feel in 2009 what they felt in 2007 or 2004, or probably even 2008. Any Yankees' fan could tell you the 2005-2008 teams just didn't have that "it" factor. They were good enough to win, they had the moments where you could convince yourself, but in your heart of hearts you knew something was off. For the Yankees, it's been timely hitting and starting pitching in the playoffs. After producing it most of the year, those two traits have carried over into the postseason and so you could tell this 2009 team isn't like any team we've rooted for since the beginning of the decade. Winning will never be guaranteed, but expecting not to lose can be felt. It's felt with this ball club.

So when Lidge retired the first two batters only to have Johnny Damon draw a full count, you knew one mistake there could lead to a series of events. Sure enough Damon singled after a terrific at bat which included a dropped third strike to keep the at-bat going. Then, with Lidge just starting to probably believe in himself again, Damon put himself in scoring position by stealing second.

With the shift on, Damon also stole third on the same play with nobody covering the bag. I think Damon running to third and winning the foot race was the biggest key to the inning. Two things happened once Damon was 90 feet away:

1. It more than likely got into Lidge's head. He had barely made a mistake yet all of a sudden any bad luck bounce could cost him the game. Never underestimate the psyche of a closer. There's a reason so many of them can't pitch unless it's a save situation. Especially never underestimate the psyche of a psychotic closer who has been in the slums of disaster and on top of the world before. That's Brad Lidge.

2. It took away Lidge's confidence in his slider. Let's face it, Lidge has a nasty slider. The problem is sliders are usually meant to get buried, especially against lefties, which Teixeira was for that at-bat. No closer wants to give up the go-ahead run on a wild pitch so I wouldn't bet the house against Lidge being much more reluctant to throw his best pitch after letting a runner reach third.

The unraveling advanced a little more when Teixeira was hit by a pitch setting the stage for perhaps the most psychotic World Series showdown of all time. The embattled closer who reached the top of his profession with a perfect season last year against the embattled slugger who is trying to gather every bit hit possible to erase his own past demons this year.

Oh and by the way, A-Rod had already blown a save for Lidge earlier this year in the Bronx. Now he was trying to beat him on his own field in the World Series.

Sure enough, like clock work, Alex Rodriguez delivered another enormous hit, a double to left to score Damon and set the table for Posada. With that inning, Damon and A-Rod have cemented themselves as the top two WS MVP candidates, capped off by another Posada breathing room double to extend the lead to 7-4.

Here's my random side tangent.

At the end of 2004 if you told a Red Sox fan that within five years the Yankees would be on the verge of a World Series and Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon would be the top two candidates for MVP, would their head explode? I set the over-under of simultaneous heart attacks at three.

Once Posada delivered that second punch the Phillies were finished and Rivera used just eight pitches to dispose of them in the ninth.

All of a sudden the Yankees are up 3-1 and have taken the series in Philly regardless of what happens tomorrow. No more home field advantage. Now just three shots for New York to win one game and two of those shots coming in the Bronx. Girardi has supposedly chosen AJ Burnett to pitch on short rest in Game Five. I appreciate the desire to go for the jugular, but there's a difference between killer instinct and irresponsible stupidity. This borders on the latter.

You have a desperate team and home crowd rallying behind the only pitcher they believe in for this series on full rest and you're sending out a guy who hasn't pitched on short rest all season to counter him on the road when he's a much better pitcher at home? Why? So Pedro can face either Chad Gaudin in a much more important Game Six or Andy Pettitte also on short rest for no reason just to have Sabathia on short rest again in Game Seven when he's been good but not dominant?

Why not have Gaudin go tomorrow in what is the closest thing to a throw-away game anyway in case Lee has his Game One stuff again? You were going to go with Gaudin if the Yankees lead 3-0 so why not up 3-1 coming off three straight wins? Then have AJ and Andy ready for games six and seven against Pedro and Hamels, two pitching advantages on paper, then have Sabathia as a third option on short rest in Game Seven? Isn't that the safer and smarter thing to do? Isn't that better than using your best pitchers in uncomfortable situations against an offense relatively held in check but capable of exploding at any moment?

Hopefully Girardi rethinks this move. Still, the fact Girardi's final decision comes down to which pitcher he is comfortable with winning the final game of the World Series feels pretty good right about now.

It's what Jeff was doing this past week and what I look forward to when this series ends and after all the potential misery or celebration which will immediately follow it. One thing is for sure, watching your team this late into the season is emotionally and physically (sometimes even financially) very draining. For now though I will take a break with thoughts not focused on pitching match-ups, personnel or home field advantages:

• I didn't get to see how the Game Six crowd translated on TV, but that Game Two crowd was borderline embarrassing. Seriously, it was louder before the game started than in the 7th-9th innings when it rightfully should have been in a state of hysteria. It was almost a Fenway crowd  last night, extremely boring until something favoring its own team happens. That's no way to create energy. Hopefully if and when this series returns to the Bronx, real fans like in Game Six of the ALCS will show up.
• It's really amazing to me how my own mind is altered when there is a Yankees' World Series. At this point the last few years I would have been fully invested into the Giants and continuously ignoring the Knicks, along with checking in from time to time with the Rangers. Now I'm sort of into the Giants (but they are a clear second passion), still ignoring the Knicks, but also ignoring the Rangers. Anytime you're unsure of your favorite team, pay attention to who you care about most in mid to late October.
• Maybe it's because my baseball season has ended early ever since 2004 until now, but it's really astonishing how long a baseball season is. You really wish moments in Spring Training or games in April and May could mean more, but truthfully, they don't. Sure you need to win a lot of those games and if you have a close standings, the RESULTS matter, but how the team is performing outside of the final score really isn't all that essential because teams change, luck changes, and health changes so often during a marathon of a season. It really makes me question how fans like myself can make it through an entire season and still be functional human beings.
• Credit Jeff with one thing: He took a break and still returned his same consistent self. He's still stuck in yesteryear with comments about 2003 and 2001, and still comes off as a bitter and jealous Red Sox fan in 2009. You'd think his team had been out of contention for two weeks. I'm sorry Theo Epstein had plenty of money to spend and decided Rocco Baldelli, who is incapable of playing everyday, John Smoltz off of a surgery and Brad Penny off of a different surgery, were the best moves to make in the offseason, but whining about the Yankees' payroll won't change any of it.

I'm sorry Papelbon couldn't put his money where his mouth is, or that the bullpen returned to earth in the second half, or that Manny Delcarmen and Jed Lowrie are overrated,or Ortiz went through his steroid withdrawal for most of the season, or that none of the Red Sox have golfed below an 80 on whatever golf course I'm sure they're competing on this week, but again, none of that has to do with the Yankees' payroll. two years ago I was talking about what beer Jacoby Ellsbury might drink in a victory parade, this year Jeff is foaming at the mouth because the Yankees signed his boy at first base and A-Rod was traded for a homegrown Soriano five years ago.

It's funny how none of this was an issue in April and May; in fact at least one Sox fan felt the Yankees wouldn't even make the playoffs. Now, however, now the A-Rod Tex middle of the order, one where a player was bought and a player was signed (Ortiz and Manny? Not ringing a bell?) causes this to be such a huge issue. I thought the Sox are always superior through superior scouting, drafting and the best GM in the history of the universe? No? Not even the "Curse of Teixeira" gave you the division this season? Just let go of the past and maybe your future will look brighter, Jeff! Typical Sox fans, always trying to hang onto the past when their team won all those championships, but they have nothing to say about the present.

• Can somebody pull off a hoax about George Lopez being in a bubble? Can they furthermore screw up so he actually does disappear in a bubble? Can that same person banish Wanda Sikes somewhere terrible? Thank you.
• This is what I don't get about baseball critics. Forget the whole "it's boring" reasoning some people have, fine, if you don't appreciate the sport that's one thing. But how about all the "fans" of sports who won't watch baseball or "stopped" watching baseball because of the steroid issue? The players aren't "pure", the records are "tainted" and the sport is "fake"?

What about the NFL List we never gained access to as a public? Some sources, including Colin Cowherd's radio show this past summer have said the list can be in the hundreds.

Have you read an excerpt from Tim Donaghy's new book? It's pretty interesting stuff and hat tip to Deadspin for supplying some passages. Donaghy reminds me of Jose Canseco, except with less muscle and more punishment. Either way, the big dogs tried to crucify Canseco and he turned out to mostly speak the truth. I wouldn't pass off Donaghy as nothing but a low-life either. A lot of the stuff said in those passages seems completely plausible to me. I'd rather have players cheating than the league itself.

That leaves us with hockey, which has remained mostly unharmed despite putting out a mostly inferior product to the point where all the main sports stations would no longer carry the sport to begin with. My point is I'm sick of baseball getting all the bad press when there are equal or worse scandals about other teams mostly being ignored.

Personally, like with all fun things in life, I blame Bud Selig

To answer the question of a longtime Sox and Pinstripes reader who sent me an e-mail a couple days ago, "No, I have not died." As many of you know, I write for a living. I write press releases and marketing materials for companies; travel, lifestyle, sports and human interest features for magazines; and columns about the Red Sox and the Red Sox minor league system for Sox and Pinstripes and other outlets. After Boston's abrupt exit from the post-season, I needed to take a breather to decompress. I knew the site was in good hands with Vince's entertaining yet highly biased and jaded perspective on the Yankees, and the Yankees deserve their time in the Sox and Pinstripes spotlight since this is their first trip to the World Series since 2003. That said, I am revitalized, and I am back to post daily about the Red Sox and baseball as the Hot Stove League is underway for every ballclub except for the Yankees and Phillies.

Among the thoughts and observations upon my return from the brief hiatus:

• I vehemently disagree with Tony Massarotti's recent column on Boston.com when he wrote that it would be best for Red Sox Nation if the Yankees won the World Series because it would create a sense of urgency again. He believes that Red Sox fans have become complacent after seeing their team win the World Series in 2004 and 2007. For most longtime Red Sox fans, this is not the case. Sure, we no longer have to deal with the heartbreak of no World Series titles in 86 years, but it still hurts to lose. I felt a pit in my stomach for a week after the Angels rallied to win Game Three and take the ALDS. Yet I am confident that this team will be a strong World Series contender in 2010 because the core players return and Theo Epstein has earned our trust for fielding a winner and doing what is necessary in the off-season. He will be creatively active. Massarotti thinks we should panic. I say there is no reason for concern. Yes, the Yankees were better than the Red Sox this season. Are they significantly better for the long term? Not at all. of course, Massarotti makes a living from trying to incite panic in the Boston sports community, so his drivel is not a surprise.
• Congratulations to Brad Mills for getting the Houston managerial job. It will be interesting to see who is promoted to bench coach. Will it be John Farrell? How about third base coach DeMarlo Hale or first base coach Tim Bogar. All three are frequently mentioned as managerial candidates every time a vacancy opens elsewhere. I would like to see Farrell promoted to bench coach and perhaps Jason Varitek named pitching coach. Dare to dream, which is what just about every baseball writer does during Hot Stove League talk.
• Is there anyone in the United States rooting for the Yankees aside from their own fans? Likely very few. Why should anyone root for a team that has so many financial advantages and has such a significantly higher payroll than every other ballclub? The Yankees are in an interesting situation. If they win the World Series, it's a ho-hum attitude about them outside of Yankeeeland because they are supposed to win it all when they buy a rotation and the 1-2 punch of Teixeira and A-Rod. If they lose, most of America celebrates because it is always amusing when the Yankees fall on their faces in the post-season, as they have since 2001.
• Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that the Red Sox are willing to offer Jason Bay four years and $60 million. Sounds fair to me. Hopefully this is true and Bay signs on the dotted line.
• Cuban free agent phenom Aroldis Chapman worked out for the Sox last week. He is, of course, being heavily courted by several teams, including the Yankees. If Boston could sign the 21-year-old left-hander, they might be more apt to include Casey Kelly in a trade package for San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Chapman is friends with Jose Iglesias, the 19-year-old defensive whiz at shortstop who could be on the fast track to the majors when he begins his Red Sox minor league career next season. No, Jose is not the son of musician Julio Iglesias, as far as I know.
• Speaking of the Padres, by now you know that Boston assistant general manager Jed Hoyer was named GM of San Diego. This is favorable news for future deals between the Sox and Padres because Hoyer knows the talent and depth of the Red Sox farm system. I think it's an advantage for Boston that Hoyer is with the Padres because the Pads are a team that needs to rebuild their farm system and Boston has the prospects to help accomplish that objective via a deal for Gonzalez.
• Hot Stove League prediction - the Red Sox will sign Rich Harden. He would fit nicely at the back of the rotation because the Sox would not need him to throw 180 innings. Harden is dominant when healthy but has trouble staying off the disabled list.
• As I have mentioned before, my approach with Sox and Pinstripes is to write from the perspective of a journalist and a fan, so sometimes my columns are analytical and serious and other times they are amusing. I love talking smack with friends about sports. Speaking of smack, how about this? The Celtics appear poised to win another championship, and they will as long as Kevin Garnett stays healthy. Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace on the same team? Life is not fair for the rest of the NBA. As for the NFL, many of you know I am a lifelong Steelers fan, much to the chagrin of my Boston sports fan friends. Being from southwest Ohio, my Ohio sports fan friends chastise me about not rooting for the Bengals. To those Bengals fans I say, "Enjoy the bye week tomorrow and the potential victory next week at home against the Ravens because in two weeks, your team is in for a severe beatdown by the Steelers at Heniz Field."

Last night the Phillies outplayed the Yankees in almost every facet of the game. Their bullpen was better because it didn't pitch and the Yankees' 'pen gave up three runs. The defense was better because Cliff Lee was pitching and made some nifty plays...That's also the same reason the starting pitching was better. The offense was better because rather than fall into a deep sleep against a dominant lefty, the Phillies were able to get on the board and grab a lead on CC Sabathia while the Yankees fell into a slumber until the bottom of the ninth when they broke the shutout.

When you lose in such a dominating fashion, particularly at home, it's simply a game which needs to be brushed off.

The Yankees are not a team who will be dominated many times in a short sequence against one team. I predicted earlier they would lose Game One because it was the hunch I had. The Phillies have a tough lineup which needs to be adjusted to, and I just felt Lee would neutralize Sabathia. The Yankees are historically not a great Game One team. In 2003, they lost in a similar, boring, helpless fashion before winning the next two match ups. In 2001, New York was destroyed before being shutout the next night and winning the next three. In 2000, 1999 and 1998, the series only lasted five games or less, and I don't expect this to be that type of situation. In 1996, the Yankees were destroyed at home in Game One and then were again shutout in Game Two before winning the next four to ultimately take the series. I picked the Yankees in six because I can see this being a lot like the 1996 series rather than 2003, and in either case New York lost Game One at home. The Phillies don't have the same pitching as the Marlins or Braves of that year, but they have just as strong of a number one. They have an offense more comparable to those mid 90's Braves teams, one which as I mentioned, needs adjustment.

I don't know if AJ Burnett is the answer. As usual, he can go either way. I do know Andy Pettitte will bring his game in Game Three whether it's in Philadelphia or not. I also know Pedro pitching in Yankee Stadium is a game the Yankees have to take advantage of. Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton, though Hamels is capable of dominating, are both very hittable.

Tip your hat to the Phillies. Chase Utley showed he could hit premiere lefties by going deep twice against Sabathia, Philadelphia didn't let the game stay close later in the innings, and behind an absolutely dominating performance (the best all season against this lineup), the visiting team never let the home crowd into the game.

Philadelphia took game one, but it was hardly a shock. As I said before the series started, if this isn't a 2-2 tie after four games, then i'll truly be shocked.

No young pitchers were harmed during the following interview: I thought you might appreciate one final tidbit before we get the Fall Classic started.

Thanks to our friends at Playmaker Mobile we were brought to attention an interview with Reds' manager, Dusty Baker about Yankee Stadium and CC Sabathia. Any baseball fan is familiar with the terms, "mystique" and "aura" often attributed to playing playoff baseball games in Yankee Stadium, or, if you're a loud-mouthed, moron, you're not. Either way, Baker had some insightful comments to think about as we prepare for Game One of the 2009 World Series in the Bronx.

"I’ve lost in Yankee Stadium as a Dodger and won in Yankee Stadium as a Dodger. It can be done, but you don’t want to be in a position where you have to win there. They just believe they are always going to win, the players believe it, the fans believe it. They brain wash you. They put all those great moments in Yankees history on the scoreboard during batting practice. The highlights are great and the Yankees are just killing teams and you have to watch it for two hours. You can’t help but see it. It's just not conducive for visitors. They wanted to take that vibe and that history from the old stadium and bring it to the new Yankee Stadium and with the success they are having it appears to have worked. I remember when Aaron Boone hit that home run off Wakefield to get the Yankees to the World Series in 2003, Derek Jeter had told him not to worry that the ghost will come. So the Ghost of Babe Ruth may be a curse to some but he’s been good for the Yankees."

I can't really see how this would be different from any other home team playing in a World Series. I would imagine all teams play highlights on its scoreboard favoring the home team and are more confident at home than they would be away, but perhaps the extensive memories of the Yankees playing at home (no longer on the same field) do have its advantages. I would chalk up home field success to the home team playing better because more often than not, the Yankees have been the best team (evidenced by a 26-13 World Series record), but that's just me. This year the Yankees have had one of the great home field advantages all season, so whether you believe in "Mystique and Aura", or you don't, I wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees play better than the Phillies in Yankee Stadium, even if the Phillies were a great road team for most of the season before learning to tolerate their own fans.

Baker went on to talk about tonight's starter, CC Sabathia.

"CC is nasty, but they have faced him enough to know him a little bit. They faced Pettitte when he was in Houston and Burnett when he was in Florida and now with interleague play you get to see guys you might not have seen before. When you’ve never faced a pitcher before that’s a huge advantage to the pitcher. But Philly knows these guys a little. One big factor will be the advance scouts. How well these guys do scouting how to play guys and how to pitch guys is going to be huge. Advance scouting is never bigger and more important than it is now."

Baker brings up some good points here and other comments I'm just not so sure about. For instance, he says CC is nasty, but that the Phillies have seen him before. This is true, most notably Sabathia was lit up in Milwaukee during the postseason last year. So in terms of never seeing a pitcher and that pitcher than having the advantage, I agree, seeing as the Phillies' hitters saw him as recently as last season, there is no element of surprise here.

I guess the same holds true for Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, who were last seen more often or with better stuff, in the AL. Joe Blanton spent an extended period of time facing the Yankees fairly recently in the American League as well, and Cole Hamels pitched earlier this season in the Bronx, so Yankees' hitters will probably need a little less of that advanced scouting, though it's a good point to begin with by Baker, advanced scouting is always important, especially when it's factual.

I'm a little confused about the other comments, however. Can Philadelphia hitters really remember what Pettitte and Burnett were like in 2005? Hasn't Pettitte he changed as recently as spring training of 2009 and Burnett become a pitcher who mixes his pitcher better thanks to Roy Halladay in 2008? Isn't that why they're all of a sudden healthier and having more success this year? Pettitte moved his cutter and threw other pitches to make it sneakier? Burnett isn't trying to throw through a wall every time he pitches? Not to mention, when it comes to Pettitte on the Astros and Burnett on the Marlins, how many Phillies' hitters were even on the team back then?

So without further pause, here are the Yankees' top three pitcher's career numbers against the Phillies.

The Phillies have a combined 139 at bats career against Pettitte, with 46 of them coming from: Miguel Cairo (36 and not on the WS roster), Chan Ho Park (4 and a pitcher), Ben Francisco (5 and a non-factor) and Paul Bako (1 and a non-factor). That leaves 93 at bats for the entire Phillies' starting lineup (nine of those from Matt Stairs who may actually play a role theoretically, despite being 0/9 lifetime) against Pettitte and only Ibanez, Rollins and Werth have seen him more than nine times. The team is a combined 20/93 (.215) in case you were interested.

As far as Burnett, there's a little more history there, albeit mostly from at least four years ago.

Here's the Phillies numbers against him:

Rollins: 11/43
Utley: 6/21
Ibanez: 4/15
Feliz: 2/15
Howard: 2/12
Werth: 1/7
Victorino: 1/6
Ruiz: 3/3
Stairs: 3/11

That's good for 33/133, or .248 and eight homers (two by Stairs who will likely DH).

Then we have CC, who is the one assumed to have been seen the most by these hitters. If you assumed that, you would be incorrect, though most of these at bats happened within the last year and this includes his postseason start:

Ibanez: (lefty) 11/40
Rollins: 5/13
Howard: (lefty) 3/9
Victorino: 5/9
Feliz: 1/8
Werth: 2/8
Ruiz: 2/5
Stairs: (lefty) 0/1
Utley: (lefty) 0/5

That's 23/84, or .274 in the regular season, but 29/98, or .296 including that one start. Ibanez has two regular season homers (nobody else does), but Victorino hit that Grand Slam in the playoff game. Once again, only Ibanez and Rollins have more than nine at bats against Sabathia, and Ibanez had all of them when CC was in the AL.

Philadelphia hasn't truly been dominated by any of them, but I'd argue the same size is still too small in most cases. Only Ibanez has really had any sort of experience against CC where you can start to form an opinion on how he will be treated in career terms and only Rollins has really seen enough of Burnett.

I guess the conclusion I form is not to have any preconceived notions about any of these starters, there hasn't been enough history to expect dominance or struggle against the opponent.

The last time the Yankees won the World Series I had not yet entered high school. The last time they reached the World Series I had not even started applying to colleges yet. Most fans will crucify me for saying this, but in terms of what my life was like then and what it is now, six years has been a long time to wait. There's something to be said about your sports teams winning in high school or college. It's the peak of bragging rights among friends and it will be the time where you probably have the best sports debates of your life. It is my sincere regret the Yankees' Dynasty happened when I was too young to engage in meaningful conversation about the passion we share for our sports.

Now I am five months removed from school and the Yankees are back in the World Series playing a team they haven't faced there since 1950. For the first time since 1996 New York will have more to prove as they will need to take down the defending champions. The Phillies are alarmingly similar to the Yankees.

They have ravenous fans who I feel get a worse reputation than they deserve. While Yankees' fans are often labeled arrogant, obnoxious and self-entitled, Phillies' fans are supposed to be bitter, angry and filled with hate. One team's fans apparently acts like they are winners even when they are losers, and the other acts like losers even when they're winners.

One thing is certain for this match up; I don't think any fan from either fan base isn't confident about their chances.

And rightfully so, anytime you have such an even opponent, you're bound to think they are beatable because truth be told, 50% is often more of a chance than you're going to get.

The Phillies have an AL lineup. They have a first baseman, second baseman, catcher and corner out fielders who can mash, a shortstop and center fielder who can hit for average and run, and a third baseman who can match the rest of the lineup in clutch hitting. They are far and away the biggest threat at the plate in the NL, and match up evenly with the Yankees, who I view as the best offense in the game.

Cliff Lee has replaced Cole Hamels as the team ace who appears unhittable in the postseason, but the support cast, including Hamels can be suspect. The Phillies feature two lefty starters, both capable of being dominant, and one of which has struggled but has a history of success in the playoffs. They have a hittable guy, an ace, a crafty lefty and a veteran righty. Lee has a five career ERA against the Yankees, though a lot of those starts seem to have come before he emerged as an elite pitcher in the Major Leagues. Don't get it twisted, when he was on the Indians in 2008 he was dominant, and he was reclaiming that description right before he was traded to the Phillies this past summer. I wouldn't count on knocking him around.

On the other hand we have CC Sabathia. He has erased past numbers with a dominant postseason as well. He was crushed last year by the Phillies when he was with the Brewers, but as the Twins and Angels learned the hard way, CC's past is not indicative of his present. The man is finally well-rested for the playoffs and he will be on more than full rest for Game One. If you're counting on knocking CC around, I wouldn't.

The Phillies have Hamels, Pedro and Blanton. As a Yankees' fan I relish the concept of facing Pedro and Blanton, but I still fear Hamels even with his recent struggles. I don't care if Pedro is in his prime, the Yankees still could hit him better than other teams. Now Pedro is clearly in a decline and took advantage of pitching against a struggling lineup in a pitcher's park in LA. Facing the Yankees in Game Two as has been rumored, in Yankee Stadium and given his history, has disaster written all over it.

Joe Blanton is a guy without great stuff, but likely he will oppose Chad Gaudin who faces the same sentence. I would like to see CC pitch three times, but this series will be tricky without extra off days. Since CC pitches Game One, if he pitched Game Four it would be on three day's rest, which means AJ Burnett, the likely opposition to Pedro, would have to go on short rest on the road in Game Five, likely against Cliff Lee. That's a terrible idea.

I would throw CC on short rest in Game Four only if the Yankees were down 3-0, which is highly unlikely. Otherwise, even if they lose, you would have your ace for Game Five and then Burnett and Pettitte at the stadium in six and seven which would still give you a chance to win since it will likely be the inconsistent Hamels and Pedro countering them. Let Game Four be a toss up between Blanton and Gaudin. No matter how you slice it, these starting staffs have high upside ( I would give that department a slight edge to the Yankees since Burnett is more likely to outpitch Pedro) and some risks. The Yankees have outperformed the Phillies' starters in this postseason, but the competition has been Apples and Oranges.

Meanwhile, New York's bullpen has become a certified question mark. Phil Hughes I'll give a pass to, he seems to generally struggle with the Angels. I give the same pass to Ryan Madson, who I still legitimately fear as a setup man. I think he has the best pure stuff in the Phillies' pen. Though the Phillies shut down the Dodger's bullpen, I don't think they'd have the same luck against a more veteran, more patient and more dangerous Yankees' team, particularly one with a knack for late inning heroics. That major Phillies flaw that was their bullpen down the stretch, may easily rear its ugly head this time around and that has to worry Philly fans.

The problem is, if the Yankees' bullpen, particularly guys like Joba and Hughes, don't turn it around for this series, those flaws may cancel out. The Phillies have just as much knack for a playoff come back and just as much firepower in the offense.

My suggestion? Use Dave Robertson more in this series and try Marte more than Coke. The Yankees' lefties are going to have ample opportunities in close and late situations and they will have a tall task against the likes of: Utley, Howard and Ibanez, the pure lefties with pop in that lineup. I trust Marte to keep it in the park more than I do Coke.

Likely to counter Matt Stairs and because Freddy Guzman was virtually useless in the ALCS, Eric Hinske will come back into play off the bench. This was a major flaw in the roster for this past series, and I completely agree with the move should it happen this time around. I give a slight edge to the Yankees' bench, for whatever that's worth, but Matt Stairs is a legitimate DH, so neither team will be at a disadvantage in either ballpark.

The offense as I said, are about even. Rollins and Jeter are both prolific shortstops leading off, Howard and A-Rod have been unconscious, particularly in big spots, and the supporting casts are about even as well. Keep Victorino and Rollins off the bases and keep Ibanez and Howard in the ballpark; that's the major game plan. In two hitter's parks, this won't be an easy task for either team.

Given the way they have performed in this postseason, right now I trust the Phillies' offense more, especially since I know a guy like Carlos Ruiz is gonna light up New York pitching. There's always one annoying guy like that. However, the Yankees have more upside in finding three reliable starters and they have more of a chance of having a dominant bullpen, so they have the pitching edge. Defensively I don't think either team is going to shoot themselves in the foot and both teams have an amazing home field advantage. The Phillies are 4-1 at home this postseason, and the Yankees are 5-0. Last year the Phillies were undefeated at home in the postseason.

New York can make things a lot easier if they win the first two at home behind CC and AJ. Then you're looking at Pettitte on the road where he is the biggest veteran and has pitched well on the road all year, and he'd be likely facing Cole Hamels, who as I said, though I fear him, he has struggled this year. If they didn't win that game and they were outslugged in Game Four, you'd have to imagine they could still win Game Five and come back with a lead regardless, again, assuming they win the first two games.

I think no matter how you slice it, this series will be 2-2 and guaranteed to go back to the Bronx. I could see the Phillies or Yankees winning any of the first four games and I doubt either team leads 2-0 before Game Three.

If I'm right about that, it's a best of three with the potential for two games being in New York. You're talking about two elite home field advantages and two teams very capable of winning on the road as well. That's why they're in the World Series. Throw away the three game series in May, it was too long ago and the Yankees had not yet developed a bullpen. The Phillies could have very well swept, but they also could have lost two of three and I'm sure we'll find ourselves saying similar things when these games take place. In other words, I'm not holding my breath for a blowout.

When all is said and done, I think two factors overwhelmingly favor the Yankees. When you have two teams who match up this well and are this similar, home field advantage can be huge. Look at 2001 and how that played out. Each team won all its home games. There are plenty of examples to the contrary, but you can't call it a weakness that the Yankees have an extra game in front of their own fans. The other factor is the closer. Mariano Rivera hasn't blown a save in this postseason and has a 0.77 ERA in his career. He has a superior amount of experience and had a terrific regular season.

On the other side you have Brad Lidge, who is having a solid postseason (he hasn't nearly been in the same situations as Mo in these playoffs) and is the only other closer who didn't blow a save yet. Last year he has a perfect regular season and a perfect playoffs. This year he blew double digit saves and in the past he's had a questionable playoff track record. Who do you want in your corner? Oh and by the way, Lidge has already given up a game-tying long ball to A-Rod this year. At some point a career and repetitive tendencies will catch up with a player and I believe the closer match up can be very big, especially between two teams bound to be in a lot of tight games and capable of extremely clutch hitting. Mo is likely to handle those situations better, that's just how it is.

One other thing to note; the Phillies won the World Series last year. To that end, they have a certain pedigree this group of Yankees hasn't earned yet. However, the Yankees have a solid balance of guys who are hungry for a ring and guys who have been there before, so I don't see any real mental advantage. It's going to be interesting if and when this thing goes deep into the series because though the Phillies won it all last year and are in it again this year, they're yet to play a division series longer than four games or a championship or World Series longer than five. Who will have the advantage in a long and tight series? I think it's impossible to tell.

Given that I think the Yankees having home field advantage is, indeed, an advantage and I've convinced myself the series will be tied 2-2, I have to believe this one is coming home to New York. Have the Yankees ever lost three World Series match ups in a row? I was trying to figure that out recently.

Either way, Yankees in six, even when the Phillies probably win Game One.

I've been reading some of the comments lately and I think there needs to be some clarification. I've never really had to tell anybody this, and I'm surprised I haven't had to own up to it in its own entry to this point on this blog.

But given the recent events and nature of the comments, I feel it is my duty as a writer to make one important confession. I think I know why some people consider my writing sometimes biased and not at all times objective and fair....

....

I am...A Yankees' fan.

Now don't get all on me at once, let me explain. I think the reason I usually write in favor of the Yankees or have confidence in the Yankees, is because I support the Yankees. In fact, the very basis of this blog is that Jeff supports the Red Sox and I support the Yankees. We write about them so fans of each fan base have something to talk about whether it be with each other or the other fan base.

Let me clarify a few things:

This is not an ESPN blog. It is not Fox Sports, it is not any other national news blog. It is a Yankees and Red Sox blog dedicated to Yankees and Red Sox fans and their teams. We created this site because other sites were full of "stupid" in the comments and it didn't have a selected, intelligent fan base providing a positive representation of the fan population..

Jeff can be extremely biased sometimes, such as when he suggests the Sox can land a franchise player of another team in exchange for a guy coming off injury and hitting .240 in the minors, a guy who has been terrible in his only MLB experience and a couple of players who aren't top notch. I disagree with what he wrote, but it was obviously his right to write it and he obviously had a reason for doing so.

I can be biased sometimes as well. Like when I wrote how the Red Sox didn't know how to be MLB's marquee franchise (they aren't anymore anyway) with the whole Japan saga. Sometimes, I think the Yankees will win a game, a match up or a even a series because I've seen the script so many times before.

My team has won four championships, entered seven World Series and played in eight ALCS's and now played in 14 postseasons in my lifetime since I've been a fan. I'm only 22 and I've only been a fan for 16 years. I know, a lot of you are going to get pissed off at those numbers and think I'm a jackass but think about your own team. When the Sox won in 2004 were you more confident in 2005? How about after they won a second time in 2007? Is your viewpoint of your team more optimistic now than in 2002? Winning cures a lot of things, including fan's previously negative perspective. Yankees' fans can be morons and they could be ignorant and obnoxious, but there's a difference between an uninformed Yankees' fan talking smack and a young journalist Yankees' fan backing up his opinion with fact, even if that fact just happens to usually have a high New York upside. And guess what? The same goes for any fan of any team.

When you win, you're more confident. When you win 103 games in a season, your team is capable of beating most teams. I've been wrong in the past. I've made predictions (Yankees in four in 2007 ALDS and making the playoffs last year) which did not come true. Jeff has too (Sox winning it all in 2008 and 2009, Sox winning the ALCS in 2008 and the ALDS in 2009. Yankees losing the ALCS in 2009 etc.) Is it a coincidence that I've been a lot more right this year and Jeff has been a lot more wrong? No because the teams we both have confidence in and root for have played to different levels in 2009 than they did in 2008 and 2007, the first two years of the blog's existence.

Winning can make you seem smarter too.

Now does it make me biased that the Yankees have a lot of favorable stats? I don't think so.

I got into blogging by going on Red Sox sites and supplying stats some commentators weren't using. By all means, my nature is one of an engaging nature. I like to talk baseball and I like to do it with smart fans.

Do I use sarcasm often? Yes. It's called a "writing style".

RIP has one when he makes shocking and extreme analogies. JGS uses one when he writes a conclusion and backs it up with mountains of stats. WHY? uses one when he engages in confrontation or breaks down someone else's comments to respond with his own.

Even if you don't write here, comments even have a writing style. Mine is one of sarcasm. I feel writing with sarcastic undertones can be more effective in getting the point across. Exploiting the ridiculousness of the counterargument can sometimes be clearer than trying to prove your own. It also can be much more entertaining. Does that make me a miserable person? No, as I said if any of you know how to read, I was jumping up and down while teary-eyed and high-fiving when the Yankees won last night. I didn't sit there and make snarky comments. Nor did I think about any other team except the New York Yankees.

Which leads me to my next point: Just because someone takes satisfaction in other people being wrong, that doesn't make them not appreciate being right.

Yes, I was ecstatic my team was in the World Series and I think laying out a million word, three part story of my journey, including in-depth details of the actual game at hand and how proud I was of this team, probably supports those sentiments. But part of being joyful is yes, seeing that people who disagreed with you, ended up being wrong. I made some comments this year about what I expected and throughout the season people will disagree with me. Jeff and I disagree most of the time. When I'm right I'm joyful for being right because that means the Yankees succeeded (unless it's a pleasant surprise). The other part of that joy, the part which goes along with it, is knowing Jeff was wrong and the Yankees exceeded his expectations.

I think every fan should get joy out of the critics of their team being wrong when they are wrong. It's human nature and it makes sense.

I wasn't happy first because naysayers were wrong and it'd be a generalization to assume myself or anybody else around here feels that way. I was happy naysayers were wrong because that makes me right, that makes the Yankees winners, and both of those things make me even happier. I am very happy to dish out crow when it's warranted because more often than not, I'll be the one eating it. Like I have said time and time again, being a sports fan is a two-way street and most of the time you're on the wrong end of it. That's not an inferiority complex, that's a law of numbers and that's what's "fair".  So when people like RIP think I don't handle winning with class and dignity, I have to laugh at him. He wasn't with me in the moment, and he knows nothing of what actually took place. He knows nothing of the phone calls, the pure joy with my friends or anything else. He just assumes I can't handle winning because I got joy out of being right? Find me someone who doesn't. And yes, that is a generalization.

Critics are going to talk and they are going to criticize the Yankees, so is it classy that when they are wrong nothing is said, but all year when they are criticizing there are no repercussions? Nobody to hold them accountable? Please, when you make an opinion, be prepared to do two things:

1. Back it up.
2. Be prepared for if you're wrong.

When I celebrate critics being wrong I'm celebrating what this team has overcome and that it out-performed expectations. That's part of celebrating a team's success in general. I'm not happy because other people are wrong, I'm happy because my team was right. There's a fundamental and major difference there.

When I was in high school I was an Op/ed writer, that job does exist, even in real life. It is their job to write opinion and generally base it on something.

I write my opinion mainly about the Yankees and I support the large majority of those emotions.

It is not mine or Jeff's job to be objective in terms of treating all 30 teams equally. We write from the viewpoint of what we hope is an educated Yankees or Red Sox fan. That doesn't mean we always believe the Yankees or Red Sox are the best, and if you truly remove the selective memory, you'll see we don't always feel great about our teams. I ripped them time and time again in 2008 and the first half of 2007 and I had my reservations this year as well. Jeff has said how the ship was sinking earlier this year and he has been down on the Sox as well. You just tend to remember all the times we're optimistic because, well, these two teams have a lot more to be optimistic about.

We don't write as a member of the media in the Yankees' locker room operating under the pretense of objectivity because we work for a national corporation.

I do not work for an equal opportunity employer. I write for a Yankees' blog meant for Yankees' fans. Jeff does the same for the Sox.

If you cannot grasp that simple concept, perhaps you lack the mental substance to continue reading this site.

As I said, it is our only aim to find educated fans of both fan bases to have a place to discuss their favorite passion.

Think of us as a bar but without the obnoxious drunk fans who say things like "RED SAWX SUCK!" or "SPANKEES ARE GONNA DIE!". You can trash talk, you can insult, and you can disagree, but you must be civil and your comments must have substance. That is our only rules. That was the only reason we created a site built on passion and civility.

To that point I would say this year more than any other, Sox and Pinstripes is striving to achieve its goal.

We now have a nice crop of people who read this blog and comment here. people like RIP, DRM and VT Yanks fan are invaluable, they've been here since around the birth of this site and they have remained. Readers who come here everyday or are finding it for the first time, are important to us. As are people like Why?, JGS, Erik, Billy and everyone else who are newer. As are the people who come here and comment here and there (Tyler, Matt, the MLBTR guys who come here when MLBTR picks up our articles).

We like the diversity of Yankees fans and Red Sox fans here and we like everyone's different style. We also welcome you even if you're not a fan of either team but you feel compelled to come here. That's the point of this place. You won't find a lot of agreement because we don't have a lot to agree on, but as long as there is steady conversation taking place and things are civil, this community is doing its job. If you came here and conversation has increased, we thank you. Keep doing what you're doing. Intelligent baseball talk is what we're striving for.

All of these points may have been obvious, or maybe they weren't, but they needed clarification. I will never post an opinion solely intended to piss off a Red Sox fan or a critic. I will always write what I write because I believe it's true. Whether you agree with me, or whether you like what I write, or whether you disagree and can't stand what I have to say, that's fine with me. It is your right to have an opinion as long as it has reasoning and the same goes with the writers.

We're just trying to create a community and we're trying to bring you Yankees and Sox fodder as much as our lives allow us to. No more, no less.

So far, I'd say we're getting that done.

Stay tuned for a World Series preview later in the day.

We arrived in the Bronx around 7PM and I met up with our fourth person and sold him his ticket. By 7:25 we were in our seats and waiting for the game. Another never-ending wait.

I had not eaten up until around 7:15 when I bought my two hot dogs, soda and fries for $23. It was my only source of entertainment until around 8:20 when the game finally started. I had been wondering for about a week what a Game Six of the ALCS would feel like at home with the Yankees ahead 3-2 and now I was finally starting to figure it out.

Every single pitch, every out, every time the ball was put in play, it was scrutinized, it was intense and the entire stadium was zoned in. I think that was the major difference. The crowd was full (over 50,000 and a new record) and it was intense. I always talk about how I like to bond with the fans around me, well in a playoff game you don't have a choice. You're one big, loud family with one goal in mind. To be truly honest, watching a game of that caliber is totally exhausting. You are standing most of the time, with two strikes you give everything in your body for that final pitch, every hit, every base runner, every three ball count, every fly ball, all of it, you're cheering at the top of your lungs as if your set of vocal chords is the only one capable of altering the future. The Yankees had opportunities early, and as was typical, they blew them with a lack of a timely hit in this series.

The crowd was relentless and full of energy, that's what I'll take away from the experience the most. It's like everyone in the place has everything to lose if their team loses. When the Angels lead 1-0 it was like taking a punch in the gut when you're not expecting it. Literally the only thing I kept telling myself was "this team has scored four runs or more in every game of this series and Joe Saunders is throwing a thousand pitches, eventually we'll have our inning" After the top of the fourth ended I could see a scenario taking place. Saunders was already getting up there in pitches and it was the bottom of the lineup. I knew if Cano, or even better, Swisher, could reach, this would be a rally. Before the game I said I hoped Saunders would only last three innings, but it was more wishful thinking than what I expected.

After Cano had a lead off walk (the first omen of something huge) and Swisher hit a single (the second one), the Yankees were in business. After a Cabrera bunt (which I agreed with in that situation) it was Jeter time. I just wanted a fly ball or a deep ground out, anything to tie the game so I could shake the awful feeling of trailing. Jeter, in typical Jeter fashion, battled and eventually drew his own walk. It was loaded for Johnny and I could see visions of his Grand Slam in 2004. Saunders was on the ropes, already approaching 80 pitches and still young in his mind; this was our chance. The crowd did not stop for the entire at bat, it was like we were trying to suffocate Saunders off the mound. Damon put together another long at bat and then hit the two-run single which finally allowed the time bomb to explode. The crowd was loud but we didn't have that EXPLODE! Moment. Now we had.

I always think back to the old 90's DVDs where the Yankees make a late playoff run and each round of the playoffs has a stronger sense of urgency in the crowd. I wondered if the new stadium could be loud after I didn't feel it so much in the regular season games I went to. I wanted that feeling to come back where you feel like you're apart of something just by standing there.

When Mark Teixeira entered the batters' box, it finally hit me.

I was there. I was in the game. I was in the stadium and the Yankees had a lead. If they held it, we were going to the World Series and I was going to witness everything. This was the most important game of my life, and perhaps the biggest moment. This game was bigger than I was.

So now I was getting emotional because I had finally made it, like I worked my own way through the minor leagues of fandom in time to finally get my own shot at a ring. At this point I'm tearing while jumping up and down, yelling, and giving high fives around me in time for A-Rod's walk to make it 3-1. We wanted to step on LA's throats, but instead settled for a two run lead.

One day a few things are going to happen. People are going to understand what Andy Pettitte means to the Yankees in the playoffs and people will truly grasp how unbelievable Mariano Rivera is, and how improbable it was not only to have New York draft both of them around the same time, but to even find two players in a draft that talented and special in October.

Here's Andy Pettitte, clearly in his twilight, pitching on an incentive-laden deal in what could be his final year. Waiting to relieve him is Mariano Rivera, the only closer who isn't a blown save waiting to happen and only one of two relievers not to blow a save in the postseason in 2009. Oh and he had not given up a run in seven years at home in October, and that was during stretch where he wasn't as dominant. To have an iceberg ready to counter the Titanic at the end of the game every time is a feeling I'm not sure many fans will ever feel. Yes, Rivera had his struggles, but it was only because they had to happen for him to be a certified human being. You're talking about a SUB 1 ERA in the playoffs. That's simply out of control. So when Andy was pulled after a dominating 6.1 innings of one run ball and a guy was on base in the seventh, it crossed my mind more than once to try Mo from there. I considered A CLOSER, for a 2.2 inning save. That's how much confidence, even after 2001 and 2004, we as Yankees' fans still have in our closer.

Instead we got Joba and I had a good feeling because Izturis came in to pinch-hit. Really? You're going to replace Jeff Mathis, the double's God for a slap hitter as the tying run in the seventh inning? Good, I'll take it. Izturis grounded out and Joba induced two outs before allowing so much as a base runner.

The Yankees were six outs away from the World Series and I had to pee.

In the top of the eighth our emotions were tested. Chone Figgins had his second hit of the series, and again it was a squirter to left for a single. Figgins advanced when Abreu and Hunter were retired and it was a classic Vlad vs. Mo match up. Many talk about how A-Rod exorcised his demons this season, ,but lost in that will be what Vlad has done. From the big hit on Papelbon, to the game-tying homer in Game Three, to the big hit in Game Five to three more hits in Game Six, I'd say Vlad woke up. His third hit was the one where he drove in Figgins to cut the lead to 3-2 and I knew in predictable Angels' fashion, Reggie Willits was going to pinch-run and take the best bat out of the lineup.

It's a move which makes sense if and only if Willits either steals second and scores on a single, or Kendry Morales ties the game with a double where Vlad wouldn't be able to score.

Instead Willits never tried to steal and the inning ended rather calmly, with the Yankees holding a 3-2 lead and three outs to go. In the bottom of the eighth one of my friends and I decided we wanted insurance runs. Mo was at 21 pitches and while I knew he'd find a way to get it done against the 6-7-8 part of the lineup, I was much more comfortable with runs.

Besides, it was an ALCS clinching game and we were missing our "Yankee Stadium Aura Moment". Enter another Cano walk. Seriously, are we witnessing the maturity of Robbie Cano in a matter of a few games? I had never seen him as patient as he was tonight and I don't know if that's coaching or his own discretion. I don't know if it will continue or it was a one time deal, but the entire game I was thinking about it. Anytime Cano walks to lead off an inning, I just feel like the Yankees are guaranteed to score on principal.

Sure enough, Swisher then tried to give away an out (this time I didn't agree with it) and Morales dropped the ball. Now the Yankees once again had two on and nobody out for Melky. In a game like this, I was OK with a second bunt to and maybe even a squeeze bunt by Jeter just to do anything to get one more run.

Melky bunted, and he did it successfully for the second time in the game. This lead to two split-second revelations.

1. Melky Cabrera has been unbelievably solid this year. Earlier in the game I saw his regular season stats and was impressed because I hadn't realized how OK they were. Melky has been about a .300 hitter in the playoffs this season and nobody is talking about it. If not for him, the vaunted New York lineup would end after the seventh hitter. His performance has literally saved Nick Swisher. Then I realized Melky can also bunt pretty well, which is a nice little weapon to have.

2. Scott Kazmir was having trouble locating, it was the bottom of the eighth of a close game, they had just committed an error and I wanted my MOMENT! I wasn't expecting an error by Kazmir but I was not ruling it out as the play developed. Somehow, inexplicably, Scott Kazmir threw a ball which seemed five feet over his first baseman's head. It was the loudest the stadium was all night (louder than when Bernie threw out the first pitch) and it was the MOMENT! which made me able to sit easier...After I jumped up and down for two minutes and high-fived everyone around me and gave group hugs to my friends.

It was 4-2 and the Angels were unraveling on the road, just like they did the first two times. After a Tex sac fly (SMALL BALL!!!!) it was 5-2 which felt like 15-2 given the circumstances. I had a feeling much like the Red Sox in the ALDS, the Angels would go down without a fight after they just fell apart.

Ground out to first base.

The yelling becomes almost like the beat to a loud rap song. You could start to feel other people inside your own chest. By now the chairs and everything else were an instrument and everybody was looking at everybody else like "we're about to finish this off".

Fly out to right.

Now it wasn't only inevitable, but it was going to happen with the next batter. I had been to Dwight Gooden's no-hitter, which was the most hysteria I've ever seen. It was crazier than any of the Ticker Tape parades and any other game I had been to. Of course, none of those were playoff games.

Gary Matthews Jr. was now pinch-hitting for Mike Napoli who was a defensive replacement for Jeff Mathis who was pinch hit for by Izturis.

You know you made a useless managing move when...

Naturally the count had to be 3-2 and I recorded about four useless videos on my phone trying to capture the last out. By then I decided I didn't want to risk throwing my phone off the upper deck by accident and I put it away ready to jump wherever necessary to start the party.

Strike three.

I barely saw it. It was an out of body experience. It was like we started celebrating before the swing took place because it was meant to happen on that pitch. The immediate reaction reminded me of those trick boxes filled with condensed air so when you open it a bunch of things fly out of the box to surprise whoever you gave it to. Picture that, but with 50,000 people. Everyone around us had yells like "four more" or "we did it!" or "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" (that last one was mine). I'd swear nobody in that stadium will be that happy if they ever win Powerball.

We celebrated so long the post game speeches were shown on the scoreboard and it wasn't until after Jeter that anyone really cared. I'd say about half the fans stayed behind to watch the rest of the interviews, to see the happiness in the clubhouse taking place right below them, to see the players come back on the field and shoot champagne into the crowd, to witness their favorite players with champion hats on their heads.

Whatever toned back celebration took place to get into the ALCS was replaced with a Mardi Gras caliber one now. The Angels were finally buried.

The Rally Monkeys were put to rest.

The Yankees had finally beaten LA.

New York was in the World Series again.

And I was there to witness it.

Immediately following the final out, in a moping mood my friend Steve, his girlfriend Bri and myself all searched approximately six different websites in search of at least three tickets for a reasonable price. We settled on Ticket Palace and Grandstand seats for $104. I knew with the Metro North Yankees Clipper train ticket (the train goes directly to Yankee Stadium) and the inevitable two hot dog meal I'd get in the stadium, I was around 150 dollars already, and that was my limit. I was working Sunday which would cut into that number anyway. It's easy to justify things in my mind when a potential Yankees' ALCS clinching game is on the line.

So we pulled the trigger on four tickets (they didn't seem to have sets of odd numbers, so we pulled in an additional friend to come along). I had just bought my first ever playoff tickets, and it was in a game which could end a series.

If you have heart problems, don't try doing something like that.

The stage was set; It was Thursday night and on Saturday I would be watching the game live from the stadium and despite probably getting back to Connecticut by 3AM, I'd be OK for work at 10AM. Friday came and gone and nothing had hit me yet. I really felt like I was preparing to be sent to a Fantasy World but I couldn't quite grasp the situation. On Saturday all of our moods were dampened with the rain. Everywhere we turned people were telling us the game would be canceled. I would normally have been OK with it except I already had to wait one off day and I had work on Sunday. Since Sunday Night Football was also in New York that night AND I knew MLB wouldn't want to compete with the ratings, there was a good chance in my mind the game would be moved up and I'd be screwed out of working. I couldn't have this happen.

Everything was slowly falling apart, but I maintained hope the game would be played Saturday night. After all, Game One and then Game Two were threatened and both of those games played with no interruption or delay. By 5:25PM we boarded a train out of Milford to take us to the stadium. No announcement had been made yet so the show had to go on. By 6PM I was checking my Blackberry every five minutes, looking to the Artist Formerly known as Pete Abe blog for an update. By around 6PM I had received it, and it wasn't good. We were in Stamford and had to leave the train to go back home. By 6:15PM my life was saved with the announcement the game would stay in Prime Time Out of anything else, this was the best news of all. Now I could go to work until 4PM and still make the same train the next night. I told as many people in my car (all Yankees fans) the game was canceled. A few believed me immediately and asked details of the rescheduling and some decided I was lying. One guy told me how ESPN.com said there wouldn't be a decision until 7PM. Another girl told me her friend was on the ground's crew and he hadn't told her anything yet.

I wanted to tell them they were both morons and I had the website up on my phone right now, but the best punishment was to leave them on the train to further ruin their night. Of course ESPN.com wasn't going to report it before a beat writer with a blog, there's more red tape and a process for a major corporation to get it on its website, but I wasn't about to explain that now. As far as the girl was concerned, you can name drop Barack Obama and I wouldn't care, perhaps her grounds' crew friend didn't let her know the second it happened because well, he worked on the grounds' crew and probably had a job to do during monsoon conditions in the Bronx.

By 6:51 we were back on a train to Milford, stopping to talk to Yankees fans in the same boat on the way. I proceeded with my night as originally planned and we were back at it on Sunday.

I couldn't sleep at all that night and work was slow and boring. It felt like an eternity before I was literally changing out of dress clothes and into a Teixeira shirt while driving. I arrived at "The House", our scheduled meeting place by 4:30 and dressed in my proper attire. A long sleeve Quinnipiac shirt with a Trenton Thunder sweatshirt over that and my Tex shirt over that. It was going to be cold and I was going to be ready. Everything leading up to the game broke perfectly in our favor. Now we didn't have freezing and rainy conditions, the night was clear and perfect except for a slight nip in the air. Most of all, the Angels and Yankees both stuck to the same starting pitchers which I knew favored New York. Once again we caught the 5:25 and the conductor was nice enough to honor our tickets from the night before despite the fact we made it to Stamford with them. The train ride, like everything else you have to wait for before you witness something truly extraordinary, was a lifetime of a wait.

Editor's Note: This is part one of three installations about my experience this past week (since Game Four). The other two will be released at approximately 6PM and 9PM later on tonight so none of you feel overwhelmed. Tomorrow I will share my World Series predictions. You've been warned. Enjoy the story.

When I first thought about a Yankees - Angels ALCS my reaction was, "Yankees in six". If you read this blog  about a week ago, you're a witness to that. I just had this unmistakeable feeling of destiny and I knew winning two of three in LA at the end of the year along with three of the last four in the second half meant more than people were considering. I knew CC was going to be the CC we wanted and I couldn't believe Joe Saunders could win two games or Scott Kazmir would outduel CC either.

The fact of the matter is as long as the Yankees won Game One, I sensed in my heart Games two, four and six were just as winnable even if they did lose three and five in LA. As it turns out, that's exactly how everything took place. New York won both of CC's starts, they split the Saunders/Weaver match-ups and they took care of business the second time against Saunders at Yankee Stadium. No young pitcher is going to beat this offense twice in the same week on the road. It hasn't even happened with veterans this year.

So I knew if I was ever going to pull the trigger on a playoff game, it had to be the ALCS (you won't step foot in the World Series for less than a couple of hundred dollars) and I had better shoot for Game Six since one and two weren't clinchers and I didn't truly believe there would be a Game Seven.

Now I just had to commit to spending a hundred dollars on what would amount to be a gamble.

I didn't want to spend the money early in the series because I didn't want to jinx anything and I didn't want to spend the money if the Yankees wrapped it up earlier than expected. So I waited. Eventually my belief was the tickets would be cheaper if I got them last minute (a cancellation perhaps) rather than early on. Desperation can sometimes be a useful tool.

When the Yankees blew LA out in Game Four to win the necessary road game which would keep me from panicking, my plan was just about ready to come into fruition. Now the series was guaranteed to go to the Bronx only as a clinch game, and I was prepared to find my way into the first shot at it.

The only thing in my way was New York winning too early and that's how I liked it.

So I watched Game Five the same place I watched everything except Game Three (you thought I was superstitious before? Just wait.) I was wearing the same exact exterior outfit I had for games: one, two and four (I missed most of Game Three because I was working and then I saw extra innings from my house in my work clothes. I knew that was why they had lost.)

This was a double-edged sword. If the Yankees won, I would be 6-0 in my viewing place (I watched Game One of the ALDS at home), would not be going to Game Six and I knew where I'd be watching every game of the World Series too (same chair and everything at a friend's house).

If they lost, I knew I had to go somewhere else anyway, and that somewhere else was going to be live.

So I'm watching Game Five with the oddest feeling of confusion I've ever witnessed when watching the Yankees. This was a playoff game, it was against the Angels whom I hate, and yet a certain part of me was tugging away. ("Wouldn't it be great if you saw it in person? Don't you kind of want to see a loss here? Don't you want it to end in Yankee Stadium?")

I had never been so torn on a game, but the Angels were up 4-0 and I figured destiny made its own decision. Then the sixth inning happened and I found myself on the phone with my Dad celebrating a potential World Series. We had a pile-on at "The House" where I was watching the game. Whatever selfish reasons I wanted it to end in six and not five had given way to the pure adrenaline and happiness which comes with a World Series birth.

And all of a sudden it all disappeared with an Angels' rally.

I was devastated when the game ended. New York had about 49 chances to win the game right down to the final pitch, a 3-2 fastball right down the middle to Nick Swisher with the bases loaded in a one run game. The same angry frustrated feelings which come with a big loss surrounded me in Game Five as well.

This time though, I had a backup plan.

Way back in April the Yankees were supposed to fail immediately out of the gates. Joe Torre's book, despite his presence being all the way in Los Angeles, was supposed to distract the franchise. Alex Rodriguez's admission of steroids was going to kill the clubhouse. The Yankees' third place finish in 2008 and the emergence of the Rays was supposed to keep New York out of the playoffs once again despite all the money it restored in its payroll by purchasing pieces the team felt were missing.

Instead we're left watching champagne parties on the post-game shows while the players talk about how all the off season adversity brought the team together. Now instead of fearing which major Yankees' player was going to struggle in the playoffs, we were stuck debating whether A-Rod or Sabathia deserved the ALCS MVP. We could have been discussing who was going to replace Mo, who was fresh off a shoulder surgery; now we're celebrating his six out save in Game Six.

The Yankees were going to battle with the Twins, the Twins were going to give them a run for their money with a can-do attitude and a group of Baseball Players instead of the Yankees' group of guys who get paid a lot of money to do some foreign job.

New York swept them.

The Angels were going to out-athletic the Yankees because they were swimming with confidence and a sense of destiny after finally knocking off the Red Sox, and in convincing fashion by completing a sweep against Papelbon at Fenway.

Instead they played terrible defense, made base-running mistakes and trailed in all six games before finally losing their fourth one. The Angels were said to have the great home field advantage because in the past they owned the Yankees there.

Nobody really mentioned the Yankees and how they have the best home field advantage in baseball this season. Or how New York was 3-1 against LA in the regular season during home games. Ironically, all the reasons LA wasn't going to win this series were only in the present. It was Yankees' fans concentrating on the now and haters reflecting on the past.

This was a series where critics expected the Angels to win for all the reasons they ignored about the Yankees. The writing was on the wall in this series the second the Red Sox dropped their dominance card on a Vlad single.

Let me say this: The Angels make me more nervous than the Red Sox. They truly have a pesky team with a So-Cal vibe about them in the late innings. What a completely well-run team and organization with the best manager in the game leading the way. Nobody in that stadium tonight was comfortable until Gary Matthews was dismissed.

Now the Yankees are back on top of the AL world and as fans we're going to hear more and more payroll complaints, salary cap pleadings and overall whining because that's what other fans do when they get jealous and bitter. I for one will welcome it.

Because the New York Yankees are once again hated because their winning instead of just being hated.

I was in attendance for tonight's game, and I will supply the full story and events leading up to it in a few installments tomorrow. On Tuesday I will make my World Series predictions in preparation for Wednesday's Game One. Let it be known I don't take the Phillies lightly even if I did think the Dodgers were the more complete team (who knew Philly's bullpen would be that much more dominant?).

For now we as Yankees' fans can relish the fact there will be no Game Seven. There will be no sixth consecutive elimination game loss. The monkey, whether it be of the Rally or the Finishing A Series variety, is off the back. The Angels no longer own New York because nobody in the AL does.

This team came from being labeled a bunch of overpaid superstars to becoming a team which never gives up in a game and plays every game all the way through. They went from a cold new stadium with no atmosphere to the toughest place to play in the sport if you're the other team (5-0 in the playoffs won't hurt that argument).

When the cards have been stacked against the Yankees in 2009, they have had their opposition right where they wanted them. When the Yankees lead late in the game, it's pretty much over. That's been the calling card for New York. Win close games whether they're trailing or leading late in the game. This team has played like a champion ever since Francisco Cervelli hit a long ball in Atlanta. Now they have a chance to become one.

This series was a microcosm of the season and this game was a microcosm of the series. They said the Yankees couldn't play superior defense, and the Angels were officially flattened on a Scott Kazmir throwing error. They said the bullpen was unreliable, but it obtained eight outs and protected a two run lead against the second best comeback team in the league. They said CC and Alex would choke, and instead one single-handedly pitched his team to two victories while the other one hit .400 and reached base all five times in Game Six. They said when the Yankees moved across the street they lost one of the best home field advantages, but finishing off the Angels continued an undefeated home playoff record to build on a MLB best regular season. And the Yankees did it in front of a record attendance, both in population and noise.

Critics say a lot of stuff. Fans say a lot of stuff. I think I speak for all Yankees' fans when I say I honestly had moments this season where I wasn't sure what team I was watching. Even when the Yankees were destroying the league in the second half of the season, it's hard not to expect the other shoe to drop when you've seen five consecutive teams break your heart with lackluster play when it matters most (please don't self destruct Pirates fans, if any of you are reading this.)

It's hard to expect to defeat adversity when you're seeing you're team in the middle of it.

This team has played out like a movie script in 2009 and part of it has now run straight through Hollywood. The bright lights of Broadway won out this time and we're finally going to get to see how this theater all plays out in the end.

As a baseball fan I'm excited for this World Series because at the end of the day I think these are the two best teams in the game.

As a Yankees' fan I'm hoping I don't wake up from my dream for another week.

CC Sabathia made sure Joe Girardi wouldn't have to make any tough late-game decisions with the Yankees' bullpen tonight. Pitching on three days rest, the hefty lefty delivered a performance as big as his belt size, lasting eight innings and giving up just one run on five hits during a 10-1 romping. It was the second time CC went eight and gave up just one run, and in the encore on shorter rest, he only surrendered one extra hit.

For the first time in this series as a Yankees' fan, you can honestly taste the World Series. The team overcame it's biggest test by winning big after losing the opener in a place they historically struggle with (and the loss was in brutal fashion.) Not only did the Yankees' offense and pitching respond tonight, but it dominated during the butt-kicking.

Sabathia wasn't the only hero when he lowered his ALCS ERA to 1.13 and notched his second win in four games; Alex Rodriguez bashed his third home run in as many games and fifth of the postseason, falling one short of Bernie Williams' team postseason record. With three more hits, A-Rod is now hitting .375 in the postseason. By hitting the long ball, Rodriguez has now delivered an RBI in seven consecutive postseason games, one short of Lou Gehrig and Ryan Howard, who is currently pursuing that streak in this postseason as well.

The win was impressive and had a bit of a final feeling to it. As Yankees fans, we won't rest until the final out is made to finish the fourth victory. Though it's not something we like thinking about, 2004 will always linger as a benchmark not to count your chickens before they hatch. New York won Game Three that year, 19-8 before dropping the next four. Still, up 3-1 and knowing instead of Lowe, Schilling and Pedro waiting you have Lackey and then Saunders and Weaver on the road, and instead of hoping Mussina, Lieber or whoever is eligible to pitch Game Seven will be going for your side, you have Burnett, Pettitte and then Sabathia again, is a pretty comforting feeling.

The Angels would have to win both away games plus win Thursday at home, and they'd have to not only beat all three Yankees' starters, but Jered Weaver would have to pitch well enough on the road in a stadium unfriendly to right-handed fly ball pitchers, and the young, contact driven, Joe Saunders, would have to shut down the Yankees' lineup twice in a week. It's just unrealistic to expect a come back from the Angels against this team.

Unrealistic, but certainly not impossible as history has suggested.

Every reliever will have two days rest for Game Five since only Chad Gaudin was used tonight, and though I think LA will win and send it back to the Bronx where the Yankees will wrap it up on Saturday behind Andy Pettitte (I don't trust Burnett on the road in a hostile atmosphere for the first time in his career in October against the Angels' Ace getting a second chance and this time at home), this could be the type of moral disemboweling capable of crushing a team out of the playoffs.

Melky Cabrera, who is quietly hitting .353 out of the nine hole in this postseason, had not one, but two two-out, two-run hits to deliver four big RBI on the road. Johnny Damon continued his ascent out of slump-dom with another home run and of course, Rodriguez continued an unconscious postseason, bashing an identical long ball to yesterday's and delivering an additional pair of hits.

New York was concentrating on forcing the issue early and in total tried stealing four different times tonight, coming away with success twice. The Angels never really had a chance to get moving on the bases and the top of their lineup combined to go 0/10. No Angels hitter had more than one hit.

Winning Game Four was important. A loss probably meant being down 3-2 and being forced to win both games in the Bronx. This wasn't an elimination game but it almost felt like one despite a 2-1 series lead. The Yankees needed to demonstrate they could win in LA in the playoffs and had the opposition beat Sabathia, confidence and momentum would have been completely in the Halos' favor. Instead Sabathia came in with another epic performance and he is now matching dominance to the level of Josh Beckett in 2007.

Simultaneously, Scott Kazmir was not sharp and lasted just four innings before being removed in a 3-0 deficit. Jason Bulger then came in and promptly gave up A-Rod's two run job to make the game 5-0. Darren Oliver and Ervin Santana combined to go 3.1 innings yielding just one additional run but Matt Palmer let the game get out of hand by yielding four runs in 1.2 innings. New York doubled their run production in the eighth and ninth innings, finally exposing a soft Angels' bullpen.

In the next three days the only question we might have to figure out won't be how long to stick with Robertson, but who is the MVP of this thing? Right now nobody has truly stepped up for the Angels except maybe Howie Kendrick, and that could be a reason they're in a 3-1 hole. Meanwhile A-Rod saved Game Two and has been a wrecking crew in LA. Sabathia almost single-handedly won Game One and then dominated his way through the other momentum changer by shutting down the Angels on the road in Game Four. Perhaps Game Five and possibly Game Six (or Game Seven for that matter) will give us a decisive winner, but right now I don't think there is one.

If New York wins it in five I think A-Rod is your MVP, particularly if he delivers another big hit on Thursday night. This would mean everyone not named CC ended up 2-1 (counting relievers) while he was 2-0, which, while it doesn't tell the full story, certainly weakens his case even if he did pitch the two biggest games of the series. However, if this series goes longer and the Angels demonstrate they could beat anyone not named CC in LA and it takes a Game Six or obviously a third performance from Sabathia in Game Seven, I think you give the nod to the biggest strength in October, the starting pitcher.

At this point the Phillies and Yankees seem to be on a crash course to meet each other. They have the two top offenses in their league and Philadelphia has exposed the Dodger's main strength, which was their bullpen. Meanwhile the Yankees have more or less silenced the Angels' strength of producing runs out of nothing by limiting their base runners and scoring first.

When you work to your strength (the Yankees have no shortage of long balls in this series) and expose or exploit the opposition's strength or weakness, you're going to win your series. At this point I think the Phillies win in Game Five and the Yankees win in Game Six. After last night's game I can't see the Dodgers winning on the road and I think the match up, barring the Angels mailing it in, is just too unfavorable for the Yankees in Game Five.

Even so, as long as the Phillies don't go six and the Yankees don't go seven, you'll probably see two former Indians, Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, pitch against each other in Game One of the World Series on Wednesday night.

First thing's first, the Yankees need to cage the Rally Monkey once and for all. It will be one giant step towards redemption against LA and erasing the memories of 2004, which was the last time the Yankees came this close to a World Series birth.

Even if the Red Sox bring back Jason Bay - which I think they will - the lineup would benefit from another big bat in the lineup. San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is a perfect fit - because he produces runs and hits from the left side. As an added bonus, he is an exceptional defensive first baseman, and Theo Epstein places an emphasis on run prevention.

About every baseball analyst believes that Boston will aggressively pursue Gonzalez this off-season. Some of these pundits, though, wonder if the Red Sox have enough major league ready prospects to entice the Padres. Their question is valid. After all, though Boston's farm system is still deep and talented, most of the top prospects are at Single-A. In the last three years, the Sox' minor league system has produced Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie, Justin Masterson, Daniel Bard and Clay Buchholz. Don't forget that David Murphy and Brandon Moss were used in trades (as was, of course, Masterson), and Jon Lester spent time at Pawtucket while returning from cancer. In the last three seasons, few farm systems have generated as many players who have contributed at the major league level, so it is understandable why the upper levels of the minors in the Boston organization would no longer be stocked.

Though Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket are not as loaded with top prospects as they were two years ago, I believe that Boston has enough talent to bring Gonzalez, who is signed to a reasonable $4.75 million in 2010 with a $5.6 million team option in 2011.

Why, do you ask, would the Padres want to deal Gonzalez, who is only 27, had 40 home runs and 99 RBI with a .277 average this year and hails from San Diego? The reason is that trading him would help the franchise build a winner much faster because of the players they would get in return. Also, Gonzalez will cash in on a premium payday in 2012, and the Padres are not known for widely opening their wallets for free agents.

Likely, the Sox could acquire Gonzalez without hesitation if they included Buchholz and/or Bard, or one of the two plus top pitching prospect Casey Kelly, but it is doubtful Epstein will part with any of the three aforementioned players. Buchholz is, at worst, a No. 3 starter. Bard will probably serve as the Red Sox closer as early as 2011. Some scouts have compared Kelly to Zack Greinke. Like Buchholz, the right-handed Kelly has top of the rotation potential.

Even without including Buchholz, Bard or Kelly in a package for Gonzalez, a credible argument can be made that the Sox have enough to interest the Padres. Here is a potential package that can get the deal done:

• Josh Reddick and/or Ryan Kalish - Boston's farm system is loaded with promising outfield prospects (especially Ryan Westmoreland and Reymond Fuentes at the lower levels), and Reddick and Kalish are near major league ready. Reddick saw his first taste of big league action with the Sox this season while Kalish hit .271 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI in his Double-A debut (after opening the year at advanced Single-A Salem. Reddick and Kalish are both defensively proficient, which is important for an outfielder patroling San Diego's spacious Petco Park. Reddick and Kalish are both productive at the plate, too.
• Lars Anderson - True, the 22-year-old first baseman struggled in his first full season at Double-A (.233, 9 home runs, 51 RBI, 447 at-bats), but he was Boston's 2008 Minor League Player of the Year for a reason. The guy can hit, and he also has a nifty glove. Anderson is still a premium prospect, and he would be an obvious fit in a package for Gonzalez.
• Michael Bowden - With Buchholz poised to take a rotation spot for the long term, Lester entrenched and Kelly on the fast track, there is little room for Bowden, who will likely be moved to the bullpen if he remains with the Red Sox. Though he posted a 9.56 ERA in 16 innings with the Sox this season, Bowden is still just 23 and he logged impressive numbers in his first full season at Triple-A (24 starts, 3.13 ERA, 126.1 innings, 106 hits allowed). Since the Padres could deal Chris Young, and they traded Jake Peavy late this season, they are looking for young starting pitchers. San Diego would likely be interested in Bowden.
• Stolmy Pimentel or Felix Doubront - The 19-year-old Dominican right-hander is one of the organization's top Latin pitching prospects and is slated to open the 2010 season at Salem. San Diego might be intrigued with him, or 21-year-old left-hander Doubront, who fared well in his first season at Double-A and is projected to open 2010 at Triple-A Pawtucket.
• Yamaico Navarro - Now that 19-year-old Cuban phenom Jose Iglesias appears to be Boston's shortstop of the future, and Jed Lowrie is expected to have a healthy wrist when spring training opens, Navarro is expendable. Even if they are satisfied with Everth Cabrera at shortstop, the Padres could use a second baseman, and the 21-year-old Navarro can proficiently play second, shortstop and third. Navarro raked at every level of the minors but struggled adjusting to Double-A pitching this season, batting .185 in 135 at-bats at Portland. Still, Navarro has a bright future ahead, and the Sox could use him in a trade package.

Keep in mind that Boston has two major leaguers who are under team control that could be used in a package for Gonzalez or another impact player. They are Manny Delcarmen and Casey Kotchman. In addition, since Iglesias could be Boston's starting shortstop by 2012 - if he proves he can hit enough - the Sox could always include Lowrie in a trade package. Boston could bring back Alex Gonzalez as the starting shortstop and Nick Green as the utility infielder.

Also, how about this idea. The Padres cannot afford Jonathan Papelbon, but what if Epstein worked out a three-team deal that included Papelbon going to a third team, that third team sending top prospects to the Padres and San Diego shipping Gonzalez to Boston? In this scenario, the Sox would likely have to throw in a prospect or two, but it would preserve some of the aforementioned prospects. Boston could bring back Billy Wagner to close in 2010 and prepare Bard for the role in 2011.

There is no doubt in my mind that Epstein will get creative and bring in someone like Gonzalez or Prince Fielder, though Gonzalez makes more sense because of his defensive abilities. Since the Red Sox farm system is well stocked at the lower levels, and the organization can quickly replenish the minor leagues via the draft and international free agent signings, it makes sense to deal several top prospects to get a difference-making young veteran like Gonzalez.

I agree with Epstein if he refuses to part with Buchholz, Bard and Kelly. He doesn't need to deal them, or Westmoreland - the five-tool outfielder from Rhode Island who will rapidly ascend the Boston farm system. There are enough promising players other than those four to bring Gonzalez to the Sox for 2010, or Epstein can use Papelbon if he can find a third team with enough prospects to entice the Padres.