Pinstripe Alley

Rivera revealed that he pitched the entire Fall Classic hiding a painful rib-cage injury, leaning...

2009-11-08T17:14:52Z

Rivera revealed that he pitched the entire Fall Classic hiding a painful rib-cage injury, leaning on head trainer Gene Monahan to keep his clubhouse secret.

The Legend of Mo grows...

We knew he was hurting late in the Series, but not that it may have started back in the ALCS (specifically Game 6, when he threw 34 pitches).

Yankees 'boring' this winter? Never

2009-11-08T13:53:46Z

The euphoria over winning a 27th World Series title has already begun to fade, just a little. The focus is turning to 2010, and trying to win No. 28.

What will GM Brian Cashman do this winter? We know what most of the questions are. Hideki Matsui? Johnny Damon? Andy Pettitte? The makeup of the starting rotation?

I have been a Yankee fan for the entirety of the Steinbrenner era, and the one thing I can say is the off-season is never dull around the Bronx Bombers.

Yet, word seeping out is that might just be the case this year.

Here is Joel Sherman.

The Yankees found $181 million lying around last offseason, and made a late, victorious bid to corral Mark Teixeira, so never say never when it comes to the Yankees and spending.

But the initial read as the winter bazaar opens is that the Yankees do not intend to make a play for the three biggest free agents: Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and John Lackey. After signing the three biggest free agents last offseason (Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett), the Yankees just might be boring this winter.

This is not about need, because corner outfield and starting pitcher are priorities to fortify what is now a champion. But based on conversations with multiple Yankees officials, I sense that financially and philosophically the Yankees will not big-game hunt in free agency.

Bob Klapisch agrees.

The Yankees will look remarkably similar in 2010, which is bad news for the rest of the industry. The free-agent crop is thin, and it’s unlikely that any team will dramatically remake itself during the off-season — and that includes the Bombers, who figure to stay away from the likes of John Lackey and Matt Holliday.
The Yankees had $75 million coming off the books after ’08, which allowed them to re-direct that cash toward CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. There’ll be no similar windfall this winter, and Cashman would have a hard time justifying another payroll surge to the Steinbrenner family.

Others, though, are not buying that the Yankees won't be buying this winter. I can't blame them. We have heard it before.

Among them is Mike Lupica.

No one except the bookkeepers knows the real finances for the Yankees, how much they are propped up by YES, how much they make - or lose - just on the baseball operation, how much debt they incurred building the Eighth Wonder of the World. There are people in baseball who seriously wonder how long this team is actually going to stay in the Steinbrenner family.

We just know this: They sell winning and are willing to pay for it. There's nothing baseball can do to stop it, because all that the Players Association really has left is that they never gave in on a salary cap.

We'll hear now that the Yankees have got to get younger and can't keep both Damon and Matsui, and how they really aren't all that interested in Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. That's what we'll hear. But we'll see about all that. This is the one about how money can't buy happiness, but it certainly will finance an exhaustive search.

Here is an outside opinion, from John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Reports out of New York, one from longtime New York Post columnist Joel Sherman, suggest the Yankees might restrict their spending this offseason and won't hotly pursue elite free agents, maybe even try to pull that modest payroll under $200 million.

With all due respect to Sherman, who probably has more sources inside the Yankees than Hal Steinbrenner, we observers who think outside the Bronx are a little skeptical and offer two words of warning:

Just wait.

The Yankees can't help themselves.

Whether they buy or not, the Yankees won't be boring this winter. They never are.

Something about new ballparks

2009-11-08T04:12:21Z

View full size photo »

The first Yankee Stadium was built in 1923. The Yankees won the World Series (for the first time) over the New York Giants that year.

The first year of the 'overhauled' Yankee Stadium was 1976. The Yanks won the pennant (for the first time in 12 years), but lost the World Series to the Big Red Machine.

The first year of the new Yankee Stadium was 2009. The Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to win their 27th title (for the first time in nine years).

What are the odds?

(The '09 Yanks also became the third team to win the clinching game of the World Series in their new ballpark, joining the 1912 Red Sox and 2006 Cardinals.)

Victory parade from the fans' perspective

2009-11-07T13:53:36Z

More photos » by Jason DeCrow - AP

Baseball fans cheer and take photographs of the New York Yankees during a ticker-tape parade along Broadway celebrating their 27th World Series championship on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, in New York.

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Putting aside his reporter hat in favor of being a dad for the day, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times took his 7-year-old son to Friday's victory parade and mixed with the throng of celebrating Yankee fans.

The result was that Kepner had a great day with his son. And, maybe because I am dad with three kids much too old to sit on my shoulders at a parade, he turned in my favorite parade story of the day.

Here is a snippet.

We were not really sure where to go. I had never been to a parade for a sports team, and I have also never lived in the five boroughs. I am basically a Mike Mussina-style New Yorker — I live in the suburbs and know the route to and from Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, I think we got off at Cortlandt Street. Wherever we were, there were so many people standing just outside the station exit that down below, we could not move at all. Eventually we found another exit and wedged onto Maiden Lane. Needless to say, we were a little late.

Teenage revelers stomped and hollered from atop a sanitation truck. There were horns blaring and beach balls bouncing and paper fluttering everywhere. We bought a pennant on a stick for $5. Floats and buses went by, and we couldn’t make out anybody, really. I think I noticed some front-office people.

Then, I’m pretty sure, I saw (Dave) Robertson. I shouted this to Michael, up on my shoulders, and my tip spread virally through the fans. "Dave Robertson!" someone said. "That’s Dave Robertson!" And in a few seconds his float had moved on.

I know I saw C. C. Sabathia holding up an index finger. And Michael saw Jorge Posada. Neither of us laid eyes on Nick Swisher, who, judging from the swooning girls and whooping guys, is apparently some kind of rock star.

Michael sort of expected to be closer to the action. He was a little bored, he admitted, and his feet fell asleep a few times. But he never complained; skipping school is always fun, and we found a subway back uptown, grabbed some slices of pizza and saw Derek Jeter get the key to the city on the big screen in Times Square.

We stopped in at the arcade on the top floor of the ESPN Zone, and Michael pitched to a virtual Jeter at a booth. Jay-Z was performing at City Hall by then, as we could see from dozens of TV screens. The arcade was his favorite part of the day.

Ticker Tape and Modern Art

2009-11-07T12:02:23Z

Only a Yankee fan could complain about a victory parade.

It's partially my fault, I know. My train didn't reach Penn Station until 10 o'clock. I walked onto Nassau around 10:25. I followed the crowd until we came to a stop around Isamu Noguchi's Red Cube.

I've always had trouble with modern art- my taste for the aesthetic is apparently underdeveloped. I prefer stories, narratives, or portraits. I look at El Greco or Henri Matisse or Salvador Dali and I begin to invent cause and effect to explain how we got it. I can't really enjoy just what is.

Which is why I was disappointed by the parade. I didn't want to just be there- I wanted to see my heroes and celebrate them, and I went into the city to see them acknowledge being celebrated. And standing 15 people deep along Broadway, I didn't get to see that.

Double decker busses rolled by with Yankee employees standing on top. I could see those guys. But I didn't take the train in to cheer the hot dog man.

Mr. Cashman, I know you read the blog from time to time, so here's my suggestion: next year, put the players on top of the buses and let the little guys ride in the little cars.

David Wells calls Joe Torre 'such a tool'

2009-11-07T03:19:42Z

In an article he wrote for the NY Post -

Right before Game 5 (of the 2003 World Series), I had back spasms. I threw five or six warm-up pitches and told pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre to get another pitcher ready because I wasn't going to make it. Mel was like, "No, you can do it."

I threw maybe 10 warm-up pitches total in the bullpen -- I spent most of the time lying on my back -- and said, "If you guys want me to pitch, so be it."

I went out there and my first pitch was like 78 mph. I soon came out of the game, and here is why Joe Torre is such a tool: I came out of the game and some guys were mad. I went in the training room and had no trainer, no doctor, no coach, nobody. I had to have one of the clubhouse kids put an icepack on my back. Then I had back surgery a week later.

If my back is healthy we win that World Series.

The only problem is that he was bragging before that game about how he didn't need to exercise, unlike those workout freaks Nolan Ryan, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

He also goes on to say the Yankees are the team of the decade. (h/t to BTF)

Parade photo gallery

2009-11-06T19:41:24Z

More photos » by Mark Lennihan - AP

Floats carrying the New York Yankees baseball team make their way along Broadway during a ticker-tape parade celebrating their 27th World Series championship on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, in New York.

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Check out a slew of photos from today's New York Yankees ticker-tape parade.

Share your parade stories, photos

2009-11-06T13:57:13Z

I am jealous of those of you heading to the New York Yankees victory parade down the Canyon of Heroes today.

Feel free to share your experiences by dropping a 'FanPost.' Or, if you get any photos you would really love to share use the 'FanShot' option and let us see them.

Enjoy, gang!

"Long is the way...

2009-11-06T13:15:14Z

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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And hard, that out of hell leads up to light."

That's how it felt in 2001 and 2004. The way those seasons ended were the equivalent of baseball hell. An error and bloop single in the ninth inning of game seven in 2001... and of course the (in)famous and unprecedented collapse in 2004.

Because of those tragedies, the recently ended drought (eight years to the day, in fact, since game seven in 2001) seemed about twice as long.

Even the additions of Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez weren't enough. We had the best player in baseball and couldn't get it done. He couldn't get it done.

Then it got even worse for Alex. He had a messy divorce, hooked up with a crazy woman, and got exposed as a cheater. On top of all that, he received news that he might miss the whole 2009 season with a hip injury. It was his own personal hell.

No one could have predicted at the time, but that sequence of events was probably the best thing to ever happen to him.

When his PED usage came out and hip surgery sidelined him for a month, it seemingly allowed him to become 'care-free.' An A-Rod that once seemed to care what the fans and media thought of him all of a sudden didn't. Frankly, he seemed happier and more comfortable with himself. Whether that actually made him a better ballplayer is debatable, but from my own experience, I always work better when I feel comfortable - don't you?

As far as Kate Hudson goes, she seems like a sane, down-to-earth woman. A far cry from Madonna. (Quick aside: how cool would it be to have Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn as parents-in-law?)

The hip surgery went far better than anyone could have expected. A-Rod missed one month and was still able to compile 30 homers and 100 RBI. He even stole 14 bases! In fact, the surgery went so well that the additional surgery that was to happen this off-season may not be needed at all.

So thank you Selena Roberts, thank you Kate Hudson, and thank you Dr. Marc Philippon. We now live in a world where Alex Rodriguez has won the World Series.

I'm happy for...

2009-11-06T04:36:51Z

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

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I was happy for a lot of our guys when they won the pennant, but I'm positively giddy thinking about the team now.

We can now look at every guy on the team and say: 'He's got a ring.' No one will ever take that away from them. When they're 50 and retired, we know they'll have at least one incredible memory from their playing days. And although I'm just a fan, it makes me happy.

The young duo of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. They were drafted by the Yankees in 2004 and 2006, respectively. What fortune they had! What if Pittsburgh or Washington had taken them? They'd be settling in for a career of last place finishes and nary a playoff appearance. Instead they're at the pinnacle of pro baseball in just their third big league year. They'll both go on to hopefully have long, successful careers, but last night was something they'll never forget.

Alex Rodriguez had, to say the least, a tumultuous season. From Selena Roberts to hip surgery to Kate Hudson to postseason MVP. So many doubters... and he showed them all with a monster playoff run.

In Hideki Matsui's first year with the Bombers, they won the pennant but lost the World Series. It took him six years to get back, and he made sure not to lose another one. His humility and respect for the game is rarely seen today, and it has been amazing to watch a player of his class for seven years.

Joe Girardi got slammed so many times this year. But after it's all said and done, he is the manager of the title-winning team. For as bad as he may have been, he has a World Series ring. If there's any quality to really admire in Joe, it's his work ethic. He looks like he could still play, and is probably in better shape than quite a few of his players. He may have made some bad decisions, but you can't say he didn't work his ass of to try to make the best decisions possible.

And we certainly can't forget George III. Despite declining health, he's still the figurehead of the franchise. I was afraid he might pass away before his beloved team could win another title. 'Boss, this if for you.'

(Has anyone else noticed how Hank has been totally pushed aside? Remember when the sons took over, and every other quote was from Hank? That changed quickly. At the trophy ceremony, it was Hal front and center, hoisting the trophy, wearing a 'World Champions' cap and Yankee jacket. Hank was in the back row with no Yankee paraphernalia, sort of watching the goings on and clapping on occasion.)

Belated Words on the 27th World Championship Victory...

2009-11-06T00:17:43Z

I wrote this when I finally got out of bed circa 2:30 in the afternoon.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

My fellow crazies and I were out celebrating the World Series Championship of the New York Yankees up until about 7am. None of us wanted the night to end.

Ball game over. World Series over. Baseball season over.

Listening to asinine hating anti-fans drop the "who's won more in this century" over.

Having to hear people say they "can't wait til the Yankees choke" over.

First year at new stadium over.

Nine years without a ring over.

Ball game over. The Yankees win.

What a night. The hours and day(s) leading up to last night were saturated with critics attacking Girardi for pitching AJ Burnett in Game 5 because it meant not only would Andy Pettitte have to go on short rest for Game 6, but CC Sabathia would have to pitch his 2nd short-rested game in a row, should a Game 7 be needed.

Funny, though, how these naysayers were oddly silent up until the point AJ started getting shelled. THEN it was a fatal flaw. THEN Girardi was a moron. And all I heard about for all of Monday night through 8pm last night was how that move will change the face of the series, and there's no way Andy will be able to go on 3 days rest, and Girardi should be fired, etc.

The consensus was that if the Yankees win the World Series, it was be in spite of Girardi, not because of him. I really couldn't disagree more on this one. And this is coming from someone who spend many a game banging her head against the computer, screaming to no one in particular that Girardi is an idiot for not using [fill in name of bullpen reliever who wouldn't have let up runs, in my estimation].

My dad even said, "Kris, I could have won a championship with that team. Look at them."

True. But how much different are they from any other one of their teams in the last 5 years? What about when they got Randy Johnson? And Carl Pavano? A-Rod? Those were big name guys, and they never brought us to a title.

Something was different this year. There was no Torre doing ungodly things to his pitching staff's arms. There a case study in "Eff you, critics" performance from A-Rod. A relatively steadfast batting order that wasn't seemingly determined by picking names out of a batting helmet. Patience at the plate (cough...Cano...cough).

I don't think it's easy to manage a club no matter how good they are. And the fact that Girardi took this team through the World Series is not something that should be trivialized. He didn't always do thing we agreed with, but his strategy of a quilted motley crew of relievers to support precarious starter situations, worked out beautifully.

The Yankees were able to ride a 3-man rotation through the entire playoffs, all 3 of them going on short rest at some point (some faring better than others). And it worked out. It %&#@E worked out. The New York Yankees are Kings of the World once again.

And my God, it feels good.

The Phillies were good, and put up a good fight, so much so that there was even talk of Chase Utley getting World Series MVP even if the Phils didn't win. (Of course, you can't really make that argument when a guy on the winning team somehow manages to knock in 6 ribbies in one game to tie the World Series record. Thank you, Hideki.)

Ryan Howard was abysmal all series, save one long ball he knocked off Petitte last night to bring the score to 7-3. It was too little too late though, and the Phils weren't able to overcome that kind of damage in a rocking stadium filled to the rafters with fans salivating for, in the words of Cole Hamels, "it all to be over with."

Pedro Martinez was no one where near as sharp as he was when he dueled with AJ Burnett in Game 2. (And of course, now the scapegoat blame gets applied to Charlie Manuel for not taking Pedro out when Hideki came to the plate with bases loaded in the 3rd, with the lead only 4-1.)

The Phils scored on a sac fly by Shane Victorino, who I was half hoping would enter the game with a bloody batting glove and give the Fox announcers something to distract themselves away from hating on the Yankees for 2 seconds.

But the Yankees were doing what they do best, which was knocking the ball all over the park. Even the foul balls were long shots, even the outs were well hit liners. This is to be expected, perhaps, when Pedro is throwing 87 mph fastballs.

When Hideki's 2-strike, 2-out, single put the score at 4-1, I was a little more relaxed, but I never stopped compulsively flicking at my hat brim and pacing and grinding my teeth, until he hit a 2-run double in the bottom of the 5th to make it 7-1, following Mark Teixeira's base hit that had scored Jeter.

A 6-run lead isn't any guarantee, but it was comfortable. And that was when we all started to let it prematurely sink in. The Yankees were going to be World Champions soon.

I think this implosion from good old Petey should be indicative of how short rest or normal rest, an erratic pitcher in his 30s isn't going to always be lights out. I don't think AJ was knocked around on Monday because he wasn't well rested. I think he was beat up because he's AJ Burnett, and that's what he does. He surprises us with either Good AJ or Bad AJ, and let's be honest, we all knew this when we bought him, so let's not act so surprised when he gets chased early.

Pedro gave a mirror image performance of that, but it was a little more untimely than AJ's crap outing. If I were a Phillies fan, I'd point fingers directly at the decision to pitch Pedro in Yankee Stadium for Game 2, when they should have pitched him at home.

And more significantly, the decision to pitch Pedro in Yankee Stadium for an elimination game!! I guess they didn't have much choice in the matter, but if Cliff Lee had pitched instead of Joe Blanton on Sunday, they wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.

(Eh, whatever. Like I care about what the Phillies do with the pitchers.The Yankees just won the World Series. I got all day today to read every last word written about the game, and then all day tomorrow to get lost in the masses of people tumbling into the Canyon of Heroes.)

With 2 outs in the top of the 9th, the bar packed wall to wall, the stadium deafening with every pitch Mariano Rivera threw that made the title that much closer...it started to feel like New Year's Eve. Well, if the year lasted 9 years.

All of us expectantly waiting for the ball to drop, so to speak. All of us exploding in raucous, bleary eyed, delirious, euphoric celebration when it did.

"New York, New York" blared through the streets. Then "We are the Champions." "Empire State of Mind." The text message congratulations. The shots. The dancing. The screaming. The hugging. It was heaven. It still is.

I've kept my mouth shut about retaliating against all the shit-talkers that tried their damnedest to curse the Yankees, who tried to rain on our playoff parade. I've limited my jabs to half-kidding trash talking towards our opponents.

But I wrote in Game 5 postmortem:

If someone makes a point to go out of his or her way to poke the bear, unprovoked, then there's the exception to the rule. Because if the Yankees should end up winning the World Series this year, I will make a pit stop before riding off into the sunset, to dole out heaps of karma three-fold.

Instead of just letting us enjoy the fact our team was playing in the World Series, and that we were really happy and excited about it, NYC was teeming with assholes that wanted us to be as miserable as them. They were unrelenting in their banal insults, their pathetic and predictable Yankee shots.

Maybe we couldn't be bothered, or maybe a part of us was secretly scared that if we responded in kind, that we'd be putting ourselves in grave danger should the Yankees happen to choke it away.

Whatever the reason, it's immaterial now. BECAUSE WE WON.

Everyone out there with your "I can't wait to see them blow it the ALDS" and the "I can't wait til they choke against the Angels" or "I can't wait to see Pettitte get lit up on short rest" etc etc etc... HOPE YOU ENJOY THE NEXT FEW DAYS OF SEEING NOTHING BUT YANKEE COVERAGE.

And I hope your commute to work is significantly screwed up because of the ticker tape parade.

And until the 2010 World Series, the Yankees are the World Champions. So every time you see a fan walking down the street with a Yankee hat on, and your knee jerk reaction is to say something negative, just remember: The Yankees won. And you're out of material.

The Yankees did it. They won their 27th championship, the most of any team in any sport. In the first year in their new stadium, they christened their home with champagne and victory...just as they did to their last stadium, when they won the World Series in its inaugural season in 1923.

Congratulations, Yankees. Thank for you bringing the trophy back to where it belongs.

Thank you for everything that you've given your fans this season.

Thank you for #27.

-CYC

Playoffs MVP?

2009-11-05T23:00:31Z

Hideki Matsui won the World Series MVP by going 8-13 with three longballs and eight RBI. CC Sabathia won the ALCS MVP by going 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA.

But it begs the question: who deserves the postseason MVP?

The candidates are -

A-Rod: .365/.500/.808, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 15 R, 2 SB, 0 CS

Sabathia: 3-1, 1.98 ERA, 36.1 ip, 32 k, 9 bb, 28 h

Matsui: .349/.462/.674, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 5 R

Jeter: .344/.432/.563, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 14 R, CS

Rivera: 5 saves, .56 ERA, 16 ip, 14 k, 5 bb, 10 h

Pettitte: 4-0, 3.52 ERA, 30.2 ip, 25 k, 11 bb, 26 h

Poll

Postseason MVP goes to...

Joe Girardi, Good Samaritan

2009-11-05T22:31:38Z

Have you heard about Joe Girardi's adventurous ride home after Wednesday night's World Series victory? Seems Joe Girardi ended up playing Good Samaritan at the scene of an accident.

Amazing way to end an amazing night.

By the way, Derek Jeter will be on David Letterman tonight.

Funniest moment of the celebration last night. Check out Joba at the 2:00 mark...

2009-11-05T20:49:06Z

Funniest moment of the celebration last night. Check out Joba at the 2:00 mark...

Texts from a Red Sox fan

2009-11-05T20:30:36Z

I saved my cousin's texts for just this day.

June 10 - after the Yanks had dropped their seventh straight to Boston, 6-5, he said: 'GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

My response: '18-1' (he's a Pats fan)

Him: 'No - 7-0.'

Me: '26-7 is more like it.' (WS titles)

Him: 'Typical Yankees fan - still living in the past!!!'

Me: '2000 was so long ago! Wake me when you get within 10!!'

Him: 'It was long ago when you throw 2004 & 2007 in between. I'll wake you the next time the Yanks win one if you haven't fallen into a coma.'

Me: 'Sox fans like to think baseball began 5 years ago.'

Him: 'No, we're well aware they were playing in 1912. The other time we began the season 6-0 vs. the Yanks. Oh, and won the WS.'

Me: 'Oh - clear connection there. 1912 is a great predictor of 2009.'

Him: 'Oh, not a prediction. Just a fact. Like the fact that WE OWN YOU!!!'

Me: 'Sounded like a prediction.'

June 17

Him: (A photo of someone wearing a shirt that read: "Jesus hates the Yankees") 'LOL......... :) '

Me: '26 titles says that he doesn't. Not that I care.'

July 12 - after the Yanks were swept by Anaheim

Him: 'Back to a 3 game lead before the break - Perfect!!!'

September 20

Him: 'So the Sox are going to KC and the Yanks are going to LAA..... Hmmmmmm.'

Me: 'Talking shit from 2nd place?'

Him: 'Yup - We've won the whole thing from 2nd. :) '

So now the question is: what do I send him to rub it in? A photo of the Yanks celebrating? Just the number '27'?

Anatomy of an at-bat: Hideki's two-run homer

2009-11-05T16:00:33Z

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

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Hideki Matsui's two-run shot off Pedro Martinez in the second set the tone for the game and increased the Yankees' chances of winning 16% (the most in the game). It made the game 2-0, and was the key hit in his World Series MVP credentials.

Here's the AB:

Pitch 1: 2-seam FB, low and in, called strike

#2: FB, up and away, foul (hit hard)

#3: FB, up and in, ball

#4: FB, outside, ball

(McCarver says Matsui doesn't need to look for a curveball because he hit one for a homer in Game 2. A rare piece of solid analysis from McCarver, as Matsui doesn't see a non-FB all AB.)

#5: FB, up and in, foul

#6: cutter, inside, ball

#7: cutter, low and inside, foul

#8: FB, down the middle, sayonara baseball!

Pedro does not have a 95 MPH fastball anymore, yet he pitched Matsui like he did. That was a big mistake. Of the eight pitches, at least five were four-seam fastballs. Pedro can top out about 90-91 nowadays. He threw an 89 MPH fastball right down the middle (the most hittable pitch of the AB), and Hideki didn't miss it.

The fact that A-Rod walked (Pedro clearly didn't want to throw him strikes) was important, because it meant Pedro didn't want to walk Matsui also. As bad as Posada was hitting, two runners on with no outs is a recipe for disaster. So Pedro threw a 3-2 pitch he knew would be a strike... and Hideki crushed it.

If it's his last game as a Yankee, what a way to go out!

I'll See You At the Parade

2009-11-05T14:06:24Z

I've got a half day from work, so I'll be there.

The New York Yankees parade for 2009 will be held Friday morning, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced after the Yankees wrapped up their 27th World Series championship. Friday's ticker-tape parade will begin on Broadway at Battery Place at 11 AM ET and continue northbound up the Canyon of Heroes to Chamber Street. After that, Mayor Bloomberg will present the Yankees with the keys to the city.

"This is something that never gets old"

2009-11-05T12:37:51Z

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

The New York Yankees celebrate after Game 6 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in New York. The Yankees won 7-3.

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World Series championshp No. 27 is in the books. Remember this feeling, Yankee fans? It's been a while. Hurry up, get to the store, buy some Yankee World Series stuff. Plan your trip to the Canyon of Heroes tomorrow, if you can.

Celebrate. The baseball world is back in its proper order -- with our New York Yankees on top.

Let's sample some of the reaction.

From a couple of the Yankees who have done this a few times.

"It doesn’t get old," Jorge Posada said. "This is amazing. I think you can take it for granted how tough it is."

"I forgot how good it felt," Jeter said before flashing that trademark smile that has made him the face of baseball. "You don’t ever know if you’ll get back here again, which makes this one so sweet. This is something that never gets old."

Joe Posnanski asks 'What made this Yankees team so special?'
So, you can say that there was something different about this Yankees team, something sturdier. The chemistry was better. They had a sense of purpose. And so on. And maybe all of that's true. It's hard to say. Matsui was a part of the last few Yankees teams that did not win. So were Jeter and Damon and Pettitte and A-Rod and those other thirty-somethings who sprayed champagne on each other in the clubhouse. The Yankees have long had Rivera to finish off games, and they have long had expensive starting pitchers with glitzy resumes, and they have been built around Jeter for a long time, and they have always had the New York fans who play their role. So: Why THIS Yankees team? Well, the Yankees were once again a terrific team. And as for the rest -- it probably comes down to that most unsatisfying of clichés: It was just their year.

USA Today says the Yanks were simply relentless
The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series with a performance that was more relentless than heroic, more a testament to their depth than the often remarkable talent on their roster.

So short on starting pitching that they began considering in September the option to use three starters for most, if not all, of the playoffs? Going through a World Series with the majority of the lineup struggling to hit .200?

It didn't matter. In the end, the Yankees had so many players with so much talent that inevitably someone would come through.

Phillies know they were outclassed

In this best-of-seven tournament, the Yankees pitched better, hit better and made the big play more often than the losers.

Their $201 million lineup lived up to its credentials, making a strong case that this is the "Team of the Decade."

The Phillies didn't deserve to keep their title. The Yankees had the edge in virtually every department.

"They were just a better team," said Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who blasted a two-run homer off winning pitcher Andy Pettitte in the sixth inning. "They outplayed us. We have to tip our hats to them."

If this is goodbye ...

What a way for World Series MVP Hideki Matsui to go out.

Matsui wasn't just great in the World Series. He was Reggiesque -- and Ruthian in his own way. 32 years after Reggie Jackson made the old lady across the street his personal playground, Matsui used another Game 6 to cement his Yankees legacy, driving in a World Series record-tying six runs to lead the Yankees to a 7-3 win and their 27th World Championship. His Fall Classic numbers are astounding: a .615 batting average (8-for-13) with a double, three home runs, eight RBIs and a 1.385 slugging percentage (the second-highest in World Series history among players with at least 10 at-bats).

Matsui and Reggie stand together with their Series RBI records. Matsui stands alone as the first pure DH to be named World Series MVP. For a player whose time in the Bronx may have run out, Matsui won his ring by taking over two of the biggest cities in the world, New York and Tokyo. And on a personal level, it was the ultimate validation on why he relocated to another country.

"I'm certainly aware that I represent Japan in that sense as a baseball player, but more so in my mind I feel that I am a member of the Yankees -- I'm a Yankee baseball player," Matsui said. "Being here, winning the World Series, becoming World Champions, that's what you strive for here.

"There's no doubt this is the greatest moment for me."

27! King of the Hill!

2009-11-05T04:50:51Z

Arod, Jeter, Rivera, Teixeira, Sabathia, Matsui, Pettitte, Hughes, Posada, Burnett, Damon, Marte, Swisher, Chamberlain, Cano, Coke, Robertson, Cabrera, Aceves, Gardner, Molina, Wang, Cervelli, Hinske, Hairston, Kennedy, Pena, Bruney, Nady, Guzman, Gaudin, Mitre, Ransom, Veras, Ramirez, Berroa, Cash, Duncan, Miranda, Melancon, Albaledejo, Claggett, Dunn

Ladies and gentlemen of Pinstripe Alley, your World Champions.

I'm proud to say that these Yankees are cut from the same never-say-die cloth as the Phillies. Every game was a battle and every AB brought me more butterflies than any game I can remember. Here's to all the Philly fans who made their way to PA in the last few days with class and respect. Here's to the Phillies for the tensest, most exciting World Series in several years.

The Yankees have shown perseverance. They have show their talent and determination. They are the champions we have wished and prayed and hoped for.

Yankee fans, your faith has been reward.

Matsui is MVP.

World Series Game 6: It ends tonight.

2009-11-04T23:30:25Z

by Seth Wenig - AP

It ends here.

View full size photo »

"Have you ever seen Gattaca?"

"Um. Oh. Yeah. With Halle Berry?"

"Huh? No..you're thinking of Gothika. Wait, you've seen Gothika?"

"No."

"Then why did you say--ok, nevermind, the point is, there's this part in the movie where these 2 guys, who always have these swimming competitions with each other, are like treading water in the middle of the ocean, and one guy says, 'How did you do it? How do always, always beat me?' and the other guy says, 'You know how I did it? I never saved anything for the way back.'"

That was a conversation I had with my sister after Game 5.

The Yankees don't need Game 7. The 2009 baseball season ends tonight.

Put everything in. Andy Pettitte with short rest. Pedro Martinez with long-history. A Yankee line-up whose made a living just-besting their postseason opponents. A fanbase that's teetered on nerves, anxiety, but always hope.

A team that's been waiting for this for 9 years.

Never save anything for the swim back.

Because it ends tonight.

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees

11/04/09 7:57 PM EST

Philadelphia Phillies	New York Yankees
Jimmy Rollins - SS	Derek Jeter - SS
Shane Victorino - CF	Johnny Damon - LF
Chase Utley - 2B	Mark Teixeira - 1B
Ryan Howard - 1B	Alex Rodriguez - 3B
Jayson Werth - RF	Hideki Matsui - DH
Raul Ibanez - DH	Jorge Posada - C
Pedro Feliz - 3B	Robinson Cano - 2B
Ben Francisco - LF	Nick Swisher - RF
Carlos Ruiz - C	Brett Gardner - CF