Cold nights. Bright lights. Rowdy fans. The 2009 World Series will be the best we’ve seen since the Florida Marlins defeated the Cleveland Indians in 1997. I know baseball fans wanted a matchup between the Dodgers and the Yankees, but who wants to watch the series any more? important of the year played in daylight? in LA though? I do not. The World Series belongs under the lights, in the Northeast. Ok, it shouldn’t be exclusively in the northeast. (However, most of the most passionate sports fans reside in the Northeast. This is not an East Coast bias. It’s true.
The most important reason is the environment. Here in the Northeast, we spend half the year trapped indoors. Apart from the amazing color of the leaves in the fall and some pretty spring flowers, we have very little to get excited about. Fans of the Mountain and Pacific time zone have year-round beaches, incredible mountains, canyons, and vast forests with incredible wildlife. We have squirrels, deer, and Ed Rendell. Northeasterners are better and more passionate fans because they have more time and fewer distractions. Look at it, I’m not lying. Oh yeah, most of us aren’t as rich as the Southern California crowd, either.)
Well, back to business. I expected a lot from the 2009 MLB Playoffs. After 3 sweeps, the Phillies’ 3-1 and 4-1 wins, and a less-than-exciting 4-2 American League Championship Series, you could say I’m upset. However, baseball can still make up for me. A seven-game (I’ll settle for six) back-and-forth affair between the Phillies and Yankees will heal all my wounds from the 2009 playoffs. Not too much to ask for a competitive World Series, is it? Since the aforementioned 1997 series, there have been five sweeps, three 4-1 blowouts, one 6-game series and two that went the distance (7 games). For the biggest series in the playoffs, that’s less than impressive. Until a few years ago, I had the same complaint with the NFL Super Bowl. A season full of competitive games usually led to a monotonous explosion in the biggest showcase of the season. Don’t let me down, baseball. I can’t handle much more.
By the way, I loved the 1997 World Series for several reasons. I will briefly list them for you.
– It was a wild series in which neither team could string together multiple wins.
– It was the full seven games.
– There was snow in game three; this raises the emotion level by at least two points.
– In addition to the snow, 11 runs were scored in the ninth inning of game three.
– Darren Daulton was on national television, seven times.
– I loved watching the Cleveland offense and hearing the tribal drum.
– It was the first time I saw a pitcher (José Mesa) with a crazy colored glove.
– Gary Sheffield’s batting stance.
– A series-clinching hit in the bottom of the 11th with two outs. FYI, this is the short version. I loved this series.
Well, back to work (again). Every newspaper, sports network, website, and blog has already broken down every aspect of this series, so I’m not going to bother here. Instead, I’ll give you a few other things to look for as the best World Series in over a decade unfolds (fingers crossed, fingers crossed).
This is one of the few World Series in the last decade where the two teams present an intriguing matchup without regard to talent, rosters, managers, etc, etc. The 2000 Series between Yankees and Mets (existing hatred), and the 2002 Series between Angels and Giants (EVERYONE hated Barry Bonds) were the others. The unique aspect of the 2009 Series is that the Phillies and Yankees don’t genuinely hate each other; fans do. When fans have extreme disdain for opposing fans, it often translates to locker rooms or, in this case, the clubhouse. I talked to some friends in the New York area in the last few days and they confirmed that Yankees fans are generally Giants fans. In case you’re new to sports, the Eagles have an archenemy who goes by the name “Giants.” Look, these fans really hate each other. Combine the fan hate with Rollins’ guarantee and the addition of Brett Myers to the roster, and I guarantee we’ll see some fireworks before this series is over. It’s not like the Yankees to fight, but the setting and intensity may require some guerrilla tactics.
While I can’t confirm this, if you surveyed major league pitchers on which ballpark they least like to pitch in, these two ballparks would rank in the top three. Even cold air won’t be enough to bring down the number of long flies we’ll see throughout the series. This series also pairs the strongest offenses in their respective leagues, two of the three highest slugging percentages in baseball (NYY 1, Boston 2, PHI 3), three of the top 10 HR hitters in MLB this year (would have been four if A-Rod was healthy all year), and a total of 12 players with 80-plus RBI (Yankees- 7, Phillies- 5). So yes, there will be some offense in this series. Can’t say I’m disappointed either.
Obviously, I’m more than excited about the potential offensive attack of the series. There are also three individual matchups that I can’t wait to see. The first is the battle for POM, or “First Offensive Masher”. Will it be A-Rod or Ryan Howard? Alex Rodriguez is without a doubt the best player in baseball. He has shown it in this postseason. Howard is one of the most feared offensive forces in the game. If these two engage in a classic “match this” battle, we’re in for a real treat. The second confrontation is that of the closers. We all know that Mariano Rivera governs October (and the other 11 months). Brad Lidge, on the other hand, has bounced back from a shaky regular season to perform well in the playoffs thus far. However, Lidge hasn’t faced a team in a save situation that has a hitter (other than Manny) who can tie or win the game with one hit. The Yankees lineup is full of these players. A bad pitch in a close game could cost Lidge and the Phillies more than a hit or a jam of runners. The final showdown is between the backup sluggers. The series may be decided by Mark Teixeira and Jayson Werth. If A-Rod and Howard stay active, both Teixeira and Werth will have plenty of RBI opportunities. The player who has the best series will play a significant role in who ultimately wins this series.
It is important that we recognize the multitude of reporters who will be covering this series. It’s not easy taking notes at a Charlie Manuel press conference. Here is a fictitious example. Charlie says, “Yeah, uh, I like that, uh, duh, uh, Jimmy played that ball real good.” A reporter must somehow interpret what Charlie really means. He will allow me. Charlie wanted to say, “You know, Jimmy Rollins is a great shortstop. He played that ball to perfection. He stayed low, attacked the ball and made a hard, accurate throw to beat the running back.” Not everyone can translate Charlie’s mother tongue. It is a special gift.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the dugout camera is fantastic. This is the creme de la creme of dugout cam ball sticks. If you could choose from all 30 teams, you couldn’t find two bench performers like the Phillies and Yankees. That’s why we look. My Quick Dugout Camera View Guide:
- Shane Victorino talking to a teammate as the teammate seems overwhelmed by the speed of Shane’s speech. This makes me laugh every time. The teammate is always thinking, “Shit, your lips are moving almost as fast as your legs.” Big fun.
- Multiple close-ups of Pedro Martinez’s mullet/afro/perm. I haven’t decided which one it is yet.
- A- Cane/Jeter Butt Grips
- The antics of Nick Swisher, the guy is crazy.
- Joe Girardi melting his brain over every managerial decision. Always look for the 958-page scan report folder behind you, Joe. You know, the one you referred to when you screwed up Game 3 against the Angels.
- Keep track of how many times you mistake Matt Stairs for a bullpen receiver. It happens to me all the time, “Hey, why is the bullpen catcher in the dugout? That doesn’t seem right … oh, my mistake. It’s just Matt Stairs.”
- Does Derek Jeter’s hair move… ever? It is 2009, there is no documentation to prove otherwise. This is perhaps the biggest controversy in baseball since the Pete Rose fiasco. Steroids is a close second. The excavated chamber could crack this case wide open.
Larry Bowa. Poor Larry. For the past several years, however, Bowa has been employed by the Philadelphia Phillies or the New York Yankees. In 2008, Bowa followed his friend Joe Torre to Los Angeles to coach the Dodgers. Since joining Los Angeles, Bowa has had ringside seats to the Phillies’ annual demolition of the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. Now, he can watch the two former teams meet in the World Series. Maybe Larry shouldn’t have followed old Joe to la-la land. Anyway, I love Larry Bowa. If I were rich, I’d pay a large sum of money to have him yell at me when I screw up. How this is relevant to anything, I have no idea. I made this note last week and refused to leave it out.
Take a look at:
“Who is your daddy?” reigning songs of the Yankee faithful at the second game in the Bronx. This goes back to Pedro’s days in Boston when he said after a loss in New York, “I just take my hat off and call the Yankees my dad.” Gotta love playoff baseball.
Hideki Matsui’s earlobes. I love Matsui, but you could hide a little boy behind those things.
I promised myself that this time I wouldn’t make jokes about CC Sabathia’s pants. (Trying not to write one, trying so hard, almost getting over the temptation) Ok, Ok, Ok, I can’t do it… If the winds pick up in the Bronx, there’s a good chance DirecTV won’t. be the only airship in the sky. Wow, I feel much better.
At some point during the first inning (or first innings, I can’t remember), the Yankee faithful chant the names of each of the Yankee fielders until they recognize the crowd. this is great. Again, the more organized and intelligent the fans are, the closer the “sport” is to reaching its full potential.
Best-case scenario ever: FOX Guest Analyst Ozzie Guillen interviews Charlie Manuel as Charlie is presented with the Commissioner’s Trophy as 99.9% of American households collectively say, “Huh?”
Prediction: Uhhh, the Sixers will struggle at the beginning, middle and end of the season. (PS: I don’t necessarily believe this, but it’s too easy to make fun of the 76ers. I can’t resist.)