Posted on 10/28/2009 11:25:52 AM PDT by The Pack Knight
NEW YORK — A position-by-position look at the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees going into the World Series, starting Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium:
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First Base
Phillies: Ryan Howard. The NL championship series MVP was downright fearsome in the first two playoff rounds, batting .355 with two homers, 14 RBIs, four doubles, a triple and seven walks. All that after hitting 45 home runs and tying for the major league lead with 141 RBIs during the regular season. One of baseball's premier sluggers, the 2006 NL MVP lost 40 pounds last offseason and became a much better all-around player. Without sacrificing power, he improved his defense and speed — and even cut down on strikeouts a bit.
Yankees: Mark Teixeira. After striking it rich as a free agent by signing a $180 million, eight-year contract with the Yankees last offseason, Teixeira was everything his new team could have hoped for. A switch-hitter with a sharp eye, he topped the AL in RBIs (122) and tied for the league lead with 39 homers, making him an MVP contender. While he's hitting only .205 with a homer and five RBIs in the postseason, Teixeira's Gold Glove has made a huge difference and saved the Yankees on many occasions.
Edge: Even.
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The only disagreement I have is that I think the Phillies have an edge in the starting rotation, where Fitzpatrick says they're even. Once you get past the Lee-Sabathia matchup, the Phillies pitching is just better. Also, the Phillies certainly found ways to light Sabathia up in the NLDS last year, though he has looked better this year, particularly with his changeup.
The equalizer might be the weather, since conventional wisdom holds that Pedro can't pitch in the cold. I think that's over-emphasized, though - Pedro's a veteran who knows how to win, and it's not like he's never pitched in the cold before. Still, Charlie certainly went out of his way to keep Pedro from pitching in the cold this post season, so there may well be something to this.
One final bit of shameless self-promotion. Several weeks ago I told my girlfriend, a lifelong Phillies fan who knows her baseball, that the Phillies were going to go with Ibanez at DH in the World Series, with Ben Francisco playing left field. She thought I was crazy and that they were going to go with Dobbs again. Looks like I was right, though, as an Indians fan, I know Francisco a bit better than she does.
Anyway, I hope this facilitates some good World Series talk. It ought to be a hell of a series!
Baseball Ping!
The Fall Classic!
Can’t wait.
Go PHILLIES !!
I watched about every Phils game this year. And these guys are just unpredictable. When they’re good, they’re REALLY good. But there were also stretches when they were just awful and made the opposing pitcher look like Cy Young. In these playoffs, they have been great so far (with the exception of Hamels). The media seems to have them as huge underdogs, but I’m hoping beyond hope they can pull this thing off because the thought of the Yankees winning another championship makes me sick.
Pedro Martinez against the Yankees? Remember how he said, “the Yankees are my daddy,” and that was when he was the top pitcher in baseball. And it remains to be seen which Hamels shows up.
Where’s the Vegas money?
Yankees in 7.....Go Bombers!
“I watched about every Phils game this year. And these guys are just unpredictable. When they’re good, they’re REALLY good. But there were also stretches when they were just awful and made the opposing pitcher look like Cy Young.”
Ditto for the Yankees. When they are on their game they are unbeatable, but they tend to be streaky.
The best thing I’ve seen out of the Phils this post season is the patience at the plate and the fact that they’re stepping up in big situations. They’ve been working a lot of big counts and they get on base a LOT.
While I agree with the author of this article that the Yankees have the edge in the bullpen, I think the Yankees bullpen is overrated until you get to Rivera. If the Phillies can force the Yankees to bring in a lot of middle relievers, which is something they’ve been good at this post season, then they can really break it open. Ideally, they’ll force Rivera to come in early in the 8th inning more than once to wear him down.
No way it's even at first base as the writer stated. Phillies clearly win there - Howard has been an animal during the playoffs.
Also, there are the intangibles. The Phils find ways to win and the last two years have played above themselves in the playoffs. They love the role of the underdog, and all the Yankees hype has somehow made the defending champs into just that.
Phils in five.
If the Phillies can force the Yankees to bring in a lot of middle relievers, which is something they’ve been good at this post season, then they can really break it open. Ideally, they’ll force Rivera to come in early in the 8th inning more than once to wear him down.
I concur. I was not impressed with the Yankees middle relievers during the Angels series. They were barely better than the Angels' middle relievers. OTOH, the Phils' middle relievers did a great job against LA and it looks like Lidge is starting to nail it again. Worried about Hamels. He hasn't really been on his game the whole season. Hope he can at least go 5 innings and keep it close. I'm not expecting for him to dominate - just keep it close. As long as the game is close, Phils always have a chance (as do the Yankees!).
The pundits said that about the Dodger bullpen as well. The opposite happened. And some of that was due to the 2008 LCS. Matt Stairs sent a Broxton pitch into orbit during the 2008 series. And in the Game 4 9th inning rally this year, when Stairs pinch-hit, Broxton didn't get a pitch in the same zip code as Stairs, and that started the winning rally.
The Phils also got to the Rockies closer in the LDS.
YEA YEA YEA GO YANKS! GO CE CE CE CE CE CE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HIP HIP JORGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And now the Yankees have to play National League rules for part of the series, which means a greater probability of needing middle relief. Basically, I think the Phils can play better under AL rules (DH) than the Yankees can play under NL rules (pitcher hits).
And I think Brett Myers should be the DH tonight. Just barely kidding. His nineteen-pitch ABs against Sabathia in the 2008 LDS was something to behold.
Woah, I forgot he said even at first base. Yeah, I’d DEFINITELY take Howard over Texiera. Texiera’s good, but pitchers are downright terrified of Howard, and for good reason.
So that’s two things I disagree with him on.
#27 coming right up!
No Joke, I saw Vegas was giving 2:3 odds that the Television crews show Kate Hudson’s face in the stands at least 3 times in game one. (for those that don’t know, that is A-Roid’s latest piece of tail)
If you would like to be on the ping list let me know.
We’ve only seen him once, but against the Dodgers in Game 2, Pedro’s stuff was downright nasty. He made a lineup of really good hitters look silly for seven innings. He had one fly-out to the warning track and it spooked Charlie... otherwise, the Phils probably would have swept LA.
As a Met fan this is about the worst match up I could think of. I guess I’ll have to go for the Phils b/c they never actually beat us. Also the yankees have just about the most arrogant fans on the face of the earth and to hear their crap for the whole winter would drive me nuts.
Normally I give Charlie the benefit of the doubt, because I don’t know how many times he’s done something that seemed crazy at the time but turned out to be a great move in hindsight. Pulling Pedro made absolutely no sense, though, then or now, and I was about as pissed at that as Pedro seemed to be. He was in complete control of that game, and, even if he hangs a couple and gives up some big hits, I still trust him over the Phillies bullpen. I think that was just plain overmanaging on Charlie’s part, which is something he’s unfortunately prone to do.
GO PHILLIES!
Pedro was on the serious decline in 2004 when he said that. For a stretch of close to 6 years he owned the Yankees though. He pitched a 1 hitter in Yankee Stadium that was about the most dominant performance I have ever seen a pitcher deliver. The Yankees looked like bitches at the plate all night long.
He was a remarkable guy in his prime.
Hughes and the Chambermaid lack the testicular fortitude to dominate in the playoffs.
Myers still slapping his wife around?
Memo to Phillie fans: Don't underestimate Sabathia: he's been a way different pitcher this postseason than last. You may have to think---even with Cliff Lee going in Game One---in terms of Sabathia banking his Ws and just picking apart A.J. Burnett (who's very vulnerable if he gets an early lead) and Andy Pettitte (who isn't invincible in spite of his postseason-record sixteen wins), and maybe Joba Chamberlain the rest of the way.
Memo to Yankee fans: Be afraid. Be very afraid, if the Phillies find a way into the bullpen between the fourth and seventh innings. Having The Mariano is one thing, but if the Phillies can find holes in the starters and open up the pen early, often, and deep enough, considering how vulnerable the season-long effective troika of Hughes-Coke-Joba seems now to be, they can make even The Mariano into a bridesmaid.
Memo to everyone: Both teams flash phenomenal long-ball power; both teams play in yummy-for-lefties hitters' parks; but both teams are very capable of picking the other guys apart with smaller hitting. These teams are just as capable of prying a defence apart with line drives and seeing-eye hits and speed on the bases as they are in long-range strategic bombing.
This won't even be close to a short series, unless either club has a vulnerability I haven't spotted just yet.
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