Mano-a-Mano: Why the Yankees Beat the Phillies

By: MODI

 

Congratulations to the New York Yankees on their 27th World series title.

The series was comprised of various man-a-mano storylines that told the bigger story (besiiiiiides the money!). Here they were:

Girardi over Charlie:

Referring to yankee manager Joe Girardi’s decision to start three pitchers on three day’s rest, PTI’s Tony Kornheiser yelled into the camera, “If the Yankees lose the World Series, Joe Girardi should be fired!”  Many other pundits continued on for days as if pitching on three days rest was something that even David Blaine should never attempt at home.  As it turns out, Girardi should be praised for managing the World Series like it were well — the final games of the year. Both Sabathia and Pettitte turned in solid performances despite the short rest. Meanwhile, Charlie Manuel might spend the whole off-season wondering what might have happened if he started Cliff Lee in Game 3 and nullified a second decent outing by CC. If you lose with your best, off-season sleep comes much easier.

CC over Cliff Lee:

The stat sheet technically says otherwise, and Lee was undeniably dominant for the Phils. However, only one former Cleveland Indian really wanted the ball on three days rest, and some more fire on Lee’s part may have changed the complexion of the series. There are times to demand the ball and force your manager to say no.

Matsui over Martinez:

Had Philadelphia had home field advantage, Pedro could have ended up 2-0 instead of 0-2. Besides Matsui, Pedro baffled the Yankees with 88 mph fastballs and 72 mph change-ups. The crafty old man really pitched quite well – even to Hideki Matsui whose first home run in Game 2 was on a tough breaking ball low and inside. This would stick in his memory as four games later he would throw Hideki nothing but fastballs in an 8-pitch at-bat that ended in another pivotal home run.  Subtract Matsui’s five RBIs, and Pedro only lets up only two runs (one after he left game) in three post-season outings.  Oh and on his way to winning the World Series MVP, Matsui swatted a measley .615…

Pettitte over Hamels: 

The battle over the #3 starters and past World Series heroes was no contest. Ol’ reliable Andy scores two big wins, and Cole is relieved the series is finally over.

Damon over Lidge: 

Call it “The At-Bat”. Johnny Damon nicked or fouled off pitch after pitch against a seemingly dominant Lidge before finally singling with two outs in the 9th inning of a pivotal Game 4. Then he stole second base. On the same play he notice 3rd base was not covered and had the immediate werewithal to take it. The play was huge as a potential wild pitch would now cause a run. As announcer Joe Buck pointed out, Lidge could no longer afford to liberally throw his nasty slider which would often find the dirt. Enter ARod.

ARod over Howard:

These RBI machines both dominated the playoffs in historic fashion leading up until the World Series, and this was the leading preview narrative. But only one would come up clutch in the World Series. The Game 3 home-run off the camera was huge, and the double off Lidge put the final nail in the coffin of all the ARod haters. And despite a low World Series average, he quietly posted a .426 World Series on-base percentage (higher than Chase Utleys!). Had ARod had Howard’s World Series, Mike Lupica would have had his next 365 columns already written. But he too will have to come up with a new idea.

Jeter over JRoll:

Did the blandest interview in sports actually talk a little trash after the series victory? You bet. After the victory he said, “You know, we heard a lot of predictions coming into this series”. Derek was referring to his fellow all-star short-stop and friend Jimmy Rollins who predicted a 5-game Phillies victory. Jeter’s World Series average? .407. Rollins? .217

Cano over Chase: 

Okay, not quite! After swatting 204 hits during the regular season, Robinson Cano flat out disappeared. Meanwhile Chase Utley was the Phillies only Kryptonite to Super Sabathia. While Utley will go down in the history books by tying Reggie Jackson’s World Series record of five home runs, his series heroics were a little bit misleading. In games he hit, he completely dominated. At the same time, Utley actually went hitless in three separate World Series games. Very interesting.

Mariano over History:

All four Yankee wins ended with Mariano Rivera on the mound. Rivera’s legend was accentuated in a post-season where blown saves were the latest fad. It wasn’t just Brad Lidge’s nightmare inning. A dominant John Papelbon also got tagged for three runs despite not blowing a save in over two months while posting an 0.94 ERA over his previous 18 appearances. Joe Nathan hadn’t blown a save over a month until his first post-season inning rendevous with ARod. How did the Dodgers season end? See Jonathan Broxton. How did LA beat the Cards? With help from Ryan Franklin. The Angel’s Brian Fuentes? Yup, he blew one too. Do we really need to get into Huston Street? For those scoring at home, every single playoff team had a closer collapse assist them out of the playoffs …except the Yankees.

After 133 postseason innings with a 0.74 ERA spanning over 15 years, it is time to drop all of the qualifiers like best post-season reliever. There is a grand canyon between Rivera and all other relievers (yes, Trevor Hoffman also bombed in post-season) that exists for no other position in baseball or possibly sports. Even saying best post-season pitcher might be inaccurate (only Bob Gibson is in that discussion). What might be most accurate is to state that Mariano Rivera is the best post-season player that the game has ever seen.

And that’s why the Yankees Beat the Phils…

 

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