Yankees-Phillies 2009 World Series Preview and TV Schedule

There will not be a freeway series this year in baseball, nor will there be a cross-country coastal series. There will be an “Amtrak” Series, however.

And hopefully the Phils and Yanks will travel like The Babe did in the old days when they commute back and forth over the next week or so in the Fall Classic.

By virtue of a clutch game 4 win that gave them series control and an eventual second consecutive NL pennant, the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the New York Yankees, fresh off another close victory and series win over the gutsy Anaheim Angels.

Before we get into previewing the 2009 World Series between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, here is a quick look at the TV schedule and probable pitching matchups (which we will update as more information becomes available).

Yankees-Phillies 2009 World Series TV Schedule and Probable Pitching Matchups

While the Phils waited nearly 100 hours to see who they’d face from the AL, New York was busy capitalizing on Angel miscues again (while leaving busloads of runners on base) to take the AL pennant early Monday morning before a hungry crowd at the new Yankee Stadium.

Do we have the two best teams in baseball playing for the world title for perhaps the first time since 2004? Some would argue yes; I might argue no (Chicago and Houston were darn good in 2005, but since they did not play on the east coast, the media would not admit it; the Rays and Phils were arguably the two best in 2008, but Tampa is not Boston nor New York).

In any event, Clifton Phifer Lee and ALCS MVP Carsten Charles Sabathia take the hill Wednesday night to kick of the 124th World Series.

(It’s very sad for an Indian fan such as myself to see the two starting pitchers in the World Series opener be ex-Cleveland hurlers… and the past two Cy Young winners! Even Yahoo Sports, in one of their previews, noted this is “a match up that only a Clevelander could hate.” They then went further with that analysis. Indeed, my wife and I saw Lee and Sabathia pitch in person FOR the Indians back-to-back nights just 16 months ago in Cleveland.)

Reading the New York papers the past two mornings, you’d think the Phillies should not even show up. Long-time NY sportswriter and all around know-it-all, Mike Lupica, has pretty much guaranteed a Yankee victory parade, while all is forgiven of Alex Rodriguez, who plays in his first Fall Classic. Monday’s huge New York Daily News headline deliriously blasted “World is right again” — with the Yanks back as AL Champs.

Aside from the ignorant hyperbole, not all baseball fans are thrilled (in fact, probably the majority) the Yankees will play in the Series. And it’s not their players or even their payroll, but often the unchecked egos of their fans and media, most of whom I know didn’t watch the playoffs the past eight seasons once the Pinstripers were eliminated.

“I am a Yankee fan, not a baseball fan,” one New York friend emailed me last night. Another temporarily blocked my emails when I questioned Joe Girardi’s moves in Game 3. Even the venerable “Paper of Record,” rarely known for their detailed sports takes, has deemed the past few Yankee-less World Series as “clunkers.”

The great fans of Boston, Chicago, Saint Louis, Detroit and Philadelphia might disagree.

Philly fans, who can be abrasive, are now suddenly the underdog for the first time in awhile, despite being the experienced, defending champs. They’re “excited” about this opportunity. But since they were champs last year, shouldn’t the Yankees be “excited” too, or even more ecstatic, since so many of them have never played on the grandest stage? No, they’re the Yankees; they “belong” here. They’re now the sentimental favorite, apparently. A New York-centric view of the world indeed.

One Phillie fan I know, wrote me s such:

“For a team that hasn’t won a World Series in the last nine seasons, they are awfully entitled, thanks to ESPN, SI, etc., constantly declaring them as champions at the start of every year.”

But I truly digress…and apologize.

The Yanks were, in many ways, given games 1, 2 and 6 at home versus the Angels. Their only clutch hit with men on base during Sunday’s clincher was Johnny Damon’s 4th inning single, while overall, aside from the 7th inning of game 5 and throughout game 4’s drubbing, the Yanks relied on homeruns for their offense, mostly solo shots.

Again, give them credit for pouncing on their opponents’ mistakes, but it was sad for any baseball fan to see the Angels implode, considering Anaheim had the best defensive season in franchise history during 2009. The Phils are good defensively too, and will want to avoid those shortcomings, hoping, among much else, that Chase Utley ceases turning the double play like Chuck Knoblauch or Steve Sax.

Old adages and history often tell us that good pitching beats good hitting. And though these teams have no doubt pitched well, they also have the best hitting lineups in baseball, so as usual, the clichés may work oppositely.

Philadelphia has a deeper starting rotation, but is it actually better than New York’s top three?

The Phils, overall, have better position players than the Yanks, especially in the outfield; they have an AL-style lineup, while New York, despite immense power and payroll, played small-ball to beat the Angels in at least two ALCS games. This World Series will probably come down pitching, especially with men on base — like most playoff short series do — but a few key decisions must be made:

• Does New York plan to use Sabathia on three days rest twice (if necessary)? Or will Chad Gaudin, who’s thrown one meaningless inning this postseason, pitch in game 4?
• Is Charlie Manuel right to throw Pedro Martinez in game 2? And is he doing this more to shelter 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels from the Bronx crowd?  Or because he has a hunch about this being a “special” October for Martinez, who knows New York’s hostile atmosphere very well? If the former, how confident can “Jolly Cholly” be if Hamels has to start a game 6 or 7 in NY? Hamels is a key — perhaps THE key — to the outcome of this series. Period.
• Despite Jorge Posada’s one RBI in the ALCS and ten LOB in game 6, is Joe Girardi still going to have Jose Molina catch instead of Posada, and thus have two near-automatic outs in the lineup?
• Is Philly considering Cliff Lee on three days rest for game 4, or do they have confidence in Joe Blanton/J.A. Happ?
• Will it greatly hurt the Yankee offense when they sit Hideki Matsui in Philadelphia? And assuming the Phils DH Raul Ibanez in New York, how much of a lift will putting Ben Francisco and/or Greg Dobbs in the lineup give the NL champs?
• With respect to bullpens, while Philly’s was better than expected in the NLCS, sans Game 2, the Yankees, especially Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain ,were still subpar. Of course, Mariano Rivera was solid, if not spectacular, sans the 8th inning Game 6. Brad Lidge was Rivera in 2008, but this is 2009.

The storylines are splendid, and the two skippers as different as night and day. In the end, will the Yanks hang banner number 27, or will Philly become the first NL squad to win consecutive titles in 33 years?

To me, the first two games should answer those ultimate questions. Therefore my prediction is that if New York takes a 2-0 lead, it’s over. But if Philly can steal one in The Bronx — i.e. if AJ Burnett comes out flat — I’ll take the Phils, perhaps in as few as five games. At least this series will draw huge TV ratings. They’ve already been through the roof this postseason, in spite of all the unnecessary days off between and during series.

Last thought: where would the Yankees be without the capital to acquire Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Burnett, three of the five main keys to their success in 2009, and two-thirds of their starting pitching rotation? The third being Andy Pettitte, who, without steroids, would have retired by now.

By the same token, where would the Phillies be without Cliff Lee and Raul Ibanez? Even I, regularly reticent to utilize such banalities, cannot ignore the “rich getting richer.”

**********

* – C.C. Sabathia photo credit: AP via Newsday

* – Cliff Lee photo credit: The Zo Zone

---------------