(Wire)
As the start of the 2009 World Series approaches on Wednesday, Big League Stew takes a look at five early story lines involving the Yankees and Phillies.
1. Sweet repeat for Philadelphia?: The Phillies have a shot at becoming the first National League team to repeat as champs since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds, but there’s more to this story than a simple mimicry of the Big Red Machine. The NL hasn’t had any two teams go back-to-back since a four-year Senior Circuit run from 1979 to 1982 and a victory over the pinstriped class of the American League would only add to the achievement. With a strong core that screams extended success, the Fightins’ are already among the most-beloved Philly teams of all time. If they win the Series, they’ll join the 1948-49 Eagles and ‘74-75 Flyers as the only repeat champs in the City of Brotherly Love.
2. Yankees aim for No. 27: How large does the Yankees’ title total loom in New York? Shortly after being hired in Nov. 2007, Joe Girardi showed up at Yankee Stadium and clearly stated his goal through the simple choice of his jersey — No. 27. The Yankees have been stuck on 26 championships since beating the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series and with the end of this decade fast approaching, there’s nothing they’d like more than to match the Red Sox for most titles in the ’00s. And since George Steinbrenner continues to fight serious health problems, his sons Hank and Hal would surely like to reward their father’s expected trip to New York with at least one more winning turn in October.
3. Cliff Lee(notes) vs. CC Sabathia(notes): It’s the Game 1 matchup that only a Clevelander could hate. The two lefties both won Cy Youngs while pitching for the Indians — CC in ‘07, Lee in ‘08 — but they’ll now be facing off in the Fall Classic after being traded by GM Mark Shapiro over successive summers. It’s hard to imagine a meeting between two better pitchers right now. Lee is 2-0 this postseason with a miniscule 0.74 ERA and he’s coming off a NLCS Game 3 start that ranks as one of the best in recent memory. Sabathia, meanwhile, just won the ALCS MVP and has a 3-0 record with a 1.19 ERA this postseason. He’ll have to answer questions about wilting against the Phillies in last season’s NLDS with the Brewers, but that’ll be small road bump before what should be a great game on Wednesday night. Can you imagine Lee and Sabathia facing off in Games 1, 4 and 7?
4. A-Rod vs. Ryan Howard(notes): This is the batter’s box equivalent of Lee-Sabathia, because both superstars have treated the postseason as his personal batting cage. Both A-Rod and Howard tied Lou Gehrig’s record of eight straight playoff games with an RBI (though only Howard’s eight came in the same postseason) and both have opened up opportunities for the hitters around them. If you were picking a postseason team from the pool of remaining players, you’d pick A-Rod because of his positional value, but it’d be a tough decision at designated hitter with the way that both are swinging the bat. Luckily we’ll get to see them play at Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park, which are both conducive to homers.
5. Philadelphia vs. New York: The two cities are separated by about 100 miles of New Jersey and have a long history of no love lost (check out this 1852 New York Times article if you don’t believe me). All previous days in the rivalry, however, are going to pale in comparison to Sunday. That’s when the Yankees and Phillies will stage Game 4 in south Philly, just hours after the Eagles and Giants play at the football stadium just across the way. If the National Guard hasn’t already been summoned for what could be a long day between fans of New York and fans of the city New Yorkers call their sixth borough (when they’re feeling nice), it’s probably best to go ahead and do so now.
Senior Editor and Managing Director of MainAttraction.