There’s nothing like November baseball – The Phoenix Pub World Series Preview/Rant

I fully expect to see this scene by the weekend.

We’ve reached the apex of the 2009 baseball season.  This will be baseball’s 105th World Series, and will match the New York Yankees (of 40 appearances and 26 world championships) against the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phillies are the defending champions, having defeated the upstart Tampa Bay Rays last year.

It goes without saying that ultimately, baseball has gotten extremely lucky to have this matchup be it’s penultimate for this largely forgettable season.  Clearly, the National League offered up some tasty choices in St. Louis and Los Angeles, as well, but with the Phillies being the defending champs, it allows them to have the “to be the man, you have to beat the man” swagger they should have in this Series.  For the Yankees, they are the diamond-encrusted franchise in MLB history, as much as most are loathe to admit.  They were the best team for the majority of the season in the American League and walked fairly cleanly through the Twins and the Angels to make it to the Series.  Let’s talk about each teams strengths and weaknesses, shall we?

The Phillies strengths:  Hitting, overall team chemistry, attitude, leadership and intensity.  In other words, the Phillies are a deep, veteran bunch who have been through the ringer of a World Series before, and have won it.  They are built to hit home runs and are very similar to a traditional American League club in that regard.  There are no breaks from 1-6 in their lineup, as Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth and Ibañez have been a virtual Murderer’s Row all season long.  Getting signifcant contributions from Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz has helped the post-season effort along nicely, as well.  The team seems to really like each other and pull for each other, which you would expect of a core group that’s been together through the wars.  The leadership element is evident from the top down, as the players all seem to respect Charlie Manuel.  Charlie is not a tactical genius, but he commands the attention of the players, who speak extremely highly of him.  The on-field leadership of Chase Utley cannot be understated, either.  He is the quiet commander of the infield, and even when his throwing went a bit cockeyed in the Dodgers series, he never wavered and continued to play and keep his head up.  That’s the kind of quiet intensity and leadership he’s grown into.

The Phillies weaknesses:  Relief pitching, starting pitching beyond Cliff Lee, corner defense and a bandbox ballpark.  The Phillies will sink or swim in this Series based on their pitching.  Lee must be able to work at his preferred quick pace in Game 1 and will rely on the umpires to keep the Yankee hitters in the box in that regard.  If the Yankee hitters are allowed to interrupt his preferred rhythm, it could prove disastrous for the Phillies.  Starting Pedro Martinez in Game 2 is a calculated risk.  He’s had both major success and failures against the Yankees, and I would wager that his adrenaline will be pumping in Game 2.  Assuming the Phillies are able to steal one of the games in New York, it will come down to the bullpens to hold the lead, more than likely in Game 2 as Pedro really isn’t a complete game pitcher any more.  Brad Lidge’s issues have been well documented, and despite his success thus far in the playoffs, it remains to be seen whether or not he’s truly over his issues.  Joe Nathan was a feared closer this season for the Twins and he melted down completely in the cauldron of Yankee Stadium playoff baseball.  In terms of the Phillies defense, both Werth and Ibañez are not speed-burners capable of chasing down balls in the gaps, but Werth does have an outstanding arm to make up for it.  The Phillies are always seemingly hurt by home runs that would be long outs in a lot of ballparks, especially to right field.

The Yankees strengths:  Hitting, starting pitching, leadership, team chemistry, relief pitchers named Rivera.  The Yankees have a Murderer’s Row themselves, especially with the way that Derek Jeter has rebounded at the plate this season.  A lineup with him, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texiera, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui will certainly wreak havoc on any pitching staff.  Jeter is the catalyst, as always, and he certainly always helps his teammates by taking a lot of pitches to get an idea of what each pitcher brings to the table.  His leadership is not to be questioned, and when it is said that he is an all-time Yankee legend, that is certainly something to be recognized given their history.  The starting pitching, led by CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett has been quite formidable this season, and having savvy vet Andy Pettite as the third starter is a big advantage for them.  Nick Swisher has clearly loosened up this club this season, as well as Burnett, and it’s always a bit jarring to see them actually celebrating, high-fiving, and generally smiling as for years, the Yankees were very business-like.  Mariano Rivera has been lights-out again in this post-season, so if the Yankees can get to him, it’s usually game over.

The Yankees weaknesses:  Relief pitching not named Rivera, team speed, managerial experience, bench players.  The Yankees bullpen in just trying to get to Mariano Rivera has been a hodge-podge this season.  It’s run in fits and starts, and it’s certainly not in the form it once was.  Joba Chamberlain has leveled off in terms of effectiveness, and the other relievers have been used in sort of a mix-and-match fashion as needed.  None have stood out, in my mind.  The Yankees have never been known for team speed, but are smart on the basepaths to make up for not being speed demons.  Joe Girardi is experienced, but there have been questions about his ability to think a few moves ahead in terms of both his lineup and his pitching staff.  The bench picks in the Angels series were a bit baffling, to be honest, as they had two players that were essentially only there for pinch-running duties.  It remains to be seen whether or not this will cost them in the World Series.

The pick:  I expect all of you to make picks in comments, too, so we can measure who does best.  I’ll say this.  I like the Phillies chances here.  I firmly believe they can steal game 1 tonight in New York as they have good history against CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee has been lights out thus far.  Pedro has been really better than advertised thus far and it will be important for him to get out to a good start.  The Phillies are a fantastic hitting club, and the Yankees are as well.  This is strength versus strength, quite frankly, but the Phillies manage to find a way.  I just have a feeling about the Phillies in six.  What do you think?

The RANT:  Look, you all know that Bud Selig and I aren’t exactly best mates.  I would like to punch Bud squarely in the gonads with a rusty nail between my knuckles.  How he’s allowed television to dictate his schedule is abominable.  It’s a farce that Game 7 of this series, if it gets that far, will take place on November 5th.  I understand the death of the double-header was a necessary economic step, but this season needs to be shorter.  If the Rockies, who had made the playoffs and have recent history of making the World Series, had managed to do so this year, they would be facing up to 24 inches of snow in Denver today.  Baseball needs to reconsider it’s schedule and length of season.  This situation is laughable and I sincerely hope that it snows or we get freezing rain at some point to emphasize this to Bud and his pack of underlings.  Let’s also just assume that I’m going to hate the Buck and McCarver Road Show for the next week, as well.  McCarver is likely warming up his Whitey, Mickey and Yogi stories as we speak.

That’s it.  Enjoy the games and make series picks in comments.

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Put the Glass Down

Tags: 2009 World Series, Two Yellows
Categories: Daily Specials

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Daily Specials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.