Yankees beat Phillies to win 27th World Series title
Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball's best again.
Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title - the most in all of sports.
It was the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.
"It feels better than I remember it," Derek Jeter said. "It's been a long time."
Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch.
What a way for Alex Rodriguez and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one championship.
It certainly ended a lot better than it started - with a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.
"My teammates, coaches and the organization stood by me and now we stand here as world champions," said Rodriguez, who admitted using steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas. "We're going to enjoy it, and we're going to party!"
For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.
Utley tied Reggie Jackson's record with five home runs in a Series. But Ryan Howard's sixth-inning homer came too late to wipe away his World Series slump, and Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees' machine.
"I told them that I loved the way they played. We're fighters and never quit," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "We want to keep what we got as far as attitude and chemistry."
In a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day that the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on Luis Gonzalez's broken-bat single off Rivera.
Steinbrenner spent billions trying to win another Series. At long last, his team did.
Fittingly, it was dedicated to the 79-year-old owner, who has been in declining health and didn't make the trip from his home in Tampa, Fla.
Still, his presence was felt.
"Boss, this is for you," the giant video screen in center field flashed during postgame ceremonies while his son, Hal, the team's managing general partner, accepted the championship trophy.
"The Yankees won. The world is right again," team president Randy Levine said.
For the Four Amigos, it was ring No. 5.
Jorge Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in 1996.
Now, all on the other side of age 35, they have another success to celebrate. And surely they remember the familiar parade route, up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes.
"It's an honor for me to win a championship with those guys. They are Yankee legends," Mark Teixeira said.
But, hey, Babe and Yogi, Mr. October and Joltin' Joe - you've got company. Teixeira, CC Sabathia and a new generation of Yankees have procured their place in pinstriped lore.
Moments after the final out, Joba Chamberlain and Nick Swisher led a victory lap around the warning track, carrying flags that read "2009 World Series champions."
Players high-fived fans, then sprayed bubby behind the mound - the same sort of celebration Philadelphia enjoyed just last year after beating Tampa Bay.
"We think we can be back here again and again. We have a great squad," closer Brad Lidge said.
New York wasted its chance to wrap things up in Game 5 at Philadelphia, then set its sights on clinching the World Series at home for the first time since 1999.
While nine years between titles is hardly a drought for most teams, it was almost an eternity in Yankeeland.
New York's eight seasons without a championship was the third-longest stretch for the Yankees since their first one, following gaps of 17 (1979-95) and 14 (1963-76).
Jackson's three homers in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers made the Yankees champs in '77. On this November night, Matsui delivered a sublime performance at the plate that must have made Mr. October proud.
"It's awesome," Matsui said through a translator. "Unbelievable. I'm surprised myself."
Playing perhaps his final game with the Yankees, Matsui hit a two-run homer off Martinez in the second inning and a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch in the third.
A slumping Teixeira added an RBI single in the fifth off reliever Chad Durbin, and Matsui cracked a two-run double off the right-center fence against lefty J.A. Happ.
A designated hitter with balky knees, Matsui came off the bench in all three games at Philadelphia. Still, he had a huge Series, going 8 for 13 (.615) with three homers and eight RBIs. His go-ahead shot off an effective Martinez in Game 2 helped the Yankees tie it 1-all.
Bobby Richardson was the only other player with six RBIs in a World Series game, doing it for the Yankees in Game 3 against Pittsburgh in 1960. Richardson had a first-inning grand slam and a two-run single in the fourth.
Matsui's big hits built a comfortable cushion for a feisty Pettitte, who shouted at plate umpire Joe West while coming off the field in the fourth. Still, Pettitte extended major league records with his 18th postseason win and sixth to end a series.
The 37-year-old left-hander, pitching on three days' rest, became the first pitcher to start and win the clincher in all three postseason rounds. He beat Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels in the AL playoffs.
Pettitte lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and five walks. Chamberlain and Damaso Marte combined for 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief before Rivera secured the final five outs.
"You don't look at it as a failure," Howard said. "We had a great season. We just got beat by the better team."
It had been nearly a half-century since players had won five titles with one team. The last to do it? Of course a bunch of Yankees: Yogi Berra (10 titles), Mickey Mantle (seven) and Whitey Ford (six) in 1962, according to STATS LLC.
For second-year manager Joe Girardi, a three-time Yankees champion as a player, it was the fulfillment of a mission. When he succeeded Joe Torre in October 2007, Girardi chose uniform No. 27, putting his quest on his back for all to see. His tenure didn't start out so well, with New York missing the playoffs in its final season at old Yankee Stadium following 13 consecutive appearances.
Notes:
Howard set a World Series record with 13 strikeouts. ... Derek Jeter batted .423 in the Series. ... Teixeira had been 2 for 20 before his RBI single in the fifth. ... It was the fourth time Rivera got the final out of a World Series. ... Yankees LF Johnny Damon left after three innings with a strained right calf. ... All-Star CF Shane Victorino was in Philadelphia's lineup despite an injured index finger. Victorino was hit on the right hand by A.J. Burnett's fastball early in Game 5 and removed in the eighth inning.
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