What a great postseason for New York fans. Sorry, let me specify: New York YANKEES fans. All Yankees fans still have smiles on their faces. The other New York fans...not so much. The Mets were plagued with injuries all season long. To top it all off, their New York rivals play their division rivals in the World Series.
Anyway, the Yankees deserve credit. Yes, they did have more money to spend than anyone else in the league, but they earned that money. It seemed like all the pieces finally fit together for them this year. Year after year the Yanks would trade for some big-name player and they wouldn't get anywhere. This year, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett came to the Bronx with the same goal as the rest of the Yankees: to win a championship ring. 2 years ago, when Joe Girardi became manager, he chose to wear number 27 on his back for the sole purpose of pursuing the Yankees 27th World Series Title and his first as a manager. Jeter, Pettite, Posada and Rivera each earned their 5th World Series ring, and other players like Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano won their first. But it seems right for one of the quiet Yankees this year to earn World Series MVP. Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with 6 RBIs yesterday along with a home run, and in just 13 World Series at bats, he batted .615 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs. In the regular season, Matsui quietly hit 28 home runs despite missing 20 games.
Looking at the Phillies in this series, they just couldn't come through in the end. Ryan Howard hit a home run in the 6th inning of Game 6, but it took 51 innings in the World Series for the slugger to hit one. Chase Utley played great baseball, hitting 5 HRs (2 multi-HR games) in the series, but the Phillies really didn't hit well enough to keep up with the Yankees. They would have been the first NL team to repeat as champions since the Reds did in 1976, but they fell short by 18 innings.
Nonetheless, the 2009 season is over. It should be an interesting off-season as Matsui is now a free agent along with many big-name players in the MLB. 2010 will be a new season, the only difference is that now, the New York Yankees are the reigning champions.
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