World Series -- Phillies @ Yankees

[catman]

Phillies strike the first blow, winning tonight 6-1. Cliff Lee went the distance and CC Sabathia pitched well enough to win most times out. The crowd was pretty silent in the 9th inning.

[Marc]

Quite a big margin of defeat for the home team. Where were the Bronx Bombers on offense? Or maybe it was just the Phillies' pitching.

[catman]

I'd say it was a bit of both. CC wasn't as sharp as I've seen and the Philly bats were going pretty well. On top of that, Cliff Lee was as good as I've ever seen him.
Tonight was a bit of a different story, though. Burnett had his good stuff and Pedro didn't, although he pitched well enough to win most games. The Yankees needed this win or the series would have been really short. Now, they need to show that they can win in Philly.

[Marc]

Random fact from PTI: Philly only loses Game 2s, and is 8-0 in the rest of the playoffs. This series is still a toss-up, with the only advantage being Mariano for NYY. But even he is giving up hits.

[catman]

The Yankees need to have ARod get his stroke back. He hit very well in the LDS and LCS, but has struggled in the series.

[catman]

The Yankees have taken 3 in a row now and only need to win 1 more to take their 27th WS. All of this with Mark Teixeira's bat being pretty silent.

[catman]

The Phillies live to fight another day. Utley hit 2 more and Ibanez got 1 -- an absolute bomb.
Lee didn't have his best stuff, but pitched well enough to win the game.
Phillies 8-6 with Madson getting a "shaky" save.

[doublee]

Given that Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez have struck out 21 times in this series how is Chase Utley seeing any pitch that is within three feet of the strike zone?

[catman]

That is a head-scratcher, isn't it, although Ibanez hit an absolute bomb last night.

[Marc]

I'm beginning to think Girardi's decision to only start three pitchers on short rest is going to be a grave, grave mistake. Old veteran Pettitte starts tonight on three days (starts, technically, err) rest, and the last time he did this was 2001. If the Yankee bats come through, NYY stands a chance, but using this small rotation is risky.

I bet NYY will pitch around Utley and make Howard beat them. Who would have thought that?

Props to A-Rod for more clutch play after a slow start in the Series. I think the Yanks close it out tonight, despite my concerns over their tired arms.

[catman]

Well, the Yankees did what they were paid to do. They won tonight's game 7-3. Howard finally hit a homer for the Phillies, though -- too little, too late.

[Nate]

Congrats to the Yanks for successfully buying another championship...

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Nate

Congrats to the Yanks for successfully buying another championship...

Like I said on Twitter, I have to take issue with this. I understand how people may resent the Yankees as being the big bully with all the money. But from my perspective, they simply do all they can to win a title. They don't break any rules by having an expensive roster. If YOU had Steinbrennar's money, wouldn't you want to spend, spend, spend so you had the best players, and thus better shot of winning? It's commendable that they want to be the best and thus spend the money. I have no sorrow for teams that just want to save money and don't seem to want to win.

[doublee]

Originally Posted by Marc

I have no sorrow for teams that just want to save money and don't seem to want to win.

The problem with that line of thinking as it pertains to comparing the Yankees to other teams is there are only a handful of teams that can afford to even spend half of what the Yankees due and not have to declare bankruptcy. They have to save money to remain solvent and make payroll. Granted there are some teams that probably do not spend as much as they could on major league talent but let us not kid ourselves into thinking everyone in major league baseball can spend $120 million a year on salaries.

The major issue folks have with the Yankees is they have such a huge financial advantage that theoretically creates a competitive imbalance. I truly believe the finanacial imbalance in baseball is what has led to it falling so far behind basketball and football in terms of popularity. The salary cap constraints in those sports allow more teams to remain competitive and retain their top talent year after year whereas fans in cities like Pittsburgh, Miami, Washington, etc. have no reason to follow their teams because they know once someone who comes along who looks like a future All Star he will be dealt to or sign with a team willing to give him the $100 million contract he commands on the open market.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by doublee

The problem with that line of thinking as it pertains to comparing the Yankees to other teams is there are only a handful of teams that can afford to even spend half of what the Yankees due and not have to declare bankruptcy. They have to save money to remain solvent and make payroll. Granted there are some teams that probably do not spend as much as they could on major league talent but let us not kid ourselves into thinking everyone in major league baseball can spend $120 million a year on salaries.

The major issue folks have with the Yankees is they have such a huge financial advantage that theoretically creates a competitive imbalance. I truly believe the finanacial imbalance in baseball is what has led to it falling so far behind basketball and football in terms of popularity. The salary cap constraints in those sports allow more teams to remain competitive and retain their top talent year after year whereas fans in cities like Pittsburgh, Miami, Washington, etc. have no reason to follow their teams because they know once someone who comes along who looks like a future All Star he will be dealt to or sign with a team willing to give him the $100 million contract he commands on the open market.

I agree with this: Sports Central / Sports Articles and Columns / MLB / Stop Blaming the Yankees

Basically, the Yankees maximize what they can do to win within the rules and parameters of MLB. Don't hate them, hate the system when it comes to inequality.