 The Yankees and the Phillies are almost mirror images of each other. Both teams have a good pitching staff that took a while to earn the respect of just about everyone (including their fans) and an amazing batting order that can deliver bombs just about anywhere in the lineup. Both teams have fans with World Series tickets that believe they are destined to win this season. The World Series will begin on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at New Yankees Stadium with a pitching duel between the team aces. CC Sabathia just won the ALCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. So far he is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.19 in the playoffs overall. In fact the entire New York pitching staff has been scary good with a 2.46 ERA. Cliff Lee has been every bit as good. He is 2-0 in three games with an ERA of 0.74. The Philadelphia staff has been very good with a 3.04 ERA. The Yankees are supposedly going with a three-man rotation throughout the entire playoffs. The other two starters will be Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. Just about every New York fan can find some comfort in the fact that New York has a fourth starter in Joba Chamberlain ready to go just in case the plan fails miserably. The Phillies starting rotation is rounded out with Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez, and Joe Blanton. Martinez has been kryptonite for the Yankees in the past and Philadelphia has to hope that he remains inspired to beat the Yanks. Hamels struggled through the season and has not had a terrific post season. He is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Blanton is only a little better with a 4.66 ERA in three games (one start). This pitching crisis is not a great omen for the Phillies. They have to hope that their bats can keep them in the 2009 World Series when Lee and Martinez are not pitching. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, and Jayson Werth all had 30 plus homeruns. Nobody could hit over .300, but this team tried to displace a multitude of base runners with speed. Shane Victorino, Ibanez, Utley, and Jimmy Rollins all had more than 20 stolen bases in the regular season. This is an offense that has speed and power to keep the opposing pitchers off balanced. During the postseason Victorino, Howards and catcher Carlos Ruiz have been right on top the ball. Werth has been a home run machine with five in nine games. On fact the Phillies come into the World Series averaging 6.1 runs a game. The New York Yankees only had two 30-plus sluggers with Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. The Yanks had plenty of players in the 20 homerun range (five to be exact). There is not as much speed on the base paths, but Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner are two players that had more than 20 stolen bases. New York had two hitters well above .300. Jeter hit .334 and Robison Cano hit .320. This is a well balanced offense that can do everything in any situation (at least everything but bunt). Alex Rodriguez has been busy erasing any memory of him as a postseason bust. He is hitting .438 with five homeruns in nine games. Melky Cabrera has been patient at the plate as well with a .314 batting average. The scary part for New York baseball fans is that the offense has been somewhat limited averaging a healthy 5.3 runs a game, but necessarily hitting all that great. The question is whether the Yankees poor averages are a symptom of a hitting slump or just the better superior pitching that supposedly exists in the AL. The 2009 World Series is going to be something. The Phillies might be in the midst of a major pitching crisis, while the Yankees might be in the middle of a team hitting slump. No one can quite tell since the teams are from different leagues (which is the beauty of the series). Then again this is baseball, and baseball is a sport of runs, so who knows what will happen. Get your World Series tickets for the games at New Yankees Stadium and Citizens Bank Park and see which team has enough left in the tank to add a title to their trophy case.
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