The 2009 World Series Thread

[fryingdutchman]

OK....I will clearly be biased as a native Philadelphian, but here is the 2009 World Series thread!

The Phillies are looking to repeat as World Champions, which would make them the first NL team to lock up back-to-back championships since the Big Red Machine did it back in the 70's.

Last night....Game 1 in Da Bronx. The Phillies dismantled C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee shut down the Yankee offense virtually single-handed. Lee was a magician on the mound last night, and he left the Yankee hitters in a state of shock.

Tonight...Game 2. Pedro Martinez goes for the Phils against A.J. Burnett for the Yanks. Martinez is a big game pitcher who has had a stellar post-season thus far.

Share your World Series thoughts and predictions here.

And oh yeah.... GO PHILLIES!!!!:biggrin:

http://www.pimped-out.info/imgs/bkgs/mlb/bkg-mlb-phillies2.jpg

[Little Texan]

I'm rooting for the Phillies since I hate the Stankees. I hope they sweep them!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Well, the Phillies are among the 15 or so MLB teams that can actually afford to resign their players rather than trade them/let them walk as free agents when their contract is due to expire. That's opposed to the also-rans in Pittsburgh, Washington, Oakland, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Cincinatti, Kansas City and a few others, that are nothing more than feeder teams for the big spenders....

MLB blows, and will continue to blow until there's a salary cap, which will never happen because small-market teams have no backbone.....

Having said that, and this will be the only time in my sports rooting history, I'm actually rooting for a Philadelphia team....

Anybody but the Yankees...

[fryingdutchman]

I'm actually rooting for a Philadelphia team....

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I knew we'd get to you....eventually!!!!!!!:biggrin:

[Va Beach VH Fan]

The ONLY time....

[fryingdutchman]

The ONLY time....

Mmmmm hmmmm...........sure!;)

Until next year when we go for the THREE-PEAT!!!:biggrin:

[lesfunk]

Fuck the Yankees with a big Rubber dick. Then break it off in their ass and beat them to death with the rest of it!
Phillies will be the 2nd team this century to win 2 world series championships.

[High Life Man]

Both teams are cunts. Hate 'em both.

Philly has a swagger to them though. What would have happened if they would have pulled the trigger on the firing of Manuel a couple years ago?

[fryingdutchman]

Both teams are cunts. Hate 'em both.

Philly has a swagger to them though. What would have happened if they would have pulled the trigger on the firing of Manuel a couple years ago?

Why hate on the Phillies?

Oh wait. I just saw that you're from *ahem*:hee:.....Milwaukee!:lmao: I understand your anger in the wake of 2008.

Just kidding...

This Phillies team is clearly the best ever assembled in franchise history. They do have a swagger, but it's not overstated. It's a quiet confidence, unlike that of the Yankees that they like to wear on their sleeves.

Speaking of the Yankees, what the fuck is with their fans? They BLOW when it comes to helping their team. From the beginning of Game 1, they seemed very "ho hum" about the whole thing. You didn't hear a peep from them until about 9:30 last night....midway through GAME 2.

Are they that cocky and self-assured that they think they have this sewn up? Or are they just back on their heels because they got rocked in Game 1?

Say what you want about us Philly fans...but whether we're leading or trailing in a game, we're gonna be LOUD and work hard to fuck up the other team.

[TAKIN WHISKEY]

Go Phils!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

The bottom line is that when you have a sport, whether that's pro, college or pee-wee, that has a system in which approximately half of the teams have virtually no shot at winning the championship before the season even starts, that is an unfair league....

A league's economic system should not be determined by the wealth, or lack thereof, of the owner....

There are exceptions of course...

The Twins have done a great job in hanging in there for the past several years... But if the league had a salary cap, they would have had a better chance of re-signing him, rather than trading him for four mid-level Mets prospects in '08....

How about Oakland ?? Everyone keeps saying how great Billy Beane is, but look at the players that he's had to dump - Zito, Mulder, Hudson and even this year with Holliday....

Cleveland is this year's perfect example - Both starters in the Game One of the World Series were Indians' salary dumps....

I could of course mention my Pirates, there are dozens of players I could mention, but the Bucs' incompetency is as much to fault as the MLB economic system....

So basically, it comes down to this; The small-market teams can afford the entry-level contract, and maybe if they're lucky, resign their best player to one big contract... What most can't do is resign their best players, which leads to the salary dump trades....

What they also can't do is do what the rich teams do; Keep trading mid-level prospects for taking on the big contracts, as well as even having the capability to sign big ticket free agents...

But listen to Selig, and everything's just ducky....

[fryingdutchman]

Awwwww fuck.

This is not good....

[Hardrock69]

Lifetime Yankees fan. But my company has been doing some business with one of the Phillies pitchers, so if they win, I am not going to complain. :)

[Diamondjimi]

Here's some fans celebrating!

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[Bob_R]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/11/05/yankees/yankees_500.jpg

[Cato]

I'm proud that I do resemble Matsui a bit. :cato2:

[Va Beach VH Fan]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/11/05/yankees/yankees_500.jpg

Yawn, what a shocker....

[fryingdutchman]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/11/05/yankees/yankees_500.jpg

Terrific. Congratulations and FUCK the Yankees.

The Yankees didn't win the Series....Philly lost it. Our bats went cold and the pitching was marginal with the notable exception of Cliff Lee.

If the Phillies played at the level they were at during the NLDS and NLCS, they would have sent the Yankees packing after 5 games.

The Yankees are lucky that Matsui got hot and A-Rod woke up...otherwise it was game over.

See you next year, assholes.

[Guitar Shark]

The only thing I hate more than the Yankees is the media for giving them the attention that they get.

Fuck the Yankees.

[Bob_R]

Yawn, what a shocker....

Sore Loser. Maybe the Pirates will finish .500 next year if they dedicate themselves to winning instead of trading players away which shows they don't care about winning. Can't blame the Yankees if other teams don't care.

New York Yankees 2009 World Champions and you can't do a thing about it! :tongue0011:

[Bob_R]

Terrific. Congratulations and FUCK the Yankees.

The Yankees didn't win the Series....Philly lost it. Our bats went cold and the pitching was marginal with the notable exception of Cliff Lee.

If the Phillies played at the level they were at during the NLDS and NLCS, they would have sent the Yankees packing after 5 games.

The Yankees are lucky that Matsui got hot and A-Rod woke up...otherwise it was game over.

See you next year, assholes.

Grow up dude. What a fucking baby. Yeah, the Yanks didn't win it the Phils lost it. What a mature, accepting statement.

Yankees are the best team in baseball this year anyone that can't admit that is an asshole. :biggrin:

[fryingdutchman]

Grow up dude. What a fucking baby. Yeah, the Yanks didn't win it the Phils lost it. What a mature, accepting statement.

Yankees are the best team in baseball this year anyone that can't admit that is an asshole. :biggrin:

Settle down, Francis.

Sure I'm going to have some sour grapes. I have no problem accepting that the Skankees won the series....but that doesn't mean I have to LIKE it.

Bottom line is that the Phillies had a lot of chances to win a couple of the games that they lost. But they simply failed to produce. If they had, the series would have had a much different outcome.

None of the Yankee's pitchers did anything impressive with the exception of Burnett in Game 2. Sabathia was marginal, and Pettitte was very hittable.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Sore Loser. Maybe the Pirates will finish .500 next year if they dedicate themselves to winning instead of trading players away which shows they don't care about winning. Can't blame the Yankees if other teams don't care.

New York Yankees 2009 World Champions and you can't do a thing about it! :tongue0011:

Sore loser is not an accurate term.... Sore loser would indicate that the Pirates and about 10 other teams have a realistic chance of winning the World Series, which of course they do not....

I don't begrudge the Yankees, they're merely operating under the sham of an economic system that MLB uses....

If MLB would ever get to a salary cap (and a salary floor, by the way), you'd see ALL the teams operate under the same economic umbrella...

But of course that'll never happen, and with this economy we'll continue to see the rich get richer....

[Bob_R]

Settle down, Francis.

Sure I'm going to have some sour grapes. I have no problem accepting that the Skankees won the series....but that doesn't mean I have to LIKE it.

Bottom line is that the Phillies had a lot of chances to win a couple of the games that they lost. But they simply failed to produce. If they had, the series would have had a much different outcome.

None of the Yankee's pitchers did anything impressive with the exception of Burnett in Game 2. Sabathia was marginal, and Pettitte was very hittable.

Only if you settle down, Mary.

Of course, the Phillies didn't capitalize on their chances. But, the Yankees did. That's sports. Tex and Cano didn't hit this series. What if they did?

Utley was 4 for 6 vs. Sabathia. The rest of the Phils 7 for 45. I'd say Sabathia did just fine.

And, of course you don't have to like it. But, accept it like a man.

[Bob_R]

Sore loser is not an accurate term.... Sore loser would indicate that the Pirates and about 10 other teams have a realistic chance of winning the World Series, which of course they do not....

I don't begrudge the Yankees, they're merely operating under the sham of an economic system that MLB uses....

If MLB would ever get to a salary cap (and a salary floor, by the way), you'd see ALL the teams operate under the same economic umbrella...

But of course that'll never happen, and with this economy we'll continue to see the rich get richer....

Whatever.

You'd love it if the Pirates owners cared and spent money like the Steinbrenners.

As far as the economy goes. Thank you George Bush.

[Guitar Shark]

Yankee fans are more annoying than the team itself sometimes.

[Bob_R]

I'm a lover not a fighter, so you guys have a nice day now ya hear? :)

[fryingdutchman]

Yankee fans are more annoying than the team itself sometimes.

Especially in light of the fact that they didn't even show up as any kind of a factor until 3/4 of the way through Game 2.

They got kicked in the balls in Game 1, and got all sulky and quite (speaking of crybabies, Bob R)

Then they spent most of game 2 being the same way until the game was virtually in the bag. ONLY THEN did they get loud.

Posers....the whole lot of them.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Whatever.

You'd love it if the Pirates owners cared and spent money like the Steinbrenners.

As far as the economy goes. Thank you George Bush.

That's the point Bob. MLB economics shouldn't be based on which owner has the deepest pockets...

It should be like the NFL, where all teams equally share their revenue, as well as a salary cap, to have it as close to parity as it can....

[damngoodtimes]

Bob, you ignorant slut.

you keep saying "cared" as if that was the deciding factor on who wins and loses. it's not like the Steinbrenners are losing money on this. they haven't decided, "I CARE so much about my team that I'm willing to operate this thing at a loss. I'll spend my own money just so we have a winner."

probably the only guy doing that right now is the guy in Detroit, where the economy is so shitty that he has no right spending 9 figures on payroll.

the biggest difference between MLB and the other sports is that most of the revenue comes not from national TV contracts (which are shared), but from local TV contracts. the larger markets (more people = more eyeballs) can generate much more ad revenue than the smaller ones.

this is exacerbated further by gate revenue, which is related to the same thing. even with two teams in NYC, you need a much smaller &#37; of the population to attend a ballgame. this not only increases attendance but, more importantly, allows you to charge more per ticket.

all of this is evident in the teams that succeed in MLB. all of the final 4 teams were among the top 8 payrolls. if you go back to the time since the strike, there have been 15 WS and 10 of them have been won by a team from one of the top 5 markets.

...and it's getting worse, 5 of the last 6 have been won by top 5 markets, and by 4 different teams. the one that wasn't a big market was an 83-win team that got hot in October (St Louis). but the trend goes back to the last strike. the current economy is exacerbating the impact, but the problem is much deeper. the economy will rebound, but baseball might not.

now, I'm a capitalist. if this were just business, I'd say let the strong survive. but this is on-the-field competition that, by definition, requires an opponent. these are franchises who are all just local divisions of the big entity that is MLB. and MLB should not be competing business-wise amongst itself, it should be competing with the NFL and NASCAR and Dreamworks and Sony Entertainment and the Rolling Stones tour.

if this keeps up, they will keep losing fans, the national money will shrivel, teams will go out of business, and the Yankees will have nobody to play against.

THAT'S the fuckin' problem. I don't mind a guy cheering for his team, but do it with a dose of reality. I'm an Ohio State fan, and, while I enjoy winning the Big 10 regularly, I do it with some humility knowing that the Buckeyes have an advantage over the rest of the schools (with Michigan and Penn State the big-boy exceptions). College football can thrive because they have built-in fan bases (called students and alumni), plus they play for a lot more than just the ONE national championship. There are conference titles and rivalries and trinket games (the Old Oaken Cock, etc).

but baseball and the other pro sports have a lot fewer teams and play for just one brass ring. the Yankees (and Boston and a few others) have the deck stacked in their favor; it's just a fact and, frankly, it ought to take just a little bit of satisfaction away from a title. If you're too much of homer to acknowledge that, then you've got a problem.

[Guitar Shark]

You picked a good username because that was a damngoodpost.

[lesfunk]

I believe in a salary cap, but only for the Yankees

[VanHalenFan5150]

I think the Phillies should learn how to properly throw a fucking baseball. They beaned A-Rod 4 times total, they kept throwing out of the strike zone, etc.

They weren't playing fair because they were losing! The bastards.

[damngoodtimes]

A-Rod should be beaned every time he comes to the plate..

[damngoodtimes]

Too short for a column by Rick Reilly on espn.com

LAST UPDATED 11.06.09

They're having a parade because the New York Yankees won the title? Why not throw one because a bear ate a salmon? Or a hurricane knocked over a trash can? Hey, the bully just gave the nerd a wedgie! Let's throw a parade!

Look, the Yankees played well. But isn't that what the Yankees are supposed to do? They paid their players almost twice as much as the Phillies team they beat -- $208M to $111M. Just the Yankees starting infield made more than 15 teams this year. Throw them a parade? I don't get it. So what? George Clooney got a girl, Paris Hilton slept in satin sheets last night and Bill Gates went to the bank. Call me when you've got some news.

Oh -- and the next Yankees fan who looks to the heavens and sighs happily, "It's been nine long years!" gets tied to the front of the 4 train and run into a wall. Nine years? Nine years is a cigarette break to most teams in MLB. Chicago Cubs fans are at 101 years and counting. Cleveland Indians' fans: 62. New York/San Francisco Giants: 55. Pittsburgh Pirates: 30. Gee, nine whole years? The Boston Red Sox waited 86 years for theirs. The Chicago White Sox -- 88! There are people in swine flu lines longer than nine years.

Hope your parade takes a wrong turn off a pier.

[Guitar Shark]

A good read here, for those of you who aren't sick of the topic:

Joe Posnanski » Blog Archive » The Yankees Payroll (http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/11/05/the-yankees-payroll/)

[POJO_Risin]

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[POJO_Risin]

kind of says it all...