Who's on First...: Mark Teixeira and Ryan Howard may not face off directly against each other, but the two first basemen are two of the most feared hitters in a series chalked full of feared hitters. Ryan Howard enters the Fall Classic with a .355 batting average and two mammoth home runs, and on the heels of a three dinger World Series last year. Teixeira, meanwhile, is hitting .205 during these playoffs and has only one home run in 54 career postseason at bats. All that said, a great 2009 World Series will cure all.
Upon further review, the Hare Really Did Beat the Tortoise...: With all due respect to a legendary fable teller, there is no chance Aesop was a baseball fan (of course, given the fact he died in 560 BC, I suppose we can give him a free pass on that one).
Slow and steady may win the race, but in baseball it gets you 85 wins and a second place finish. The Phillies and Yankees both proved that you can go through slow spells if you get hot when it counts. Between June 6 and July 2, the Phillies went 6-15. Back on May 12, the Yankees were 15-17 and were written off as a postseason after thought. But these have been the best two teams when it counts and here they are. Now the only question is which one can stay hot.
It's not exactly Buckner walking back into Shea...: But Pedro Martinez is back in New York, at the new Yankees Stadium. Pedro started out a hero in New York for the Mets, but ended an outcast. This of course all comes after being the villain to New Yorkers while he was in Boston. Now he returns to start as the surprise Game 2 starer. And all of this from a guy who couldn't get a job until the trading deadline.
Rain, rain, come and stay. Let my ace start another day... : It's the one aspect no one talks about, but Mother Nature has a say in our Fall Classic. Rain is in the forecast for Game 1 in New York, and it's being predicted a major storm may be coming around just in time for Game 3 in Philadelphia. That gives both managers a chance to start their aces in Game 4, and presumably a deciding Game 7. Both Joe Girardi and Charlie Manuel have interesting decisions regarding when their aces will pitch, but the rain can make their decision much more easier.
When Bernie Williams and Chuck Knoblauch collide...: Here's a scenario for you. Some 15-year old kid in Manhattan is driving around right now with his learner's permit, and he has no recollection of the Yankees ever winning a World Series championship because he was in kindergarten the last time it happened. Meanwhile, he's teased at school by Boston's fans for being a postseason choker.
The recent dichotomy of the Yankees is wildly intriguing. On the one hand, they are America's elite professional sports franchise with an unmatched 26 world championships. On the other, it's been nine years since Williams caught the final out of the Subway Series. So are the 2009 Yankees more like Scott Brosius and Charlie Hayes or Chuck Knoblauch and Jason Giambi? World Series title No. 27 is waiting to find out.
Who said there is no tying in baseball... : Because of heroics in July from Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones and Carl Crawford, the Yankees have the home field advantage for the World Championship. Meanwhile, the Phillies are getting apologies from Heath Bell, Brad Hawpe and Tim Lincecum because of failures on a summer night in St. Louis. I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how that makes for a meaningful October story line...
But here's the good news. October shows us every year, that the best story lines, are the ones we never see coming.
