The New York Yankees celebrate with the trophy after their 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Six of the World Series. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK -
The shortest curse in baseball history is over. Third-graders everywhere who had never seen the Yankees win the World Series in their lifetime can now sleep easy.
The Yankees ended nine years of title-less slumber — granted, a mere catnap for some franchises — when they beat the defending champion Phillies 7-3 Wednesday night before 50,315 at Yankee Stadium to win the 2009 World Series in six games.
"This team deserves to be standing here," Derek Jeter said after dousing his girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly, with champagne. "They had the best record all year, they played great baseball."
Hideki Matsui, in what might have been his final game with the Yankees, drove in six runs to break the game open by the fifth inning. Matsui, the DH who couldn't even start the three games played by NL rules in Philadelphia, was nevertheless the Series MVP, with eight hits, three homers and eight RBI in only 13 at-bats.
"I love New York, I love the Yankees," said Matsui, who is soon to be a free agent. "Right now, I'm very happy."
Andy Pettitte, who started on short rest in a bold move by manager Joe Girardi, pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win, his 18th in postseason play and his sixth to clinch a playoff series, both extending records. Pettitte, Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who got the final five outs, have all earned their fifth World Series titles with the Yankees and catcher Jorge Posada his fourth. Alex Rodriguez, who joined the Yankees in 2004, helped win his first, erasing his own record of postseason futility.
Matsui, the top star in Japan for a decade, joined the Yankees in 2003 and finally won the championship ring he came a long way to earn.
The Yankees, who won their 27th championship, had not won since 2000. The eight seasons in between were filled with failed free agent signings and frustrating losses in October, including the 2001 and 2003 World Series and the 2004 ALCS, when they blew a 3-to-0 lead against the Red Sox. For a franchise so used to winning, it was an eternity.
But this year belonged to the Yankees. The additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher created a new Yankees team to go into their $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium, and the fit was perfect. The Yankees jelled in the second half, beating the Red Sox nine of 10 games in August and September to win the AL East going away, then they swept the Twins in the Division Series, and beat the Angels, a past postseason nemesis, in a six-game ALCS.
"This team's willingness to be unselfish and play the game right," Girardi said, "that's why we won."
After losing the first game to the Phillies, they won Games 2, 3, 4 and 6. They beat former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez in Game 2, and Matsui clobbered him almost singlehandedly Wednesday night with a two-run homer in the second and a two-run single in the third. The Yankees added three more in the fifth on Teixeira's RBI single off Chad Durbin and Matsui's two-run double off J.A. Happ, then it was just a matter of counting down the outs until they could get to Rivera.
Pettitte breezed into the sixth, when Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer, and he left after Raul Ibanez's double. Joba Chamberlain took over, and left with a jam in the seventh. Damaso Marte struck out Chase Utley, who'd hit five homers in the Series, on three pitches to end that inning, and got the first out in the eighth.
Rivera got the final five outs, retiring Shane Victorino on a grounder to second to touch off the wild celebration.
"It just makes us more determined to come back next year," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We got a good team and we love to play baseball."
The Yankees ended nine years of title-less slumber — granted, a mere catnap for some franchises — when they beat the defending champion Phillies 7-3 Wednesday night before 50,315 at Yankee Stadium to win the 2009 World Series in six games.
"This team deserves to be standing here," Derek Jeter said after dousing his girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly, with champagne. "They had the best record all year, they played great baseball."
Hideki Matsui, in what might have been his final game with the Yankees, drove in six runs to break the game open by the fifth inning. Matsui, the DH who couldn't even start the three games played by NL rules in Philadelphia, was nevertheless the Series MVP, with eight hits, three homers and eight RBI in only 13 at-bats.
"I love New York, I love the Yankees," said Matsui, who is soon to be a free agent. "Right now, I'm very happy."
Andy Pettitte, who started on short rest in a bold move by manager Joe Girardi, pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win, his 18th in postseason play and his sixth to clinch a playoff series, both extending records. Pettitte, Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who got the final five outs, have all earned their fifth World Series titles with the Yankees and catcher Jorge Posada his fourth. Alex Rodriguez, who joined the Yankees in 2004, helped win his first, erasing his own record of postseason futility.
Matsui, the top star in Japan for a decade, joined the Yankees in 2003 and finally won the championship ring he came a long way to earn.
The Yankees, who won their 27th championship, had not won since 2000. The eight seasons in between were filled with failed free agent signings and frustrating losses in October, including the 2001 and 2003 World Series and the 2004 ALCS, when they blew a 3-to-0 lead against the Red Sox. For a franchise so used to winning, it was an eternity.
But this year belonged to the Yankees. The additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher created a new Yankees team to go into their $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium, and the fit was perfect. The Yankees jelled in the second half, beating the Red Sox nine of 10 games in August and September to win the AL East going away, then they swept the Twins in the Division Series, and beat the Angels, a past postseason nemesis, in a six-game ALCS.
"This team's willingness to be unselfish and play the game right," Girardi said, "that's why we won."
After losing the first game to the Phillies, they won Games 2, 3, 4 and 6. They beat former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez in Game 2, and Matsui clobbered him almost singlehandedly Wednesday night with a two-run homer in the second and a two-run single in the third. The Yankees added three more in the fifth on Teixeira's RBI single off Chad Durbin and Matsui's two-run double off J.A. Happ, then it was just a matter of counting down the outs until they could get to Rivera.
Pettitte breezed into the sixth, when Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer, and he left after Raul Ibanez's double. Joba Chamberlain took over, and left with a jam in the seventh. Damaso Marte struck out Chase Utley, who'd hit five homers in the Series, on three pitches to end that inning, and got the first out in the eighth.
Rivera got the final five outs, retiring Shane Victorino on a grounder to second to touch off the wild celebration.
"It just makes us more determined to come back next year," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We got a good team and we love to play baseball."
