The Yankees Have To Win

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The World Series starts tonight in New York. The Yankees and Phillies get together in what is a matchup of the two best teams in baseball. With apologies to the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, and Cardinals, these are the best two teams in the sport. It’s the showdown a lot of people predicted before the season got started six months ago.

The Yankees paid for their team, spending over $420M on three players this past off-season (CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira). The Phillies are a mix of homegrown stars (Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Cole Hamels), shrewd pickups (Jayson Werth, Pedro Martinez), and smart trades (Cliff Lee). These are two teams who have different philosophies, but similar goals – winning it all.

These two teams are also very evenly matched. It would be a surprise if this series didn’t go (at least) six games. Tonight’s pitching matchup features a couple of Cy Young award winners in former Cleveland Indians in Sabathia and Lee. The Game Two starters are interesting as well. Pedro Martinez has a ton of history with the Yankees, and New York’s A.J. Burnett would like to pick up his first post-season win this year after a 13-9 regular season (which can be considered a disappointment given the contract he signed this past winter).

The storylines are juicy, too. The Phillies are looking to repeat as World Series Champs (no one has done that since the Yankees three-peat in 1998, 1999, and 2000). The Yankees are trying to win a title in the first year at their new digs. Alex Rodriguez is seeking to put a tumultuous off-season firmly in the rear view mirror by winning a title. Derek Jeter is hunting for his fifth World Series ring.

This series has a little bit of everything. It should be entertaining for the fans. And, given the personalities that are in both locker rooms, there should be no shortage of things to talk about during the course of this best of seven showdown.

Who will win? Well, as much as it pains me to say it, you have to go with the Yankees. They can throw CC twice (at least). The bats are red hot. Andy Pettitte is the winningest pitcher in playoff history. Derek Jeter has a knack for the dramatic at this time of the year. The one weakness – a bullpen that is a question mark right now outside of Mariano Rivera – really isn’t a weakness considering that Rivera has no trouble going two innings for a save if he has to. And Joe Girardi – who caught Rivera earlier in his career – won’t hesitate to ask his closer to do just that. Girardi knows exactly what Rivera can do.

It’s not that the Phillies aren’t up to the task. They are. There are just two things that make me lean towards the Yankees in this spot.

The first thing is that it’s very hard to repeat in this game. The fact that the Phillies have gotten this far is amazing, considering that they were seen as a team in trouble earlier this year (before the Lee trade).

The other thing that tips the scales in New York’s favor is the Philly bullpen. Sure, Brad Lidge has had a resurgence over the last couple of weeks, but to say you have complete trust in a guy who blew eleven saves during the regular season would be silly. It’s nice that Lidge has turned it around in October, but who do you like if Lidge has to face A-Rod, Teixeira or Jeter with the game on the line? If your answer is Lidge then you are probably a diehard Phillies fan. Because no one else would pick Lidge in those matchups right now. No one.

Here’s another thing to consider as we get set for the start of The Fall Classic. Of these two teams, the Yankees are the ones facing the most pressure. Not the Phillies.

You would think it would be the other way around. You would think that the Yankees – as the challenger to the Phillies – would be loose. You would think they’d be playing with nothing to lose. You would think that Charlie Manuel’s team would be tight because they were the ones trying to reach the top of the mountain again. But you would be wrong.

The Phillies are the ones who are (seemingly) loose. They are walking around as if they don’t have a care in the world. And, against the Yankees they can afford to act that way.

It’s not that there isn’t any pressure on the Phillies. There certainly is. It’s just that the pressure they face pales in comparison to the stress the Yankees have to be feeling.

Both Philadelphia and New York are pressure cookers. The media and fans in both cities can be great, but they can also be very tough. But, seeing that the Phillies won the whole ball of wax a year ago, they probably get a bit of a break right now. The Yankees don’t have that luxury.

This is a team that hasn’t won the World Series since beating the Mets nine years ago. They’ve made it back to the World Series twice since then – only to lose to two expansion teams (Arizona and Florida). Outside of that, they’ve made the playoffs every year (with the exception of last year) only to come up short each and every time they took the field in October.

It’s not that they haven’t tried. They sure have. They have tried to buy titles for the better part of this decade (bringing in players such as Mark Mussina, Jason Giambi, A-Rod, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Carl Pavano, and the list goes on and on). For the most part, the money has not been well spent.

That’s why they went all out to sign Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeira. The only question mark of the three is Burnett, and frankly he isn’t that big of a question mark. But, the Yankees did spend $420M to bring those three guys to New York.

They also moved across the street from The House That Ruth Built to The House That George (Steinbrenner) Built. It’s a palace, for sure. But it’s also a stadium where only the very wealthy can seemingly afford to get into. The team took a big publicity hit when cameras kept focusing on the $2600 seats behind the plate that were empty. The organization was forced to cut ticket prices (by 50%) to get those seats filled. It was certainly not something they were happy with doing.

And then there’s the pressure they face to win it for The Boss. I’m not talking about Bruce Springsteen. I’m talking about George Steinbrenner. He is 79 years old. His health – though it has never been confirmed – is said to be on the decline. He is no longer in charge of the day to day operations the way he once was (that responsibility has now been split between his sons Hank and Hal). He doesn’t make public appearances the way he once did (he was nowhere to be found when the Yankees wrapped up the ALCS). How many more opportunities will The Boss have to watch his team win it all?

Talk to any one of the players in that clubhouse. They all say that winning it for George is a motivating factor. It is, but it’s also pressure. Big pressure.

It’s not that the Yankees should win in the minds of their fans, the New York media, or anyone else breaking down this matchup. They have to win.

Can’t you hear Billy Joel’s ‘Pressure’ right now? I can.

So can the Yankees.