How the Yankees Can Win the World Series

Damn we're close now. The counter at the top of this page only has four numbers left to be crossed out and their's only one team standing in the way of the Yanks and the World Series. In my mind their are a few key storylines to watch during this next series that will determine who goes home champions in 2009.

• The Formula- Coming into this series most fans and analysts thought the Yankees were going to have an unbeatable combination at the back of their bullpen. Mariano, Hughes, and Joba were supposed to shut down the opposition and turn things into a six inning game. We know it didn't quite work out that way though. Mariano was Mariano but Hughes and Joba both were shaky and gave up some big hits. It was telling that Girardi went to Rivera for the six out save last night. The bridge to Mariano is going to have to get fixed for the World Series. If Joba and Hughes aren't the answer, then Girardi can't be afraid to go to David Robertson in a big spot.
• Sabathia and Lee-The Phillies and Yanks have two of the best #1's in all of baseball. We all know what Sabathia can do and he was the difference maker in the ALCS for the Yanks. He's answered any of the questions about whether or not he can pitch in a big game quite emphatically and their is nobody in baseball I trust more on short rest. Cliff Lee is no chump though. After being acquired by the Phillies at the deadline, he finished the year on a tear comparable only to what C.C. himself did last year. He's also thrown extremely well in his two postseason starts. If the series goes the maximum, these two guys should pitch three of the games and they could really go either way. Games 1, 4, and 7 could be the swing games in this series.
• Good A.J., Bad A.J.- Its no secret that A.J. Burnett has been painfully inconsistent all year long. Its extended to the playoffs, as well. We've gotten two appearances of good A.J. this October and one bad. Hopefully, it was just a bump in the road and he's not headed for one of those month long streaks of futility. His last start wasn't truly terrible other than the two bad innings he threw so I'm not to worried about that. However, I never feel safe with Burnett on the mound. He's scary in that he can very easily completely throw a game away. Pedro can be dominant when he's on and its time for Burnett earn that huge contract he got in the offseason.
• Alex Rodriguez- You just can't get away without mentioning this guy. After all these years of people ridiculing him for choking away big games, he's had an insane postseason. He's had a multitude of hits and they've been at the right time. He's playing the best baseball of his life and its at the right time. His homers off of Brian Fuentes in the ALCS and Joe Nathan in the ALDS changed both of those series and he's silenced the critics. Mike Scioscia even gave him the Barry Bonds treatment in the last series. Never before though has he played in the World Series before. Nothing is like playing in the World Series and as the pressure gets turned up another knotch, you have to wonder if A-Rod can follow. All eyes are on him and if he can't squeeze another week or two out of his crazy hot streak, the Yanks are going to have a tough time coming away with rings. The stakes have been high for Alex before but never before have they been this high for him.