What a year. From Torre's book and Selena Roberts' article, to the pies in the face and the reincarnation of the spirit of Reggie Jackson in A-Rod its been amazing watching these guys come together as a team to take the ultimate prize. A World Series Championship.
As the great Mariano got those last three outs of 2009, the flashbacks ran through my mind. A-Rod's huge hits late in the games, Mariano's complete and utter postseason dominance, Teixiera's walkoff against the Twins, Joe Mauer's double turned foul ball, sweeping the Red Sox in August to lock up the division, listening to John Sterling call A-Rod's walkoff against in that series, seeing Wang come back and then go back down again, winning the ASG, seeing Melky Cabrera and Hideki Matsui give the Yankees walkoffs on my first two games in the new Stadium, the walkoff weekend against the Twins, A-Rod hitting a homer on his first pitch, C.C. losing the first game at the Stadium, the massive dissapointment of Wang, Nady's injury, A-Rod's injury, the Selena Roberts article, Joe Torre's book, signing Teixeira, signing Burnett, signing C.C., trading for Swisher, Mussina's retirement, and finally that last victory lap around the old stadium.
I'm happy for everybody on this team. Their are no disgruntled aging sluggers, no constantly injured, overpaid pitchers. Its a team personified by Nick Swisher's exuberance and love of life. They play with the never quit, warrior mentality of Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. They made sure that baseball was always the story. They quietly determined air of Matsui and Jeter was a sharp contrast to the media frenzy that had followed this team's off the field stories in recent years.
The different turning points of the regular season have been well document already. A-Rod's return and the torrid hitting of Mark Teixeira that followed, Phil Hughes moving to the bullpen and showing everybody why he wasn't traded for Johan Santana two winters ago, Cashman's appearance in Atlanta when the team hit a rut, and that August sweep of the Red Sox that locked the playoff spot up. We've seen that show before though and with a one and done performance in the ALDS all would have been forgotten and I'm not sure Joe Girardi would still have his job.
The one thing people were saying about this team all year long though, from that game of pool in March, this team is different. Instead of the chokejob we've become accustomed to in the postseason, they did everything they needed to. They crushed the Twins in three games, they finally conquered the Angels, and they finally won it all by beating the defending World Champion Phillies and Pedro Martinez on their home turf.
I could go on and on about this team. Words simply cannot describe how incredible it has been to watch this team evolve since I jumped on board. Its has been said that baseball is a metaphor for life and in tough times like these when everybody is searching for a hero, New York found 25 in the South Bronx. Let's put aside all the debate about "top team of the decade" or plans for next year. Let's even forget about #27 for a moment and all that scoreboard crap. Their'll be plenty of time for that later in coming weeks and months. For now, lets savor this victory. However, let's enjoy the here and now of this victory and the 2009 World Series Champion, New York Yankees.
Photo from RAB.
