The future of the Yankees arrived tonight, and his name if Philip Hughes.  It seems like we have been hearing about Hughes forever, and to some he has been a bust.

Well, tonight he came into his own.  Five innings, three hits, two runs, and six strikeouts.  And one of the runs scored after he was out of the game.  Although he struggled a bit with his control, for most of his stint on the mound he appeared to be overpowering.  For the first time in memory, the Yankees have a young stud on the mound, a pitcher who can eventually lead the staff.

Strangely, the Yankees have never been very good at developing top of the rotation pitchers.  The last one they grew was Ron Guidry, and Guidry was unexpected – he was considered a minor prospect, too small to be a number two, let alone a number one.  Before Guidry, you have to go back to Whitey Ford to find a number one starter who came out of the farm system.

That sounds like an extreme statement, but think about it.  Andy Pettitte is a great Yankee, but even in his prime, he was never more than a number two starter.  The other pitchers of the last fifteen years – Cone, Wells, Clemens, Johnson, Key, Mussina – were acquired from other teams or through free agency.  El Duque doesn’t count; he was a star in Cuba before he defected.

The champs of the 70s featured Catfish Hunter (free agent), Tommy John (free agent), and Ed Figueroa (trade with the Angels).  The team in the early ’60s was built around Ford.  None of the others were more than a number three (Jim Bouton, Bill Stafford, Al Downing), with the exception of Ralph Terry, who qualified as a number two for a couple of years.  And the teams of the mid fifties featured Ford, Bob Turley, and Don Larsen.  The latter two came from the Orioles in one of the biggest (in terms of the number of players involved) trades in history (something like 19 players).

The great team that won five straight from 1949 through 1953 did include one home grown Yankee in Vic Raschi.   Raschi could conceivably qualify as a number one, but Allie Reynolds (from Cleveland for Joe Gordon) was the true ace.  In the ’30s and early ’40s, Red Ruffing, a refugee from the then moribund Red Sox, was the number one.  Before Ruffing, Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock, both from the Red Sox, were the aces.  Happy Jack Chesbro, who won a record 41 games in 1904, came over from the Pirates during the bidding wars between the American and National Leagues.

So Hughes has a chance to be something special for the Yankees – a home grown ace.  It should be fun to watch his progress.  But he’ll have to wait a while to be number one until the present ace, CC Sabathia (free agent), gives way.

The Yankees could not have asked for a better start.  Okay, they could have won six straight, but four out of six on the road against the Red Sox and the Rays is damned fine.  Especially considering that they lost the first game of each series.

High notes so far include the following.  First, Curtis Granderson looks great.  He has been the team’s best hitter so far, and he completes a mid-career core four with  Teixeira, Sabathia, and Cano.  Those four players give the team a solid base to build around as the original “Core Four” move into the twilight of their careers.

Second, the pitching has generally been solid.  Vasquez looked awful Friday night, but it is way too early to panic about him.  CC, AJ, and Andy looked solid.  The bullpen is deep, and the incredible Mariano can still bring it at age 40.

The hitters have not yet hit their stride, yet the team has pounded out runs.  The offense is demonstrably superior to that of the Red Sox, and the pitching looks considerably better than that of the Rays.  The Yanks remain the team to beat in baseball’s best division.

Concerns.  First, the team has no left fielder.  Brett Gardner lacks the power necessary to play a corner outfield position, and he has yet to demonstrate he is a big league hitter.  Randy Winn and Marcus Thames are journeymen.  The Yankees clearly believe they can win this year with a hole in their line-up.  Hopefully, they can win the Carl Crawford sweepstakes next winter.

Joba looked great in his first outing against Boston, but he looked sluggish today in Tampa.  Maybe the layoff hurt him.  If he can pitch as he did in 2007, the bullpen will be almost impregnable.

Posada looks shakey again behind the plate.  His passed ball cost the Yankees the opener, and his deteriorating defensive skills have to be a concern.  I would not be surprised to see Jesus Montero appear in mid-summer.

Phil Hughes has yet to pitch this year.  We will have to wait until Thursday to see how he does as the fifthe starter.

But these concerns are minor.  The team has started strong, and hope springs eternal.  Thank God baseball is back.

I hope you all noticed  that I have said nothing bad about Girardi.  Yet.

All season long I have excoriated Joe Girardi in this space.  I have repeatedly noted his numerous deficiencies.  That list included his incessant overmanaging, his tendency to tighten up in the clutch, his rampant insecurity, and his unwillingness to let the players decide the game.  I have called him incompetent, clueless, and just plain lousy.  And he was.

But his team won 114 games and brought the world championship back to New York.  So much as I would prefer another manager (come home Joe Torre!), I have decided to give Girardi a pass.  He has my permission to return next year.  He can wear 28 instead of 27 and attempt to repeat the victory of 2009.

And maybe he will succeed.  There certainly is sufficient precedent.  Casey Stengel managed the Dodgers and the Braves during the 1930s, and was considered a clown.  Yet when he came to the Yankees, he won ten pennants in twelve years, a record of success that may never be broken.   Joe Torre managed the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals without success, and was deemed a failure as a manager until he came to New York.  Indeed, when he was hired at the beginning of the 1996 season, the New York media referred to him as “Clueless Joe”.

So great managers are made, not born.  Maybe Girardi learned something this year.  Maybe his many failures made an impression on him.  Perhaps he can learn to relax and trust his players to win the game.  Certainly the pummelling he took after the Game 3 fiasco against the Angels should have taught him something.

Only time will tell.  I remain unconvinced that he will ever become a top flight manager; he just does not appear to have the right temperament.  But his team got the job done this year, and joy reigns in the Yankee Universe.

So peace, Joe.  Come back next year and prove me wrong.  I hope you do it.

The Yankees are world champions.  Truth and justice have triumphed over evil.

Actually, the triumph over evil occurred when the Red Sox were eliminated.  But now the Yankee haters in the media and in the hinterlands are once again attempting to belittle the Yankees’ victory.  Over and over the talking heads on ESPN, Yahoo, and other so-called pundits are bleating that the Yankees bought the championship.  There is a technical term for this argument.  That term is:  HOGWASH.

Their theory is that the Yankees signed all the best players, thereby “buying” the championship.  A careful examination of the Yankee roster demonstrates the fundamental inaccuracy of this assertion.

Granted, the Yankees signed Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett last winter.  But aside from those three players, the Yankee roster contained only one other free agent signing – Johnny Damon, who was lured away from the Red Sox three years ago.

The rest of the team was either developed in the farm system or acquired by trade.  Posada, Cano, Jeter, Pena, Gardner, Melky, Cervelli, Duncan, Guzman, Pettite, Joba, Hughes, Coke, Robertson, Aceves, and Mo all came up with the Yankees as rookies and, with the exception of Andy’s three year hiatus with the Astros, are life-long Yankees.  The balance of the roster came through trades.  Molina was sold by the Angels.  Arod was traded by the Rangers for Soriano.  Swisher came from the White Sox for Wilson Betemit.  Hairston came from the Reds, and Hinske from the Pirates.   Bruney was reclaimed off the scrap heap after Arizona let him go.  Marte and Nady were traded by the Pirates, and Gaudin by the Padres.

Matsui was signed after a distinguished career in Japan.  You could argue that he qualifies as a free agent signing, but he was not an established major leaguer, and therefore is not in the same category as Sabathia and Burnett.  And let’s not forget that the Red Sox have incessantly raided the Japanes leagues.  Their roster includes DiceK, Okajima, and Tazawa.

In short, the Yankees did not buy the championship.  Brian Cashman did a masterful job of assembling this panoply of talent in the traditional way – through player development and trades.

But you would never know it if you listen to the mainstream media.  The so-called pundits play to the crowd, the crowd being the extensive anti-New York element that pervades the hinterlands.  I find it interesting that no one accused the Red Sox of “buying” the championship when they won with two free agent signings in the heart of their lineup.  Everyone conveniently forgets that David “Big Juicer” Ortiz and his pal Manny came from the free agent market.  And I noticed no one complained last winter when the Red Sox offered Mark Teixeira seventy million dollars to sign with them.  That was considered smart business.  But when the Yankees swooped in and stole Tex, they were “buying the championship”.

What a load of HOGWASH.

So get over it, Yankee haters.  The Yankees won fair and square.  They are the best team.  That’s why they won the World Series.  We are the champions, my friend.  Deal with it.

Tonite the Yankees won their 27^th World Championship, besting a very good Phillies team 7-3 to win the Series in six games. 

There are many reasons to have what one of my old teachers referred to as a Moment of Gloat.  (And we will.)  But for now, the feeling is one of tremendous gratitude.  To the baseball gods, and to the Game in general.  This was one of the best World Series matchups in a long time; not so much for the moment-to-moment excitement perhaps, but because you had two excellent teams that both looked and played like champions, never saying die, and pulling off amazing comebacks en route to the Big Dance.  (Kind of like that year where the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins both went 14-2 and met in the Super Bowl for a showdown.  One team was better.)  This year the Yankees happened to be the better team.  And, as it happens, they were the best team. 

As a Yankees fan who has watched this Class of 1995 play since they came up, the way the Yankees won tonite’s game was particularly special – with Andy Pettitte pitching strong; and Mariano coming on for the final 5 outs, with Posada and Jeter coming in to meet them when the final out was made.  While Hideki Matsui’s epic performance tonite was incredible, my favorite moment of this game – and of this Series – will be that moment in the 6^th inning when the fans chanted Andy Pettitte’s name, to let him know how much he has meant to us Yankees fans, and how great it is to watch the Yankees win with him on the mound.  This makes the Yankees’ 27^th championship as a franchise, and the Class of 1995’s 5^th world championship ring as the nucleus of the franchise.  After 9 years of disasters and disappointments, and when it looked like this group might never hold the trophy high again, the words of Abraham Lincoln, our greatest president, ring proudly in my mind: “Thank God I have lived to see this day.”

In 1977, the Yankees took a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Dodgers in L.A., lost Game Five decisively, and then came back to the Bronx to win the Series in Game Six in a game in which Reggie Jackson hit 3 homeruns to become “Mr. October.” 

This is what we as Yankees fans hope will happen tonite.  Actually, I’m hoping for a 1985 Game Seven-style Royals-Cardinals 11-0 type victory.  In other words, an easy night at the ball park, where the Yanks “score ten runs in the first inning and then slowly pull away.” 

Given the high-drama nature of this 2009 postseason, however, this may not be a realistic request.  Starting with the Twins-Tigers one-game playoff, there have been more two-out come-from-behind victories, more blown saves and near-blown saves, and more walk-off game winning homeruns than I can remember there being in a long time.  The World Series has followed suit, with both teams’ bullpens providing late-inning drama even in games that in hindsight were really won earlier in the game. 

The net result – for me and for Phillies and Yankees fans I’ve talked to, at least – is that this has been an emotionally exhausting World Series to watch.  My Phillies-loving co-workers and I were in complete agreement yesterday that we were glad to have last night off.  These 8 p.m. start times with games that go past midnight (I don’t think Game Three ended until after 1 a.m.) – combined with the blog writing and occasional drive home after the game, all while still having to get up early for work the next day – have made the experience somewhat physically exhausting as well.  And while I realize all this drama is “good for the Game” and all, dammit, enough is enough!  Indeed, in my heart of hearts, I can’t think of anything that would be better for Baseball than a nice easy Yankee victory in Game Six (can you???).  It would certainly be a nice change of pace.  Like a good changeup that gets a batter for strike three after a flurry of fastballs and sliders. 

Whatever happens, and however it happens, I do think tonite is our night.  Most Yankee fans I’ve talked to didn’t think it would happen in Game Five.  The Phillies have too much pride; they had their best pitcher going at home; and, indeed, they are really too good a team to go down in five games.  That having been said, this Yankee team has too much heart and determination to simply blow a 3-games-to-1 lead and collapse into a miserable pile of rubble.  And while it has been Sabathia’s year, it would be more fitting, in my view, for the clincher to be tonite with Andy on the mound.  At age 37, this could be his last World Series (as indeed it could be for Rivera, who is 39).  It would be very sweet for Andy to go 6 innings strong, and then hand it to Joba and Hughes, with Rivera (who, if the Yanks do win, gets my vote for Series MVP) coming on to close it out in the 9^th. 

It has been a postseason to remember.  It would just be really nice if we could start “remembering” it – champagne and all – starting around midnight tonite.

My Girardi-loving sons have been responsible for recent posts on this site praising the efforts of the Yankee manager.  I shall now inject a note of rationality into their fantasy land.

Girardi is a lousy manager, and he proved it tonight.  Against all logic, he chose to start AJ Burnett on short rest.  And predictably, Burnett imploded, yielding 6 runs in 2+ innings and facilitating an easy Phillie victory.

Let’s review.  The Yankees were up 3 games to 1.  They were facing the Phillie’s ace, Cliff Lee, the one pitcher who has shut them down this postseason,  at the Phillies’ home park.  Burnett has no history of successfully pitching on 3 days rest.

Girardi could have gone with Chad Gaudin.   Perhaps Gaudin would have been bad (he has barely pitched this month).  Maybe he too would have given up 6 runs in two innings.

But then Girardi would have had Burnett at home, where he has had great success, on full rest, and against ancient Pedro Martinez.  Now Pedro has pitched well this post season, but he is not Cliff Lee.  Under that scenario, the Yankees would have had a big advantage.

Instead, they will now have Andy Pettitte for Game 6, again on only 3 days rest.  Andy is a gamer, but he has a history of not being able to pitch on three days rest.  At his age, a strong performance is unlikely.

Which may well bring the Yankees to Game 7 and CC Sabathia.  CC would appear to give the Yankees a big advantage, but CC too will be pitching on 3 days rest, his third outing in eight days.  He is certainly capable of handling this kind of load, but the past two years he has broken down in the playoffs because of overwork.  Against him the Phillies will throw Cole Hamels on full rests.  Now Hamels has been bad this year, but he has pitched the phils to a championship in the past, and he may use Game 7 to redeem himself.

The Yankees had a lock on this Series.  If they blow it, Girardi will be directly responsible.  Once again, he will have shown that he panics in the clutch.  We can only hope the Yankees will overcome their manager’s incompetence.

What do you get when you pit two teams with shaky bullpens but who won’t quit against each other?  Another nailbiter of a game which, fortunately for the Yankees, will qualify for Yankees Classics, as the Yanks took Game Four 7-4 with a clutch two-out, 3-run 9^th inning.

Joe Blanton did all that could be reasonably expected of him: he kept the game close, and gave his team a chance to win it.  When the Phils inched their way back to tie the game at 4-4 in the 8^th, the Phils had effectively neutralized the advantage the Yanks had by starting their ace, Sabathia, against the Phils’ #4 pitcher. 

In doing so, however, the stage for a showdown between the two teams’ bullpens had been set.  The Yanks have questionable middle relief, but the greatest closer in the history of the game in Mariano Rivera.  The Phils, by contrast, have fair-to-middling relief, and a fallen giant for a closer in Brad Lidge, who was so dominant in 2008, but has been such a liability in 2009. 

The Yanks’ bullpen faltered first in Game One, and then again last night when Joba gave up a game-tying homerun in the 8^th, despite striking out the side. 

But then with the game tied 4-4 and two outs in the top of the 9^th, it was the Phillies’ turn to have a bullpen nightmare.  In what looked at times like a surreal turn-of-events (particularly the part where Damon stole second and then third in the same play when he saw that nobody was covering it), the Yanks surged ahead 7-4, and yet another Lidge meltdown had plunged the Phillies into a 3 games to 1 hole. 

With no room left for error, and the dreaded Lidge meltdown still fresh in mind, it is possible that the Phils’ spirit is broken, and that they will go quietly tonite in Game Five, Cliff Lee notwithstanding.  But if their spirit is not broken, the Phils still have a helluva ball club; and every pitcher they face for the rest of the Series will be on 3-days’ rest. 

Still, with A.J. Burnett on the mound tonite and all the momentum going their way, the Yankees will be primed to end the Series in short order.  Like Blanton, all A.J. has to do is keep the game close.  And there’s nothing to say that A.J. just couldn’t outduel Lee; his stuff at times has been as good as anyone else’s in the game. 

With that in mind, I’ll make a bold prediction and say: expect the Yankees to jump out to an early lead.  I know Cliff Lee is pitching, and that he was great in Game One.  But baseball is a funny game, with momentum and inertia that is bigger than just one pitcher.  I expect that the Phils will put themselves into another hole tonite before they start digging their way out of it.  The key is for the Yanks to pounce and pounce hard, keep adding the runs, and never give the Phils a chance to get up.

Over the past few weeks Girardi has been repeatedly slammed for what has been described as chronic mismanagement, including but not limited to: consistently over-managing; misusing the bullpen; recklessly pinch-running for star players without any consideration for the consequences; and other crimes against humanity.  Indeed, a good amount of this criticism has come from this blog (though not from the authors of this post). 

But the last two games have shown instances of Girardi learning from his mistakes, and showing restraint where he has recently shown panic.  A prime example is the bullpen.  Girardi’s use of the bullpen in the first two rounds of the playoffs was riddled with pitching changes with his best relievers based on shortsighted individual pitching matchups – with many of these changes taking place mid-inning, and after the previous pitcher had obtained only one or two outs.   The result: when these close games went into extra innings, all the best relievers were already used and out of the game, after throwing only a handful of pitches each. 

Tonite’s performance, however, showed a more measured approach.  Andy Pettitte hurled 6 strong innings, handing the bullpen a 3-run lead.  Girardi went with Joba in the 7^th, and Marte in the 8^th, and did not pull either of these pitchers even when the pitching matchups may have favored such a change.  The only mid-inning pitching change he did make was in the 9^th, when Hughes, after getting a quick out, gave up a homerun to Ruiz.  But with slugger Matt Stairs due up next, Rollins on deck, and Utley and Howard lurking soon thereafter, it was important to close this game out before the Phils could amass any more momentum.  And there’s no better dose of Yankee reality than Mariano Rivera.  Girardi made the right move. 

Girardi is also pulling the proper levers with the position players.  For instance, starting Hairston in Game 2 for Swisher, in which Hairston got a key hit, allowed Swisher to take a break and clear his head.  All of this led to a dynamic performance by Swisher in Game 3, wherein he hit a key double, and a solo homerun, to help propel the Yankees to victory. 

In short, rather than repeating the mistakes of the last two series, Girardi is making adjustments in his management style, and appears to be finding a rhythm.  The Yankees, thanks in no small part to Girardi’s steady management in this Series, now find themselves up 2-1 in the Series with Sabathia slated to pitch in Game 4.

Game 3 started exactly the way the Phillies needed it to.  Cole Hamels set down the Yankees quickly through the first three innings, and the Phils jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Andy Pettitte, threatening in each of the first three innings.  The crowd was roaring, and the Yanks were in a real hole.

But then things started to deteriorate.  After a walk to Texeira with two outs in the 4^th inning, A-Rod hit a shot off a camera in right field which, upon further review, was ruled a homerun to cut the Phils’ lead to 3-2.  The Yanks then tied it in the 5^th with an RBI hit by Andy Pettitte (of all people), and then scored two more runs off a double by Johnny Damon to jump ahead 5-3, Hamels having been knocked out of the game after only 4 1/3 innings.  And then the Yanks continued to pick away at the Phils’ bullpen, tacking on an additional run in the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th innings to take an 8-5 victory in Game 3.

Needless to say, this was a huge victory for the Yankees.  With Sabathia slated to start in Game 4 against Joe Blanton, the Phils really needed to win Game 3 behind Cole Hamels, their recent ace, and last year’s World Series MVP.  A win in Game 3 would’ve put the Phils on track to maybe win the Series in five games and close it out in Philly like they did last year.  It would also shift the pressure to the Yankees to win Game 4 behind Sabathia on short rest.  And if for some reason the Yankees and Sabathia stumbled in Game 4 – a game they really should win given the pitching matchups – the Phils would have a rested Cliff Lee to close things out in Game 5.

Instead, the Yankees’ victory in Game 3 now puts Philadelphia in the hole.  For one, it means the Series will definitely go back to the Bronx – unless of course if the Yanks win the whole thing in five games.  It also means that the Phils now have to try to win tomorrow with their #4 starter against Sabathia.  Given how good Sabathia has been (even in his Game 1 loss to Cliff Lee), there is now an excellent chance that the Phils will find themselves down 3 games to 1 after tomorrow night. 

Clutch performances in Game 3 included Nick Swisher, who finally broke out of his slump with a rally-starting double in the 5^th, and then a solo homerun in the 6^th.  Welcome back, Swisher. 

Robinson Cano continues to suck, going 0 for 4 again.  What bothers us most about Cano is his apparent nonchalance about the whole thing.  It may be that he cares very much about not producing; but it sure doesn’t look like it to us. 

Finally, the Yankees’ bullpen put in a decent performance, with Joba and Marte putting in strong 1-2-3 innings in the 7^th and 8^th.  Phil Hughes, on the hand, continues to struggle, as Mariano had to come in for the last two outs in the 9^th.  Fortunately, Mariano only threw 4 pitches, and so will be fully available to pitch in Game 4. 

On the whole, an outstanding team effort that has knocked a very good Phillies team back on its heels.