2009 World Series
The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National League and defending World Series champions, and the New York Yankees, champions of the American League. The Yankees defeated the Phillies, 4 games to 2, winning their 27th World Series championship.
The series was played between October 28 and November 4, broadcast on Fox, and watched by an average of roughly 19 million viewers. Home field advantage for the Series went to the AL for the eighth straight year as a result of its 4–3 win in the All-Star Game. The Phillies earned their berth into the playoffs by winning the National League East. The Yankees won the American League East to earn their berth, posting the best record in the Major Leagues. The Phillies reached the World Series by defeating the Colorado Rockies in the best-of-five National League Division Series and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series. The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the AL Championship Series to advance to their first World Series since 2003. As a result of their loss, the Phillies became the first team since the Yankees to lose the World Series after winning it the previous year. The Phillies were also the last defending champions to make the World Series until the 2025 Dodgers.
Cliff Lee pitched a complete game in the Phillies' Game 1 victory, allowing only one unearned run, while Chase Utley hit two home runs. In Game 2, solo home runs by Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui helped the Yankees win by a score of 3–1. After a rain delayed start, Game 3 featured more offense, with a combined six home runs and thirteen total runs en route to a Yankee victory. The Yankees won Game 4 by scoring the decisive three runs in the ninth inning after an alert base running play by Johnny Damon. The Phillies avoided elimination with a win in Game 5, aided by Utley's second two–home run game of the series. The Yankees secured their World Series championship with a Game 6 victory in which Matsui hit his third home run of the series. He was named Most Valuable Player of the series, making him the first Japanese-born player and the first full-time designated hitter to win the award. Matsui was the series' MVP despite starting only the three games that were played at Yankee Stadium, since the designated hitter position was not used in NL ballparks at the time.
Several records were tied, extended, or broken during this World Series, including team championships, career postseason wins, career World Series saves, home runs in a World Series, strikeouts by a hitter in a World Series, and runs batted in in a single World Series game.
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies
During the off-season, the Phillies promoted assistant general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. to general manager, succeeding Pat Gillick who retired at the end of a three-year contract. Their most notable offseason player change was in left field, as Pat Burrell departed due to free agency and was replaced by free agent Raúl Ibañez. Another notable acquisition was free agent pitcher Chan Ho Park. Park was originally signed as a backup option for the bullpen, as reliever J. C. Romero was assigned a 50-game suspension after violating the Major League Baseball drug policy, but Park won the fifth starter's job in Spring Training.In July 2009, Phillies scouts evaluated pitcher Pedro Martínez in two simulated games against the Phillies DSL team, leading to a one-year, $1-million contract. Replacing Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, 2009, Philadelphia won each of Martínez's first seven starts, the first time in franchise history that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher. The Phillies made one large acquisition at the trade deadline, trading four minor league players to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco. Lee won seven of his 12 regular season starts for Philadelphia in 2009.
During the regular season, the Phillies led the National League East for most of the year, taking first place for good on May 30. Ibáñez had started the year strongly, batting well over.300 with 17 home runs and 46 runs batted in in the first two months of the season, which led the New York Post to call him an "early MVP candidate". He was placed on the disabled list in mid-June for a groin injury, however, and though he returned he did not bat above.260 for any other month that season. Although Ibáñez did not receive MVP votes his teammates Ryan Howard and Chase Utley had successful years, finishing 3rd and 8th in the balloting respectively. The Phillies finished the season with a record of 93–69, six games above the second-place Florida Marlins in their division.
The second-seeded Phillies defeated the wild card Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series, three games to one, advancing to the National League Championship Series. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers again, making the first NLCS rematch in back-to-back years since 2004-05 series, when Houston faced St. Louis, and the 3rd LCS rematch in back-to-back years since 2000, the Phillies won the NLCS, four games to one, becoming the first team to repeat as National League champions since the 1995–96 Atlanta Braves. Ryan Howard won the NLCS MVP for his strong offensive performance during the series. Howard tied Lou Gehrig's postseason record by having at least one RBI in eight straight games across the NLDS and NLCS. They became the first World Series champion to return to the World Series the following year since the 2000–01 New York Yankees.
New York Yankees
The Yankees' offseason began in November 2008 with control over their organization shifting from long-time owner George Steinbrenner to his son Hal Steinbrenner. Notable player departures included Mike Mussina—who announced his retirement on November 20, 2008—as well as Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, and Carl Pavano, who all left as free agents. Notable free agent acquisitions included starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A. J. Burnett and first baseman Mark Teixeira. Another major addition was outfielder Nick Swisher, acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.The Yankees played the 2009 season in "New" Yankee Stadium, their first year in that park after playing for 84 years in "Old" Yankee Stadium. They won the American League East with an eight-game lead over their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, compiling a record of 103–59. Sabathia won 19 games and position players Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira both had strong seasons offensively, Rodriguez with 30 home runs and 100 RBI and Teixeira with 39 and 122 respectively. Closing pitcher Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save against the Yankees' cross-town rival New York Mets, becoming the second pitcher in history to do so. On September 11, 2009, shortstop Derek Jeter recorded his 2,722nd career hit, passing Lou Gehrig to become the all-time leader in career hits recorded as a Yankee.
The top-seeded Yankees defeated the third-seeded Minnesota Twins in three games in the American League Division Series and the second-seeded Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games in the American League Championship Series to win their first American League pennant since 2003. Sabathia was named MVP of the ALCS with two wins in the series. The Yankees' victory in the ALCS earned them their 40th World Series appearance in franchise history, and their first since losing to the Florida Marlins in.
Series preview
The two teams played a three-game interleague series at Yankee Stadium in May 2009, with the defending World Series champion Phillies winning two of the three games. The series included two blown saves by Phillies' closer Brad Lidge in games 2 and 3, although the Phillies came back to win the final game in extra innings.The Yankees had home field advantage for the Series as the American League had won that year's All-Star Game, a year after the "Old" Yankee Stadium hosted the 2008 All-Star Game. The team match-up was heavily discussed and analyzed in the media prior to the beginning of the series. Both teams' offensive lineups were heavily touted, with the Yankees and Phillies leading their respective leagues in runs scored per game. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez drew particular focus in the media for his success in earlier rounds of the 2009 playoffs in contrast to past postseason performances. The two lineups featured 20 former All-Stars and three former MVP award winners. Only one regular starter between both teams, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, did not have at least ten home runs during the 2009 regular season. The two teams combined for 468 home runs during the season, more than any pair of opponents in World Series history.
The pitching staffs were also the subject of significant discussion prior to the series. The starting pitchers for Game 1, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, were regarded as aces who dominated the 2009 postseason with a 0.96 earned run average between them. This matchup was of particular note, as Sabathia and Lee were former teammates from the Cleveland Indians and each had won a Cy Young Award with that franchise. Yankees manager Joe Girardi had been using a three-man starting rotation during the playoffs, in contrast to the four-pitcher rotation used by the Phillies. This difference led USA Today to give the Phillies' starting rotation the "edge" in the series, as the World Series had one fewer day off than previous rounds of the playoffs, making the series less conducive to using a three-man rotation. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN criticized Girardi's strategy, arguing that Chad Gaudin should have pitched in Game 5 or 6, instead of A. J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte on reduced, three days' rest. Wojciechowski argued that while Sabathia had proven his ability to pitch on shorter rest, Burnett and Pettitte should have been given their regular time between starts. Burnett had drawn some criticism, as he performed poorly in his last appearance before the World Series, a start in Game 5 of the ALCS in which he allowed six runs over six innings. However, Burnett had previously been successful on short rest, going 4–0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest before this game. Some believed Girardi settled on a three-man rotation because he had limited options for a fourth starting pitcher, either Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain, who had been inconsistent as starters in the regular season and had been shifted into the bullpen for the postseason.
The matchup of closers, Mariano Rivera and Brad Lidge, also drew attention. Rivera and Lidge were the only closers who had not blown a save during the 2009 postseason, whereas closers on other postseason teams blew 11 saves in the 24 postseason games before the World Series. Both had performed well during the postseason, but Lidge had posted a 7.21 ERA during the 2009 regular season, in contrast to Rivera's 1.76. Lidge's 2009 numbers were in stark contrast to the previous season. As a result, USA Today gave the Yankees the edge, noting that Lidge had blown two saves against the Yankees during their regular season series earlier that year.