The World Series will begin Wednesday night with the New York Yankees returning to the fall classic for the first time in six years to take on the reigning champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Both teams have shown they can score runs when needed and have pitchers who can shut the opposing lineup down. Somebody has to win and here is our prediction for the 2009 World Series.
Hitting
This championship series will feature two of the top power hitters in the game, Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard.
While the focus of this World Series may be on the efforts of Howard and Rodriguez, there are several key hitters on each club who can help turn the tide and lead their team to a title.
For the Yankees, they need Mark Teixeria to step up and earn the money they have been paying him. So far in the playoffs, Teixeria has hit a measly .205 with 5 RBI’s in 39 at-bats. In nine games, he has accumulated 9 strikeouts while recording only 8 hits.
If he is able to pick up the pace, the Yankees offense could be unstoppable. Good news for Yankees fans: in his last three games, Teixeria collected five hits in 14 at-bats.
The Phillies will need second baseman Chase Utley to continue his solid post season performance if they want to become repeat champions. In nine games, Utley has a .303 batting average with 8 runs scored, which accounts for 14% of the Phillies runs in the post season.
Utley has posted a .439 on base percentage, which is right behind Ryan Howard’s .462 OBP. During the playoffs, Utley has been issued with eight walks, which leads the team. As long as Utley is able to get on base, then there will be several bats in the lineup, like Jayson Werth or Raul Ibanez to drive him in.
The Phillies have shown they can drive in runs no matter where they play while the Yankees’ production drops on the road. The edge in hitting goes to the Phillies devastating lineup.
Pitching
On the surface it may look simple; the Yankees have one of the best starters, CC Sabathia, in the game and one of the top relievers, Mariano Rivera, in the history of the game. Meanwhile the Phillies are being led by Cliff Lee, who lacks a good deal of playoff experience, and a maddening reliever in the form of Brad Lidge. But things are not always simple.
One key to the 2009 World Series is how Lee and Sabathia perform during the opening game. One of these pitchers is going to be on the losing end by the end of game 1. Their ability to bounce back in game 4 will go along way in making a determination of their team’s success.
The major deciding factor to this series is the Phillies Cole Hamels. While he may not be able to reproduce what he did in 2008 (1-0 13.0 innings of work with 4 earned runs and 8 strikeouts), Hamels could easily out duel Andy Pettitte or A.J. Burnett.
Look for the Phillies pitching staff to man up and narrowly edge out the Yankees by the time the series has been decided.
Intangibles
The Phillies are making their second straight trip to the fall classic while the Yankees have been absent from the World Series since 2003.
Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has done a solid job throughout the season managing the superstar-filled Yankees, but is edged out by the experience of the Phillies’ Charlie Manuel who somehow seems to find a way to win.
The majority of the media experts are back on the Yankees’ bandwagon. Most believe the Bronx Bombers are unstoppable and will cruise to their 27th championship.
Not this year.
The Phillies will become the first team to repeat as world champions since the Yankees did it back in 1999.
Prediction – Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series in 6 games.
