Living The Good Life: Yankees in The World Series….Again

My first World Series memory: Yankees-Braves, Game 4, 1957, Milwaukee.

‘m a Yankee fan, from a long line of Yankee fans. My father is a Yankee fan. My family, friends, you got it. Yankee fans. Very happy Yankee fans right now.

My father saw Monte Pearson no-hit the Indians in 1938. Some 60 years later, my son, nephew, brother-in-law and I saw David Wells pitch a perfect game against the Twins.

My Dad saw some of the Yankees-Dodgers Subway Series matches of the 1950s. My son and I saw the great Yankee teams of the 1990s win three straight World Series.

I was too young to remember the climatic Yankee-Dodgers battles, when the teams met six times in a 10-year period between 1947 and 1956. Baseball memories for me began in 1957. One of the families in our neighborhood had just purchased a color TV (a real novelty in the 1950s) and I watched part  of Game Four of the Yankees-Braves World Series in living color.

Excitement at Home

Later that day, back home, my father jumped off  the coach and nearly hit his head on the ceiling when Elston Howard hit a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth to tie a game the Yankees eventually lost in extra innings.

The Yankees were practically a permanent fixture in the World Series throughout my years at St. Bernard’s grammar school. I still recall rushing home from school jin time to see Bill Mazeroski’s ninth-inning home run , right, give the Pirates a 10-9 win over the Yanks in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series. I cried that day and still cringe when thinking of Maz nearly 50 years later.

In grammar school, the nuns would occasionally let us listen to the World Series on our transistor radios. That sometimes caused problems, like when Sister Mary Consolata told us to turn off the radios as Mickey Mantle came up in a key situation against Bob Gibson and the Cardinals in 1964.

I was a sportswriter and columnist for the Fitchburg-Leominster Sentinel & Enterprise, an industrial area in north central Massachusetts, when the Yankees returned to  glory, beating the Dodgers in both 1977 and 1978.

Living in Florida

When the Yankees returned to the World Series in 1981, I was living in Fort Lauderdale, at that time the spring training home of the Bombers.  Working the sports desk at the Sun-Sentinel, I watched the Yankees fritter away a 2-0 lead and lose to the Dodgers in six games.

Fast forward 15 years to 1996, Joe Torre’s first year at the helm and the Yankees first World Championship in 18 years, right. The Yankees went on to four titles in five years and three in a row, from 1998 through 2000. I saw the Yankees beat the Padres in Game Two of the 1998 Series, and then win the clincher in 1999 against the Braves. I was in San Diego on a business trip when the Yankees closed out the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series.

Following disheartening losses to the Diamondbacks in 2001 and the Marlins in 2003, the Yankees are back where they belong — on top of the world.

And Yankee fans are loving it. In the words of Yankee general manager Brian Cashman:  “You can call us anything you want, but you also have to call us world champions.”

World Serious: Facebook Thread Provides Divided Opinions

Some of the best sports fans I know are my colleagues and former colleagues in IBM communications. Heck, we should do live chat or perhaps sports talk radio.

Anyway, figured  you might  be interested in this thread about the 2009 World Series, Yankee resources, salary caps, and much, much more. Enjoy.

INITIAL COMMENT: Evil reigns in baseball. Money apparently buys another title. When the hell is MLB going to wake up and institute a cap? Every other major sport does it… but baseball is content to let the Yankee$ buy their way into the post-season year after year.

SPORTSLIFER: Killjoy. Don’t rain on the Yankees parade.

COMMENT: This post-season deserves a ‘roid era asterisk.

COMMENT: Well, except last year. And money hasn’t bought them a title for 9 years. I hate ‘em, but I’m just sayin’. More ominous is the fact that since 1960 they have only won WS titles when there was a Democrat in the White House.

COMMENT: I love em. Go Yanks!!!

COMMENT: u guys need to get over it. Like the Bo Sox don’t spend $$$? U build a baseball team up the middle. That’s what the Yankees have done. Posada, Andy P, Jeter, Cano, Melky, Joba, and Mo are all home grown, plus others. The bitterness u taste makes our 27th even sweeter.

COMMENT :Joba? Really? You want to tell me that you won because of Joba and Melky? You haven’t come up with a decent homegrown player since the mid-90s — Posada, Jeter and Riviera all came up in what, 95/96? You won because you spent $423.5M on Sabathia, Burnett, Texiera; because you pay A-Rod $33M a year; because your payroll is $201M — $80M more than … the Red Sox, btw (14 of MLB’s 30 teams have a payroll less than $80M, btw); the second highest payroll was the Mets at $149M (another NY team, shocker!).

Delude yourself all you want, Marie Antoinette. You BOUGHT this win.

As for the Sox, it’s my opinion that they spend too much money as well. MLB needs to do what every other major sport has done: institute a salary cap and floor. Make every team play from a level playing field — everyone’s payroll is within a range from $60M to $100M. When the Yankee$ win a title by having to build from within and playing within the same confines as everyone else, I’ll credit them. Except of course that it would never happen, because the Yankee system is mediocre at best and they wouldn’t know how to win without buying everyone else’s good players.

COMMENT: All I know is that the Yankees have won for the 27 time and that makes me very happy. All the other teams are welcome to pay their players as much as they want. If their owners can’t come up with the money, that is not my problem.

COMMENT: I am not a big fan of the Yankees, but let’s be fair here. So, they buy their way to a championship. I only wish my Chicago Cubs could have a fraction of the smarts the Steinbrenner family has employed (along with the money) to build a powerhouse. I look at the Yankees as wise investors over the years. 27 championships. The Cubs? Wasted investments. Sorry, I once hated the Yankees, but no more. Why trash excellence? Cheers, my friend. : )

COMMENT: How come people want their sports to be socialist? lol

As a Yankee Fan, last night was perfect and good for baseball! As for one decent home grown player since the mid-90’s….name a better second baseman for the 2009 season than Mr. Cano (320/25HRs/85rbi’s). Enjoy the off season!

COMMENT: You want a better 2B? Two words for ya: Chase Utley. Two more words: ’nuff said.

COMMENT: Tell us how you really feel… Remember there are sensitive sports fans on Facebook. You may offend…

COMMENT:  “Excellence?” Yawn. Same trap the arrogant NY fans fall into. The Marie Antoinette “not my problem if other teams don’t have money” answer is EXACTLY why the ENTIRE COUNTRY hates the Yankees. Just say what you really mean: we’re big, we’re rich, and who cares if the rest of the country doesn’t have our money? We’ll just enjoy being … conspicuously rich.’

The Cubs’ abject ineptitude should not be used to justify a flawed system exploited by a Tsar Nicholas-level out of touch team and fan base. Baseball is BROKEN when they Yankee$ can keep buying their way to the post-season. The final four teams in the playoffs this year were #1, #6, #7 and #9 in payroll… proving that success in baseball is achieved at the bank and not on the field. (And yes, the Red Sox were #4; I’ll say again that I think it’s wrong

It’s time for a salary cap and floor — make every team operate within the same parameters, spend basically the same amount of money (within maybe a $25M range), and make FA acquisitions much more strategic and not just a shopping spree at Versace. If the Yankee$ truly are “excellent,” then this system shouldn’t hurt them… if they’re so good at developing their own players, and they really pick FAs better than other teams, then they should still excel within a leveled playing field, no? And if the Cubs are that inept, wouldn’t that just bear out in the new system?

COMMENT: All things being equal, I believe the Yankees would field a superior team. The Cubs? My favorite team would probably keep choking. As for the arrogance part, I want to defend New Yorkers and the Yankees here and this is important because it comes from someone who is a Second City native. I think you confuse arrogance with confidence, confidence … that the Yankees will excel every year. It’s the same confidence Tiger Woods displays each and every tournament he is in. He has been branded as arrogant because he plays each tournament to win. I, too, used to think it was all about the money but the fact is money does not buy the performance on the field or the culture of winning that is evident in the Yankees’ lockerroom. As a parting comment, I heard one commentator remark this morning about the Steinbrenner family. It’s worth noting. Did they break any laws? Did they do anything illegal to build this powerhouse? If so, then they should be taken to task. The answer is they accomplished what many Americans dream about: they attained their goal to be the best. Cheers!!!

COMMENT: Beautifully stated. I wasn’t always a Yankee fan. I’m late to the party….but their class, professionalism and culture of excellence finally won me over. Money doesn’t buy class….and they have more class than money. Money also doesn’t buy team work – in fact, it usually buys the opposite. The Yankees are a first class organization.

COMMENT; Well spoken. Bottom line, the Yanks won because they were the best team not because they had the highest payroll. Unlike some other teams, they reinvest the money they do make into building a winning team. What’s wrong with that?

COMMENT: the last 29 years there have been 28 World Series played. 25 different teams have played in the World Series since 1980 with 19 different winners. That’s 83% of MLB teams making it to the Series and 63% winning one.

The NHL? 13 different winners of the Stanley Cup since 1980. NBA? 14 different Super Bowl champs since 1980 — against 19 for MLB.

If you think MLB has a problem consider the NBA where 50% of NBA teams have never won a title and the 2008 NBA ‘final four’ accounted for 61% of the titles in NBA history (that number went higher last season, of course)….

If you want to adjust to a more compressed timeline, fine. Since the NFL salary cap was instituted in 1994 11 different franchises have won the Super Bowl. In that same era (with one less World Series played) 11 different franchises have won the World Series. In that same era, only 8 franchises hoisted the Stanley Cup.

Salary caps merely keep salaries lower and don’t improve necessarily competitive balance. Salary caps are socialist just like strikeouts (thanks, Crash). How are the Yankees any different than the Lakers or your cherished Red Wings? A lot different, I suppose — they have to win over a more competitive league landscape than dominant peer franchises in other major sports

Does $ keep the Yankees more consistently competitive, of course. But that’s a different argument entirely.

COMMENT: wow, I’m impressed. How do you know all of these stats?! With the way you’re furiously typing them out I’m curious to see what cramps first, your fingers or your brain. Go Indians!

COMMENT: The Red Wings have to operate under a salary cap like the rest of the NHL. How are the Lakers different than the Yankees? Well, the Yankees don’t have a rapist in their lineup, for one. But the argument goes beyond just “who won.” What percentage of the franchises in the NFL have made the playoffs since 1994? By my count, EVERY SINGLE ONE (excepting the Texans, who only came into the league a few years back). How about the NHL? Every team’s made the playoffs in the 00s — even with as bad as Phoenix and Toronto have become, it wasn’t that long ago that they hit the playoffs. Granted, more of the NHL gets to the playoffs than in MLB, but my point remains.

MLB *does* have a competitive balance problem. From 2000-2009, there were 80 playoff spots available in MLB — 40 in each league. 34 of them — 42% — were claimed by just five teams out of the 30 (16%). In the AL, 21 of the 40 were claimed by just three teams (NY, Bos, Anaheim… not coincidentally, the teams that routinely spend the most). 5 of the 14 franchises have grabbed 31 of the 40 playoff slots. 75% of the playoff berths going to 36% of the teams? more than half the AL getting to the playoffs either once or not at all in a decade? That would be the definition of competitive imbalance, especially when compared to the NFL.

Are there aberrations like the Rays every now and then? Sure. But by and large, it’s a lock: you can buy the playoffs at the bank in MLB. You may not always buy a title — but you most certainly buy sustained success. MLB needs a cap & floor. Period.

COMMENT: Let’s not call the DOJ quite yet here – but it is tough to see three enormously coveted free agents come in at once – at recession-scoffing price tags (AND a new stadium) – and then, poof, it’s a championship year. But who cares about that, really, except people who already hate on the Yankees?

I’ve been to see a couple of Yankees home games – … and my experience has never included much in the way of a ‘culture of professionalism and excellence.’ That’s kind of funny, actually. I mean, what about the way they sent Torre packing? Anyway, some of my best friends (and some of the best baseball fans i know) are Yanks fans, but en masse, holy cow this fan base can be tough to take. My fellow Mets fans aren’t a whole lot better, but Yankees fans really do, as a whole, carry a rougher tone. So maybe it’s hard to stomach that it is THEY who get to enjoy such a constant flow of the highest valued players in the game.

It’s been a while since a NY ring though – and even with top talent, the Yankees have found ways to F it up in recent years. So you can’t JUST buy it. This year they stayed pretty healthy and managed a rolling-boulder of a hot streak through most of the season. They won it, so let em have it. Congrats to the fans – even the 85% or so that I personally cannot remotely stand.

SPORTSLIFER COMMENT:  Maybe it’s me, but one thing I’ve never quite been able to understand is the anitpathy Met fans feel towards the Yankees. Heck, if a New York team was played my division rival, I’d root for New York every time….like in 1986, when this Yankee fan was pulling for the Mets to beat the Red Sox. In fact, I’d root for the Mets against anbody but the Yankees. Whatever happened to I Love New York?

Great thread BTW, I’m tempted to run these comments as a SportsLifer blog.

COMMENT: I’m not sure I understand it either. I know that I don’t want them to win. Maybe it is nature, or maybe it is nurture. Unsure. I will say that I spent a fair amount of time leading up to the series debating with friends and generally thinking about for which team I’d have to reluctantly root. Hmm – do i go with Darth Vader, or do I go … with Lex Luther? What surprised me is that it took about five seconds of watching Game One before I knew 100% that I was rooting for a Yankees loss. It definitely has something to do with the fans and the player acquisitions though. Not the payroll, per se, but more so the fact that they wind up getting the guys they want so often. The re-signing of A-Rod – after so many Yankees fans had decided they were done with him for good – was a good example of that. But I watched the whole series and spent a lot of time admiring individual Yankees players. And I think the team itself is fine. So, yeah, maybe it’s a fan thing. Or maybe I was just raised this way. In any case, I think I’d enjoy baseball less if I didn’t have the Yankees to bother me.

COMMENT: “class and professionalism?” Here’s my NY Yankee class and professionalism story – 2004 ALCS. Game 1. There’s a police officer standing in front of the railing in front of the section, watching the crowd and doing his job. The game hasn’t started yet. Remember, this is just three years after the WTC. Guy behind us, after drunkenly yelling “down in front” at the cop for five minutes, says in a stage whisper so loud that everyone in the section can hear it: “If you ask me, not enough cops died on 9/11.”

The ONLY two people in the section who turned to glare at the guy for this comment were Sox fans. All the Yankee fans laughed at it and went along with it. That’s Yankee fan class, Leigh Ann….

As for Yankee class in general… ever try to take your kid to a Yankee game? You can’t. The language and conduct by fans at Yankee games generally embarrasses truck drivers and sailors.

COMMENT: Everybody has many of ‘those fans’ stories. I could say the same for fans of every single team in every single sport. I try not to judge an entire group of people based on the tasteless actions of a few. What I saw from the players and managers of both the Yankees and the Phillies throughout the playoffs and World Series, I would say that both … are top notch organizations. I don’t know who pays how much for what, and I don’t care. I just care about a good game with good sportsmanship and teamwork…and that was on full display throughout.

27th Heaven: Yanks for The Memories

(Note: The SportsLifer took the day off from work to to attend the Yankees championship parade in lower Manhattan. No crowd estimates were available, but the ‘Lifer counted a million Yankee fans. Here is his report.)

The big city with an even bigger heart poured out its love for the New York Yankees as players, fans and the entire Yankee family celebrated the team’s 27th World Championship with a ticker-tape parade down the famed Canyon of Heroes.

These Yankees didn’t win the 2009 World Series because they had the biggest payroll, or the newest stadium, or the loudest fans. They won because they were the best team, with the emphasis on the world team. They played with pride and guts and resiliency, qualities appreciated by the citizens of the city they represent, the greatest city in the world, New York, New York.

The Yankees won not because of fat wallets, but because of gritty at-bats, steady pitching, an underrated defense  and an amazing ability to come from behind  dozens of times, as evidenced by their incredible string of walk-off victories in their new Yankee Stadium home.

A Band of Brothers
They won because they were family, a band of brothers, a bunch of guys who had one another’s back and were determined to give an honest effort, day in day out, throughout a long season and pressure-filled playoff run.

They won because they have ownership that truly cares about the team and its fans, and which constantly reinvests in that team in an effort to put the best product on the field. The bar has been set high by the ailing George Steinbrenner, The Boss, who must have been a happy man as New York honored its heroes.

Sure the Yankees have talent, probably the most talent in baseball this year. But talent is no guaranteed ticket to success, no E-ZPass to a title, no automatic ring.

The Yanks have had talented teams in recent years, but they were unable to grab the ultimate prize since winning three straight championships ending with the 2000 World Series victory against the Mets.

The Yankees didn’t break any rules. They built this team by the laws of the game. They accomplished what many Americans dream about: and attained their goal to be the best.

Win over Phillies Ends Drought

Their nine-year drought ended on a chilly November night, when the Yankees vanquished a tough Phillies team in six games to win that unprecedented 27th championship.

The moment the World Series ended with the Yanks 7-3 win in Game Six, the party began. And it culminated with a paraded attended by more than a million fans who showered their love on their pinstriped heroes for giving them a season to remember.

Perhaps columnist Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post summed it up best:

“Really, in many ways, the era this team most resembles is the Old-Time Dynasty Yankees, the ones that inspired such devotion among their fans and such resentment everywhere else, teams built to batter you and to better you, teams that inspired so many fans in America League outposts like Detroit and Cleveland and Chicago (and yes, Boston too) to wail “Break up the Yankees!”

“You hear that a lot now, and those shouts are sure to get louder and you know something? That’s OK. Let them all roar. Today in the Canyon of Heroes nobody will be able to hear anything other than a city and a baseball team thanking each other, loudly, for the ride of their lives. It’s a rite of autumn the Yankees know better than any team who ever lived.”

Let the quest for 28 begin.

Origins of The Ticker-Tape Parade

New York knows how to throw a party. In fact the term ticker-tape parade originated in New York City after a spontaneous celebration held on October 29, 1886, during the dedication of the Statue of Liberty

Since then, New York has held more than 200 or these lovefests, for luminaries like Charles Lindbergh, Albert Einstein Generals Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, and astronauts, Vietnam veterans, Olympic medalists, and New York sports teams.

Strangely, the first ticker-tape parade for the Yankees wasn’t held until April of 1961, to celebrate the 1960 American league pennant. The first World Champion Yankee team to be honored was the 1977 club which beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

One More Championship for Yankees Core Four

Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte – Band of Brothers.

Any discussion of the New York Yankees and their 27th World Championship starts with the Core Four.

The Core Four — Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera — earned their fifth ring when the Yankees beat the Phillies in the 2009 World Series.

They were there for the great run from 1996 through 2000, three championships in a row and four in five years.

But they were also there for the disappointing World Series losses to the Diamondbacks in 2001 and Marlins in 2003, and the epic collapse against the Red Sox in 2004. And the Core Four struggled through early-round playoff setbacks in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and last year when the Yankees failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

Jorge Posada
Posada, right. the switch-hitting catcher, missed most of the 2008 season after shoulder surgery….and he was sorely missed by the Yankees, both on the field and in the clubhouse. But he bounced back and hit the first home run in the new Yankee Stadium on Opening Day,

Posada wound up hitting .285 in his comeback year, with 22 home runs and 81 RBIs. And he got some huge hits throughout the playoffs, including the game-winning home run in the clincher against Minnesota in the ALDS, and a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning of the pivotal fourth game against the Phillies in the World Series.

Andy Pettitte
There was some question whether Andy Pettitte would even pitch for the Yankees this year. The angular left-hander pondered retirement, but in the end signed a one-year deal and reported to spring training in Tampa.

Pettitte, below, had a solid 14-8  regular season, marking the fifth straight season he has won at least 14 games and 12th overall. But it’s in October (and November) that Pettitte’s star shines brightest, and his 18 victories are a major league post-season record.

Pettitte was 4-0 this year in the playoffs this year, and won the clinching game in all three series for the Yankees.

Derek Jeter
In the spring of 1996, a baby-faced, 21-year-old kid was named the regular Yankee shortstop by new manager Joe Torre. That young shortstop was Derek Jeter, who went on to win Rookie of the Year and helped lead the Yankees to a comeback World Series victory over the Atlanta Braves, ending an 18-year Yankee championship drought.

Jeter has enjoyed an amazing career in pinstripes with a .317 average and 2,747 hits through the end of the year. He was named Yankee captain in 2003, and in September of  this year he broke one of the Yankees most cherished team records — the all-time hit record — held for 70 years by another great Yankee captain, Lou Gehrig.

Jeter had his usual stellar post-season, capped by 11 hits and a .407 average in the World Series. His overall playoff numbers include a record 99 runs scored and 175 hits, along with 20 home runs and a .313 average. He’s batted over .300 in five of the season World Series in which he’s played.

Mariano Rivera
Fittingly last on the Core Four list is the closer, Mariano Rivera, shown below with Jeter, the greatest reliever in baseball history. Rivera’s stats are the stuff of legends — 526 saves, second all-time, with a lifetime 2.25 ERA.

As good as those numbers are, Rivera’s post-season numbers are even better — an 8-1 record, 0.74 ERA, just two home runs allowed, and a record 39 saves. Against the Phillies, Rivera allowed no runs and just three hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Rivera has been on the mound for the final out in each of the Yankees last four World Series wins — in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. Overall, in the World Series he has 11 saves and an 0.99 ERA.

There were other Yankees through the years who contributed to multiple World Series wins, players such as Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez and David Cone.

But only the Core Four has been there for more than four.

“They understand the moment; they know how to handle the moment,” said Yankee manager Joe Girardi of the Core Four, his former teammates. “They’ve been through it and can share their experiences. …. They know that they’re not going to be fazed by the situation because they’ve been through it. We like having that.”

“They may have four (titles), they want five. They get their fifth, they want six,” utility man Jerry Hairston told USA Today. “When you have Yogi Berra in the clubhouse flashing his 10 rings, it keeps everybody else here hungry.”

Berra, not coincidentally, was part of the triumvirate of Yankees legends — along with Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford— who were the last teammates before the Core Four to win five World Series together, in 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962.

The World Series: Yankee Panky and Phillie Phactoids

Former Indian Cliff Lee stopped the Yankees cold in Game One of the World Series.

Look at it this way. Things could be worse.

You could be a Cleveland Indians fan.

Two years ago the Indians were within one victory of a date with the Rockies in the World Series. They never got that win, blowing a 3-1 lead to the Red Sox in the ALCS.

Now the Tribe faithful get to watch a World Series where two former Indian Cy Young winners, the Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia and the Phillies’ Cliff Lee, are the aces of their respective staffs,.

When Sabathia matched up in Game One, it wasn’t the first time they faced off at Yankee Stadium. The two left-handers started in the first game at the new Stadium last April. Lee got the win and Sabathia wound up with a no decision as the Indians beat the Yankees 10-2.

And Lee prevailed again in the series opener, besting Sabathia and the Yankees in a complete game 6-1 victory.

All-White World Series

The 1950 World Series between the Yanks and the Phils has the dubious distinction of being the last World Series where every player for both teams was white.

When the Yankees added catcher Elston Howard for the 1955 season they became the 13th of 16 major league teams to integrate. The Phillies added John Kennedy in 1957, the last NL team to do so.

Yankee Panky

The Yankees victory in the ALCS snapped a two-game post-season drought against the Angels, who knocked the Yankees out of the divisional round in 2002 and 2005.

The only other team to beat the Yankees twice in a row in the post-season was John McGraw’s New York Giants, who won the World Series against the Yankees in both 1921 and 1922 when the two teams shared the Polo Grounds.

The last time the Yankees won a World Series in seven games was in 1962, when they prevailed over the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies have never played a seventh game in the World Series or any other playoff series.

Phillie Phactoids

The Phillies are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Mass.

It took the Phillies 97 years to capture their first World Series. They “phinally” won their first title in 1980 when they beat the Royals in six games.

The Phils, of course, are defending champs, and for the first time in history they’ve won consecutive National League pennants.

Gotham vs. Philly

It’s too bad the Rangers aren’t skating against the Flyers this weekend. Then you’d have the total New York vs. Philadelphia sports showdown.

As it is, the Eagles are hosting the Giants Sunday. The Knicks play the 76ers in their home opener Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. And of course the Yankees and Phillies resume the World Series with three games in the City of Brotherly Love beginning Saturday.

1950: Cheap Gas, President Truman, And A Yankee Sweep

In America in 1950, the last time the Yankees and Phillies met in the World Series, the average cost of a new car was $1,510 and filling it with gas cost 18 cents a gallon. Harry S. Truman was President. With World War II just five years removed, the Korean War began when North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea. “All About Eve” won the Academy Award for Best Picture. My folks got married.

On the diamond, the Philadelphia “Whiz Kids” defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers on the final day of the season to win the National League pennant.. Meanwhile the Yankees outlasted the Detroit Tigers by three games  to win the American League flag.

The Yanks entered the World Series as heavy favorites, coming off a World Series win against the Dodgers in 1949. The Phillies were playing in their first Series in 35 years.

New York wound up sweeping Philadelphia in four games, although all four were tight, pitching duels.

Game One: Yankee right-hander Vic Raschi pitches a two-hit shutout to beat the Phillies and surprise starter Jim Konstanty, 1-0. Konstanty was making his first and only start of the season.

Game Two: Joe DiMaggio’s 10th inning home run into the left-field upper deck at Philadelphia’s old Shibe Park gives Allie Reynolds and he Yankees a 2-1 win over Robin Roberts.

Game Three: Shortstop Granny Hamner’s error in the eighth inning allows the tying run to score and the Yanks win 3-2 in the ninth on a two-out single by Jerry Coleman.

Game Four: Fueled by a Yogi Berra home run, rookie left-hander Whitey Ford, shown above, holds the Phils scoreless until an error in the ninth inning, and the Yankees prevail, 5-2.

The Yankees pitching rotation allowed only three earned runs and finished the Fall Classic with a combined 0.73 ERA. Only four other teams finished with an ERA of less than 1.00 — the 1905 New York Giants (0.00), the 1966 Baltimore Orioles (0.50),  the 1907 Chicago Cubs (0.75) and the 1920 Cleveland Indians (0.89).

The Phillies also became the last National League team to fail to hit a single home run during the World Series. The last two NL teams without a homer before than were the 1939 Cincinnati Reds and the 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates. All three clubs were swept by the Yankees.

Coleman, the Yankees acrobatic second baseman who knocked in the winning run in both the first and third games and batted .286 in four games, was named the World Series MVP. Outfielder Gene Woodling led the Yankees with a .433 average and DiMaggio hit .308.  Hamner hit .429 for the Phils, and first baseman Eddie Waitkus (whose godson is a Red Sox fan) batted. 267.

Konstanty would win the NL MVP Award that year, while Yankee shortstop and future Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto won AL honors. And the Yankees would go on to win three more World Series and five straight overall, the longest run in baseball history.

Pete Carroll, The Jets, The Grateful Dead And USC Football

Things have worked out just fine for Pete Carroll at USC.

Nearly 15 years ago, I settled into a window seat on an American Airlines flight from JFK to San Francisco, one of a seemingly endless chain of business trips from New York to Silicon Valley.

I opened up my Sunday New York Times (which always makes for great cross country reading) and started reading the sports pages, when a man sat down in the empty seat next to mine.

The guy looked familiar, though I couldn’t place him right away. Then it hit me. That’s Pete Carroll, Coach Carroll. formerly of the Jets.

After my “Hey Coach” introd we struck up a conversation, and talked on and off as AA Flight 15 made its way across the Alleghenies over the cornfields of Iowa and the Rockies and eventually into SFO.

As it turned out, we were born the same year, so we had a lot in common growing up, Carroll in Northern California and me in suburban New York. He asked me if I was a Jets or Giants fan. I told him the Giants were my team, but that like many New Yorkers I also followed the fortunes of the Jets, especially when they were having a good season.

We talked about Grateful Dead concerts we had attended, about Woodstock and some of the other great bands of the 60s and 70s.

A Year with The Jets
Carroll had just been fired by the Jets after just one season at the helm. The Jets got off to a 6–4 start under Carroll in 1994, but in week 12 they were victimized by Dan Marino’s clock play that led to a Dolphins game-winning touchdown.

They lost all of their remaining games to finish 6–10. Carroll was fired, replaced by Rich Kotite. How did that work out Jets fans?

I remember telling Carroll that I felt been giving a raw deal from the Jets, who never really gave him a chance.

He told me he was returning home to San Francisco to interview with the 49ers for a defensive coordinator position.

Well Carroll took that position in 1995 and two years later was named head coach of the New England Patriots. Taking over for Bill Parcells, he led the Pats to a 33-31 record and two playoff appearances in three years before being replaced by none other than Bill Belichick.

Success at USC
Carroll was named the head coach at Southern California in December of 2000, signing a five-year contract after USC had gone through a tumultuous 18-day search to replace fired coach Paul Hackett. He was not the Trojans’ first choice, and was considered a long shot as USC initially planned to hire a high-profile coach with recent college experience.  Meanwhile Carroll, who had not coached in over a year and not coached in the college ranks since 1983, drew unfavorable comparisons to the outgoing Hackett.

To date, Pete Carroll. He is 93-16 as head coach with the Trojans, with back-to-back national championships in 2003 and 2004. His team won a school-record 34 straight games from 2003–2005, a streak that started after a triple-overtime loss to California and ended with the national championship game in the 2006 Rose Bowl, against the Texas Longhorns.

In a recent interview, Carroll told Esquire magazine: “Jerry Garcia said that he didn’t want his band to be the best ones doing something. He wanted them to be the only ones doing it. To be all by yourself out there doing something that nobody else can touch — that’s the thought that guides me, that guides this program.”

Yep, things are working out just fine for Pete Carroll at USC, thank you.

Yankees-Mariners 1995 Playoff Was History in The Making

Ken Griffey, Jr.  slides home with the winning run as the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees in the deciding Game Five of the 1995 ALDS.

The other night the MLB Network ran a replay of the fifth and deciding game of that fantastic 1995 American League divisional series between the Yankees and the Mariners. You remember, the one where the series was decided by Ken Griffey, Jr’s mad dash home on Edgar Martinez two-run double in the bottom of the 11th inning. Where the two teams combined for a record 22 home runs, 11 by each club.

Amazing how many players from that game have played a part in the destinies of the two teams in the 14 years since the Mariners won that 6-5 thriller. Consider this:

Seattle Mariners

Randy Johnson, the big left-hander, won two games in the series, including the clinching Game 5 in relief. Later Johnson won three games against the Yankees for the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series, ending New York’s three-time championship run. And finally the Big Unit pitched two years for the Yankees in 2005 and 2006, winning 17 games each season but failing miserably in the playoffs both years. Yankee fans would later joked that Johnson killed the when he faced them, and he killed them again when he pitched in pinstripes.

Ken Griffey, Jr.: Had a terrific series with five homers and a .391 average, and of course he scored the series-clinching run. Griffey later went on to play for the Cincinnati  Reds, but never experienced the glory of those halcyon days in Seattle. He came back to the Mariners in 2009 to wind down his career. Despite more than 630 career home runs, Griffey has never been to a World Series.

Tino Martinez: Hit .409 against the Yankees in the 1995 ALDS, then was traded to New York in the off-season along with Jeff Nelson and Jim Mecir for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock. Tino, left, was the first baseman on four Yankee championship teams.

Jay Buhner: Traded to the Yankees for Ken Phelps and incidentals in the middle of the 1988 season, Buhner went on to a stellar career in Seattle, He hit .458 in the 1995 ALDS.

Alex Rodriguez: As a pinch-runner in Game 5, A-Rod scored the tying run. After signing as a free agent with Texas, Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees before the 2004 season. Although he has yet to play in a World Series, Rodriguez has won three American League MVP awards, including 2005 and 2007 with the Yanks.

Lou Piniella: Manager of the Mariners in 1995, Piniella was an outfielder with the champion 1977 and 1978 Yankee teams. He later managed the Yankees, won a World Series with the Reds, and managed the M’s, Devil Rays and now the Cubs.

New York Yankees

The Core Four

Four Yankees involved in the 1995 ALDS are still with the Yankees, 14 years and four World Champions later. Andy Pettitte started and took a no-decision in the Yankees 15-inning win in Game Two, and was in the bullpen warming up in Game 5 as Jack McDowell surrendered a one-run lead in the 11th inning. Jorge Posada was a backup catcher, but did score a run against the M’s. Mariano Rivera started his spectacular run of post-season success with 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and eight strikeouts, including a pivotal stint in the eighth and ninth innings of Game 5. And although a youthful 21-year-old shortstop named Derek Jeter, right, did not  see any action against the Mariners, the familiar No. 2 was roaming the bench urging his teammates on, a captain in waiting.

Don Mattingly: Speaking of captains, Don Mattingly, in his only playoff appearance and his final season, batted .417 with a home run and six RBIs, including a go-ahead, two-run double in Game 5. In what turned out to be his final at bat, Mattingly took a called third strike against Randy Johnson in the 10th inning.

Bernie Williams: Another member of those four Yankee champions. hit two home runs and batted .429 in the series against the Mariners. It was Bernie, playing left field, who fielded Edgar Martinez’ hit in the left-field corner in Game Five but threw home too late to nab Griffey.

The catcher when Griffey slid across the plate and electrified the city of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest was star-crossed Jim Leyritz, who Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS for the Yankees with a dramatic 15th-inning home run in the rain at Yankee Stadium. Leyritz, no stranger to post-season heroics, later helped the Yankees to championships in 1996 and 1999. His dramatic three-run homer that tied the score in the eighth inning is considered the turning point in the Yankees win over the Atlanta Braves in 1996. He was later involved in a drunk driving accident in South Florida in which a woman was killed.

Randy Velarde, utility infielder who hit the go-ahead hit single in the top of the 11th inning in Game 5, signed on as a free agent with the California Angels after the 1995 season. He eventually returned to the Yankees, and helped lead them to a five-game win against Seattle in the 2001 ALCS. Ironically, Velarde recorded one of just 15 unassisted triple plays in major league history, playing second base for the Oakland A;s against the Yankees in 2000.

Walkway Over the Hudson: Bridging the Ages

The  southern view from Walkway Over the Hudson shows the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

Way back in 1889, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge opened,  spanning the Hudson River and linking New York and New England to an extensive railway network for both passengers and freight.

The bridge was considered an engineering marvel of the day, and at one time was the longest bridge in the world. It features seven main spans with a total length is 6,767 feet, including approaches, and the deck is 212 feet above water.

The bridge remained as the only Hudson River crossing south of Albany until the construction of the Bear Mountain Bridge in 1924. Throughout World War II, the  Poughkeepsie bridge carried troops to be shipped overseas. At the zenith, 3,500 train cars crossed the bridge on a daily basis.

And now, after decades of inactivity following a fire in 1974, the bridge has been transformed into the Walkway Over the Hudson, the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge and a New York State Historic Park. The Walkway provides access to the breathtaking Hudson River landscape for pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists.

And what an incredible view, more than 200 feet above the river. Vistas everywhere, from the Mid-Hudson Bridge and Poughkeepsie skyline to the south, to the bluffs of the Hudson and the Catskill Mountains to the north, shown below. Priceless.

The World in 1889
The world was a lot different in 1889, some 120 years ago, when the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge first opened. That year for instance, President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states, before turning over the reins to Benjamin Harrison.

That same year, The South Fork Dam collapsed in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in the Johnstown Flood.

Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in Atlanta. The Wall Street Journal was established in 1889, and Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electric tabulating machine, an early precursor to the computer.

In the world of sports, there was no NFL and no Stanley Cup. And basketball was still just a gleam in the eye of James Naismith. The first Olympics, in Athens, was still seven years away.

In 1889, the New York Giants, leaders of the National League defeated the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association,  6 games to 3, in an exhibition series for the championship of baseball. Dan Brouthers of the Boston Beaneaters hit .373 to win the National League batting title, while Tommy Tucker of the Baltimore Orioles led the AA with a .372 average. John Clarkson of Boston and Bob Caruthers of Brooklyn won 40 games apiece to pace their respective leagues.

As trains rumbled over the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, shown above, Spokane won the Kentucky Derby, Willie Renshaw took the last of his seven Wimbledon crowns, and Willie Park Jr won British Open in a playoff.

And undefeated Princeton won 10 games to win the college football championship (there was no playoff system in 1889 either fans).

Hometown Heroes: The Best Athletes from White Plains

Former Washington Redskin and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk is the best athlete ever to come out of White Plains.

I was born and raised in White Plains, New York, 27 miles north of midtown Manhattan, the county seat of Westchester, famous for a Revolutionary War skirmish against the British in 1776. The oldest of four, I lived within walking distance of 11 first cousins, my grandparents and dozens of friends. It was a great place to grow up.

Of all the athletes to come out of White Plains, Art Monk was undoubtedly the best. Monk, the wide receiver who played most of his career with the Washington Redskins, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year,

A product of White Plains High School and Syracuse University, Monk was drafted in the first round of the 1980 NFL draft by the Redskins. During his 14 years in Washington, the Redskins won three Super Bowls. Monk’s 940 career receptions ranks eight on the all-time NFL list.

Monk’s best season was 1984, when had led the league with 106 receptions, at that time an NFL record. The three-time Pro Bowler finished his career with 68 touchdowns and 12,271 yards receiving.

Here is the SportsLifer list:

The Top 10 Best Athletes from White Plains

1. Art Monk — In addition to the above, he is also a distant relative of jazz pioneer Thelonious Monk

2. Larry James — A double medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, James won a gold medal running the third leg on the US 4×400m relay team. That team set a world record of 2:56.16 seconds that lasted until 1992. James, left, handing off to Lee Evans, also won a silver medal in the 400m at the Mexico City games. As a collegian at Villanova University, James won the NCAA 440-yard title in 1970, and three indoor crowns at that distance in 1968, 1969 and 1970.

3. Dick Nolan — Joined the New York Giants as a defensive back in 1954 after a collegiate career at Maryland. A member of the 1956 Giants team that won the NFL championship, he had 28 interceptions in a nine-year career, including six in his rookie season. Later went on to coach the 49ers and Saints.

4. Jim Turnesa — One of seven famous golfing brothers, Jim was the only one to win a major championship, the 1952 PGA Championship, beating Chick Harbert 1-up in the match-play final. He was also a member of the 1953 Ryder Cup team.

5. Bob Hyland — Born and raised in White Plains and a graduate of Archbishop Stepinac High School, Hyland was an All-America offensive lineman at Boston College. He was drafted in the first round (ninth overall) by the Packers in 1967, and was a member of Green Bay’s second Super Bowl champion in his rookie season. Hyland played for four teams during his 11-year NFL career. His popular White Plains establishment, The Sports Page, was one of America’s first sports bars.

6. Sal Yvars — A catcher with the New York Giants and later the St. Louis Cardinals, he played eight years in the majors from 1947 to 1954. A .244 career hitter, Yvars best year was 1951 when he hit .317 for the Giants, who win the National League pennant on Bobby Thomson’s miracle home run.

7. Mal Graham — A first-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1967, this NYU product played two seasons and won two titles with Boston. Graham, pictured top row, right, with the 1968-69 Celtics, averaged 4.7 points per game. He is currently a judge with the Massachusetts Court of Appeals.

8. Jay Saldi — Tight end, he played his college ball at South Carolina before going to the Dallas Cowboys in 1976. Saldi played for seven seasons with Dallas, and was a member of the Cowboys team that won Super Bowl XII. His best year was 1980, when he had 25 receptions for 311 yards. He wound up his nine-year career with the Chicago Bears.

9. Marty Conlon -  A Stepinac graduate who later played at Providence College, Conlon played with seven different teams in a nine-year NBA career.The 6-10 center averaged 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

10. Willie Turnesa — Another of the famous Turnesa brothers and a graduate of Holy Cross College, Willie won U.S. Amateur titles in 1938 and 1948 and the British Amateur in 1947.

White Plains Reserves

Eric Ogbogu – Graduated from Maryland in 1998 and played seven seasons with the Jets, Bengals and Cowboys as a defensive end.

Art Schult — A reserve outfielder with the 1953 Yankee squad that won a fifth straight World Series. Schult hit .264 lifetime in a career that spanned five years and four different teams.

Channing Frye — Born in White Plains, his family later moved to Arizona, Frye was a top draft pick of the New York Knicks in 2005 and averaged a career best 12.5 points a game as a rookie. The forward-center now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Grover “Deacon” Jones — Not to be confused with the NFL Hall of Fame defensive end, Jones joined the Chicago White Sox in 1962. The first baseman played three years and posted a .286 lifetime batting average.