2009 World Series

Pitching Preview: Champs vs. Phillies Game 2 focuses on the game two match-up, in this 2009 World Series revival between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees .

Game 2:

Earlier in the day I wrote about former Yankee pitchers Edwar Ramirez and Chad Gaudin getting their rings yesterday and I wrote that the Yankees really haven’t let everyone know when they’ll be getting their rings.

I certainly wasn’t foreshadowing anything, but earlier today Xavier Nady got a nice surprise when the Yankees general manager Brian Cashman showed up at Citi Field before the Cubs, Nady’s current team, took on the Mets and gave him him his ring.

Here are some pictures tweeted by MLB of the World Series ring that the New York Yankees received today as part of their Opening Day ceremonies in the Bronx.

This is George Steinbrenner's ring. In the past his ring has been slightly different, usually bigger, than the rings they hand out to all of the players. I’m not sure if that is the case this year. This is also the first time that the ring is made out of white—not yellow—gold.

What do you think? I like it. I think it’s one of the better rings they’ve given out in recent history.

By Patrick Read

Washington, DC

In the wee hours of Monday morning, 36-year-old former Philadelphia Phillies starter Chan Ho Park agreed to terms with the New York Yankees.

The deal is for one year and $1.2 million guaranteed, plus another $300K in incentives for a possible total of $1.5 million.

With all of the hullabaloo surrounding the New York Yankees winning their 27th World Series title, I figured I would weigh in.

It's a well-known fact to anyone that knows me that I am a huge New York Mets fan. So this year, with the World Series being played between the Yankees and the Mets' bitter enemy, the Philadelphia Phillies, there was no clear-cut team that I could root for.

Ultimately, I chose to support the Phillies, for two simple reasons.

Game Six of the World Series. The New York Yankees are just one win away from a world championship. They are sending Andy Pettitte to the mound. Pettitte has been one of the Yankees most clutch post season pitchers in franchise history. Given the Yankees powerful line-up; they are heavy favorites to close out the World Series without getting to a chaotic Game Seven.

It just wasn't going to happen in Philadelphia.

The baseball season will go at least one more game. Chase Utley was once again the spark for the Phillies as he set the tone in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run homer off A.J. Burnett.

The New York Yankees have been going with a three-man rotation for the entire postseason even with a fourth starter, Chad Gaudin, looming in the bullpen.

Gaudin was a midseason acquisition for the Yankees to fill a spot in the bullpen, to be a possible spot starter for the struggling Joba Chamberlain, and to fill the spot left by Phil Hughes, who has settled nicely into a setup role for Mariano Rivera.

Will the Phillies win Games Six and Seven this week at Yankee Stadium?

Probably not.

The 1985 Kansas City Royals were the last team to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series.

However, if the Phillies do pull off some kind of miracle in the Bronx, Joe Girardi’s decision to start A.J. Burnett in game five on three days rest will be second guessed all winter.