World Series Preview: Yankees vs. Phillies

The fall classic is now official, the Bronx Bombers (New York Yankees) will square off against the defending world champions (Philadelphia Phillies) starting Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees entered this regular season on a mission to win their 27th World Championship, no one made such a splash in the free agent market like the Yankees, with three acquisitions and close to $300 million dollars later, the Yankees brought in their new aces CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett and their star at first base Mark Teixera.

In their first year of the new Yankee Stadium and led by second year manager Joe Girardi, opened the season struggling, barely keeping pace with the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the AL East, but in the second half season, the Yankees surged to overtake both teams and clinch the AL East and the #1 seed plus home field advantage in the playoffs.

The Yankees road to the playoffs was quite a challenge, despite sweeping the Minnesota Twins in round one, the Yankees defeated another top team this year, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games to win the AL pennant. Now the Yankees, are on their way to the series and will face the defending champions, the Phillies.

The Philadelphia Phillies, fresh off last season's World Championship victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, dominated the regular season winning the NL East and moving to become the first back to back champions since the Yankees (1998-2000) and the first National League back to back champions since the Cincinnati Reds (1975-1976).

The Phillies, like the Yankees always made waves with free agent Raul Ibanez and the acquisitions during the season of pitchers Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez.

The Phillies, as a team set a ML mark in 2009, with four players hitting over 30 home runs: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Ibanez.

The Phillies, road to the playoffs began with their series against the Wild Card Colorado Rockies, the Phillies clinched that series in four games and advanced to the NLCS against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies were able to shut the lights out on "Mannywood" and eliminate the Dodgers in 6 games advancing to the World Series.

Now here is a positional breakdown of the series followed by pick for who will win the World Series.

Manager

Yankees-Joe Girardi

Phillies-Charlie Manuel

Advantage: Phillies

Catcher

Yankees-Jorge Posada

Phillies-Carlos Ruiz

Advantage: Yankees

1st Base

Yankees-Mark Teixera

Phillies-Ryan Howard

Advantage: Push

2nd Base

Yankees-Robinson Cano

Phillies-Chase Utley

Advantage: Phillies

Shortstop

Yankees-Derek Jeter

Phillies-Jimmy Rollins

Advantage: Yankees

3rd Base

Yankees-Alex Rodriguez

Phillies-Pedro Feliz

Advantage: Yankees

DH

Yankees-Hideki Matsui

Phillies-Matt Stairs

Advantage: Yankees

Left Field

Yankees-Johnny Damon

Phillies-Raul Ibanez

Advantage: Phillies

Center Field

Yankees-Melky Cabrera

Phillies-Shane Victorino

Advantage: Phillies

Right Field

Yankees-Nick Swisher

Phillies-Jayson Werth

Advantage: Phillies

Bench

Yankees-Brett Gardner, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Eric Hinske

Phillies-Paul Bako, Jayson Bruntlett, Ben Francisco, Greg Dobbs

Advantage: Yankees

Pitcher (Probable Rotation)

Yankees-CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettite

Phillies-Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Cole Hamels

Advantage: Yankees

Bullpen

Yankees-Phil Coke, Chad Gaudin, Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Brian Bruney

Phillies-Ryan Madson, Chan Ho Park, Antonio Bastardo, Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, JA Happ, Brett Myers, Joe Blanton

Advantage: Yankees

Closer

Yankees-Mariano Rivera

Phillies-Brad Lidge

Advantage: Yankees

So there you have once its broken down, you'll see that the Yankees should win their 27th world championship in 7 games and CC Sabathia who already won the ALCS MVP will win the World Series MVP.

Game 1 starts Wednesday with Cliff Lee starting for the Phillies against Sabathia for the Yankees.

The projected rotations

Game 2-Burnett vs. Martinez

Game 3-Pettite vs. Hamels

Game 4-Sabathia vs. Lee

Game 5-Burnett vs. Martinez

Game 6-Pettite vs. Hamels

Game 7-Sabathia vs. Lee

Schedule

Series Facts

The two franchises previously met in the 1950 World Series in which the Yankees swept the Phillies four games to none. This World Series is being nicknamed the "Turnpike Series", because it connects New York to Philadelphia through the state of New Jersey, and there are many Yankees and Phillies fans in New Jersey, with North Jersey being Yankees territory, and South Jersey preferring the Phillies.[1] It has also been nicknamed the "Liberty Series" by Major League Baseball, based on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty in New York.

This will be the fifth Series played between teams from New York and Philadelphia. The Giants and Athletics faced each other in 1905, 1911 and 1913 in addition to the Yankees--Phillies matchup in 1950.

This will be the fourth consecutive time that the Phillies will face a team from the AL East in the World Series. They faced the Baltimore Orioles in 1983, the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. The Yankees faced a NL East opponent in three of their last four World Series appearances: the Florida Marlins in 2003, the New York Mets in 2000, and the Atlanta Braves in 1999.

The Series is scheduled to start on October 28, 2009, which is the latest start in World Series history. For the first time ever, the World Series is regularly scheduled to end in November. Assuming no weather delays, Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday, November 1 and, if necessary, Game 7 will take place on November 5. Home field advantage for the Series will go to the American League for the eighth straight year as a result of their 4--3 win in the All-Star Game.

The Series will be only the third one ever to end in a month other than October. The first was in 1918, which was played entirely in September after the regular season was cut short due to World War I. The other was in 2001, when the September 11 attacks on the United States caused a delay in the season that eventually forced the end of the Series into November.