As a Mets fan, I am opting out of this one. I hope both teams get swept.

Why did you start this thread if you are "opting out of this one"?

NY Times: For Mets Fans, a Task of Choosing the Lesser of 2 World Series Evils

I really don't care who wins. I do think that it'll prolly be a great series w/ 2 excellent teams. My prediction, it'll prolly come down to who makes more errors & how the games are officiated.

He's bitter.

Yankees in four or five.

I started it because we needed one, and the baseball content on this board has just about died.

Hmm...can't imagine why. The sports content in general has just about died aside from tennis.

Woman beats JIP to it!

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news...a/66439002.html

saw that, hillarious! Hey, can't fault her for trying.....

How do you know she beat me to it? Just because I haven't been arrested...

My Series preview and prediction.

New York's offense (regular season only... I couldn't get mlb.com's stats to include postseason, too... it's either one or the other, so I took the larger sample size) out performed Philly's offense by nearly 30 points in each of on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and batting average. They scored almost 100 more runs. They struck out around 100 fewer times. They drew nearly 100 more walks.

I know you don't believe in stats, but that gives Philly's 8 position players the advantage???

And the thing is... I *want* Philadelphia to win, but it's kind of ridiculous to say that Philly's offense has an advantage over New York's. At least not one that's as clear-cut as you would make it seem to be (as you did use "slight" to describe the Yankees starting pitching's advantage over Philly's).

Or at least say *why* you think Philadelphia has the advantage. "As you see it" doesn't really say much, ya know?

the yankees have the best offense, but the philly offense is a close second. also remember, the NL doesn't have a DH. phillies have 20 less homers without the DH.

C - yankees
1b - even
2b- phillies
3b- yankees
SS- yankees
LF - phillies
CF - phillies
RF - phillies
DH - yankees

lineup is pretty even. the yankees lose matsui when they play at CBP. that's huge.

it's all about the pitching. yanks have the advantage both in their rotation and bullpen. the key for the phillies is cole hamels (will start game 3) and their bullpen. it's their biggest weakness right now. yankees are lethal in the later innings.

Valid point... but thanks to Carl Crawford, the majority of these games (should they all be needed) will have the DH.

But absolutely a valid point.

I would tend to agree that the lineups are quite even with a nod towards NY. 1-9, even with Swisher's struggles, there just isn't an easy out in the NY order. Philadelphia, while clearly formidable, just doesn't strike me as such to the extent that NY's does. But that's just my perception.

Though I suppose with all these days off the Phillies have had, they could have practiced just popping the ball up to right field... and then I have no idea who would be better in that home run derby...

My issue was simply that Joe throws out there that Philly has the advantage but doesn't really say why. I'm curious about his why.

Sure is a bunch of red at yankee stadium.

Seriously, my head wants to explode. 2 of my most hated times and I need to choose?

And the arrest got her the tickets she wanted.

I'm wrong through 7 1/2... and am very glad about it.

cliff lee is freaking good!!!

hope he grows his goatee back.

I think our "hated" teams come and go....i mean as much as i hate the phillies, it's only been that way for the past 3 seasons....same with the braves-----i haven't always hated them just recently...

but...for 23 years i've despised, loathed and cursed every cheating move the skanks have made.....so....although i'm not "rooting" for the phillies, deep down, I need them to win more than I need the worthless cheating skanks to win....

josh

i know most mets fans are "rooting" for the NYY, but i want the WFC philadelphia to win....

Cliff Lee was masterful!

The Phillies took the home field advantage out of the equation early. I was shocked at how many empty seats there were throughout the game and how benign the legendary Yankees fans were -- this may be a bump on the Yankees road to the coronation (they are, after all, heavily favored by the sports betting industry and media), but it was a fun night for Phillies fans.

What I wrote was that I felt the Phils had an advantage among the eight position players. That doesn't mean just the lineup. That takes defense into account as well.

That was a damn near flawless performance from Lee. But for Rollins error, thats a shutout. Masterful game 1 performance from him. Shut down those Yanks.

The winner of game 1 has won 6 straight world series and 11 of the last 12. A great tone setter. Getting out to a 2-0 lead would be wonderful. Good job Phils!!!

Hats off to Cliff Lee in another dominant performance. He is now 3-0 with an 0.54 era. Utley seems to have a thing for the porch in right field in both NY stadiums.

C.C. pitched well enough to win on most nights but is now 0-2 against the Phillies in the post season. But I expect he will be just as tough in his next start as he was tonight.

I don't know what Pedro will do tommorrow, he could stink it up or pitch a gem, but taking at least 1 on the road was imperative. This should be an intense weekend coming up.

The best thing about Lee's behind the back catch was the way he shrugged his shoulders afterward, as if to say "Don't ask me how I did that."

Pitching well is one thing. But you know that he knew he was in a zone then. And there's no way to explain it.

Oh, and it doesn't matter whether he has that goattee. He's hot either way.

Small comfort for Yankee fans today:

Survey: Philly Has the Least Attractive People
For the third year in a row, residents and visitors have voted Philadelphia the city with the least attractive people, according to a survey by Travel + Leisure.

But that's not all; the City of Brotherly Love also ranked as the least stylish, least active, least friendly and least worldly by 60,000 respondents who ranked 30 cities in several categories ranging from food to nightlife to culture. On the bright side, the beauty of the museums and art galleries was enough to boost Philly to the third spot in the Historical Sites/Monuments category.

Rounding out the bottom three in the area of unattractiveness are Cleveland and St. Louis, while Miami, San Diego and Charleston, SC are home to the most beautiful people, the survey found.

From The Onion: Phillies Hope To End 364-Day World Series Drought

yeah, but hotter with the goatee.....grow it back pronto!,

Uh, it's not THAT hard to hit a HR to right field in Yankee Stadium

In Neww Yooooorkk
Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made Of
There's Nothin You Can't Do

Now You're in Neww Yoooooork
These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New
Big Lights Will Inspire You

Lets Hear It For New York, New York, Neww Yoooooork

------------------------

Not rooting for New York, but thats my song!!!

Now beat them Philadelphia and take a 2-0 Lead!!!!

As for Lee....he is a cutie, but no darlin...keep it shaved. I don't want to think what he looks like with a goatee. I probably won't find him cute anymore with it.

Well I am not a fan of the abuse of statistics - and baseball fans are some of the worst abusers - unless they are interpreted in my favor.

And I am not superstitious, unless you count that stupid tap-wood thing that I reflexively do now and then.

That said.....

This is a Phillies fan lamenting the Lee era early in the season. Blow up the pic and you will note the goatee.

And here is another fan lording it over Lee going into the post-season. The lack of facial hair is - shall I say - baldly obvious.

So if the Phillies are superstitious and want to believe the statistics, they will make sure Lee stays clean-shaven throughout the series.

Personally I think they should just set all silliness and stats aside and just "PLAY BALLLLL" until they win four.

Phillies draw first blood in game 2!!

Tied 1-1

Another homerun...Yanks up 2-1. Come on Pedro!!!! Gotta make something happen in the 7th with Rivera coming in the 8th. Burnett has been very good tonight.

Its ovah with Rivera coming in. Phillies not hot tonight.

Um hmmm! Need I repeat myself.

Edit:

I thought that MLB was goin w/ experienced umps.

I think, judging by what we've seen so far, that this is going to be an excellent and well played series. I just wish I remotely liked either team, which would make it more fun to watch.

Charlie Manuel has announced that Joe Blanton will pitch game 4, meaning Cliff Lee will only pitch twice in the series. Risky move IMO. If Blanton gets shelled and the Phillies lose the series, Manuel will be second-guessed for years to come...if he goes with Lee and Lee loses, I can't imagine too many people could have much to complain about.

Manuel's decisions on pitching sometimes are strange. Consider: NLCS game 2, Pedro threw 87 pitches through 7 innings and was dominating. He was taken out. Last night he was at 99 pitches through 6 innings, and was very good but not dominating. He was left in.

I don't know why he's afraid to pitch Lee on 3 days' rest just because he apparently hasn't done it before. If not in the World Series, when?

cliff lee needs to pitch games 4 and 7 (if needed). all three yankee starters will possibly pitch on three-day rest.

yankees will feast on blanton. bad move.

So....game 1: Utley homer drives in first run of game. Phils win. Just like last year.
Game 2: AL team wins and ties Series. Just like last year.
Game 3: It's raining. Tarp on the field, indicating a possible rain delay. Repeat after me: Just...like...last...year...

But last year the Phillies played Tampa, not the Yankees. A major difference.

hamels blows a 3-run lead. it doesn't look good for the phils. blanton vs. CC tomorrow. huge mismatch.

Tampa BAY.

I didn't say everything was exactly the same.

I know this much: Cole Hamels shouldn't be on the mound again in this series unless there's an extra-inning game and no one else is left. He was breezing along (again), given a lead (again) and then completely fell apart (again) because he insists on throwing curves. His curve is inferior to his other pitches. He shouldn't throw it that much, but he started throwing them way too often in the 5th. (And if it's because Ruiz is calling for them, shame on him -- or if the pitches are called from the dugout, as some teams do, then extra shame.) He then gives up baserunners like crazy and loses his composure. Assuming the Phils don't change plans and start Lee in Game 4, if the rotation is the same and it goes to 7, Happ or someone else instead of Hamels.

One might keep in mind that the Phillies' regular-season numbers were compiled mostly against teams in the inferior NL (and that they play half of their games in a bandbox).

No, JIP doesn't "believe in stats," or perhaps in gravity or the spherical nature of the earth. He believes in tangible things like "the Philles having IT in them" (whatever "it" is -- heart, no doubt, the fave attribute of hack sportswriters everywhere).

It's possible that another start of short rest will cost Sabathia something. "Mismatches" are only a sure thing in boring sports like football.

If anything I sure was glad to see this. Btw, does anybody know if instant replay has ever become part of a sport during (or in this case towards the very end) a season rather than waiting for the season to end & then changing the rules for the following year? I found this move interesting considering when it was used.

How about Manuel's loyalty to Lidge, huh? That sure paid off.

Looks like there will be no repeat. Phils really blew the last two games. But, my husband is one step closer to his first world series win.

Cole Hammels hanging a curve to Andy Pettite defines this World Series so far. You get one break in that Yankee lineup--the pitcher, who hasn't had an ab all season, until this game--and he beats you with a run scoring double. What's the deal with that? You can't let the team in the DH league beat you with a pitcher hitting, even if he did recently play in the NL..

Pitchers can get hits. It happens by luck.

Lidge being used in a crucial situation after the year he's had is simply stupid.

Lidge and Hamels are what won it in 08 and are what is blowing it in 09. When you have to get someone out you throw your out pitch not something else. In the case of the ninth inning, after Lidge got the first two out he almost had Damon out on a slider. But then he throws 3 straight fastballs, which if seen enough can be easily hit. After Damon reached base, Charlie should have either discussed strategy with the shift, because it is well known that Lidge can't hold on a runner, or brought someone else in for the final out. The fact that Lidge was too afraid to throw a slider with Damon on third, tells me all I need to know about taking him out of the game.

Damon shouldn't have been on third. There should have been no shift (I don't really think they work), but since there was, there should have been a meeting on the mound explaining whose responsibility it was to cover third base. Lord knows the Yankees have had enough meetings on the mound...

I still think Lee should have started last night, but he's done well tonight thus far.