NEW YORK – Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York 
Hideki
Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on
short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title — the most in all of sports.
It was the team’s first since winning three straight from 1998-2000
“It feels better than I remember it,” Derek Jeter said. “It’s been a long time.”
Matsui,
the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And
when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for
George Steinbrenner’s go-for-broke bunch.
What a way for Alex Rodriguez and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one championship.
It
certainly ended a lot better than it started — with a steroids
scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out
until May.
“My
teammates, coaches and the organization stood by me and now we stand
here as world champions,” said Rodriguez, who admitted using
steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas. “We’re going to
enjoy it, and we’re going to party!”
For
Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another
scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the
first NL team to repeat as World
Utley
tied Reggie Jackson’s record with five home runs in a Series. But
Ryan Howard’s sixth-inning homer came too late to wipe away his
World Series slump, and Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui
and the Yankees’ machine.
“I
told them that I loved the way they played. We’re fighters and
never quit,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. “We
want to keep what we got as far as attitude and chemistry.”
In
a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day
that the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on
Luis Gonzalez’s broken-bat single off Rivera.
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Steinbrenner spent billions trying to win another Series. At long last, his team did.
Fittingly,
it was dedicated to the 79-year-old owner, who has been in declining
health and didn’t make the trip from his home in Tampa, Fla.
Still, his presence was felt.
“Boss,
this is for you,” the giant video screen in center field flashed
during postgame ceremonies while his son, Hal, the team’s
managing general partner, accepted the championship trophy.
“The Yankees won. The world is right again,” team president Randy Levine said.
For the Four Amigos, it was ring No. 5.
Jorge
Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors
and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in
1996.
Now, all
on the other side of age 35, they have another success to celebrate.
And surely they remember the familiar parade route, up Broadway through
the Canyon of Heroes.
“It’s an honor for me to win a championship with those guys. They are Yankee legends,” Mark Teixeira said.
But,
hey, Babe and Yogi, Mr. October and Joltin’ Joe —
you’ve got company. Teixeira, CC Sabathia and a new generation of
Yankees have procured their place in pinstriped lore.
Moments
after the final out, Joba Chamberlain and Nick Swisher led a victory
lap around the warning track, carrying flags that read “2009
World Series champions.”
Players
high-fived fans, then sprayed bubby behind the mound — the same
sort of celebration Philadelphia enjoyed just last year after beating
Tampa Bay.
“We think we can be back here again and again. We have a great squad,” closer Brad Lidge said.
New
York wasted its chance to wrap things up in Game 5 at Philadelphia,
then set its sights on clinching the World Series at home for the first
time since 1999.
While nine years between titles is hardly a drought for most teams, it was almost an eternity in Yankeeland.
New
York’s eight seasons without a championship was the third-longest
stretch for the Yankees since their first one, following gaps of 17
(1979-95) and 14 (1963-76).
Jackson’s
three homers in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers made the Yankees
champs in ’77. On this November night, Matsui delivered a sublime
performance at the plate that must have made Mr. October proud.
“It’s awesome,” Matsui said through a translator. “Unbelievable. I’m surprised myself.”
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Playing
perhaps his final game with the Yankees, Matsui hit a two-run homer off
Martinez in the second inning and a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch in
the third.
A
slumping Teixeira added an RBI single in the fifth off reliever Chad
Durbin, and Matsui cracked a two-run double off the right-center fence
against lefty J.A. Happ.
A designated hitter with balky knees, Matsui came off the bench in all three games
at Philadelphia. Still, he had a huge Series, going 8 for 13 (.615)
with three homers and eight RBIs. His go-ahead shot off an effective
Martinez in Game 2 helped the Yankees tie it 1-all.
Bobby
Richardson was the only other player with six RBIs in a World Series
game, doing it for the Yankees in Game 3 against Pittsburgh in 1960.
Richardson had a first-inning grand slam and a two-run single in the
fourth.
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