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Yanks on brink of title, and baseball's natural order returns

The Associated Press

Mark Teixeira, left, celebrates with Alex Rodriguez after the Yankees' 7-4 wn over the Philadelphia.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2009

Updated: 11/02/2009 09:00 am

Perhaps as soon as tonight, the New York Yankees could clinch their 27th World Series championship and bring relief to their fans who have endured the horror of doing without a title since 2000.

I mean, seriously, what do Chicago Cubs fans know about suffering compared with that?

But the Yankees are on the brink, ahead of the Phillies three games to one following Sunday's 7-4 victory in a Series that seems to be restoring the natural order of things. TV ratings are way up, for one thing, and that's because of the Yankees.

The Tampa Bay Rays were a grand story last year, but sporting America didn't tune in when they played the Phillies in the World Series – ratings were at historically low levels. Repeated weather delays had a lot to do with that, but there's just no getting around it: America loves to watch the Yankees.

They are the closest thing we have to a national team.

I picked the Yankees to be in just this spot when we published our predictions for the season (as the man once said, you can look it up – or you could just trust me). I also picked the Rays as a wild card, but that's not important right now.

Truth is, I didn't feel all that good about picking the Yankees. People were already predicting manager Joe Girardi would get fired by Memorial Day, for one thing. That's never good. Alex Rodriguez had the truth come out about his steroid use and then missed most of the spring and start of the season because of a hip injury.

I also wasn't sure how free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett would react to the kind of scrutiny that is part of daily life with the Yankees. And when the team got off to a slow start, it really did seem like things could implode.

You have to credit Girardi, though, with holding things together. Remember when the Yankees lost the first eight games they played against Boston, and the Red Sox seemed to be running away with the American League East? Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

The captain, Derek Jeter, was simply magnificent all season long. He won't win the MVP award, but he has to at least be in the conversation. He'll also be in the Hall of Fame after he retires to the compound he is building on Davis Islands.

But something else stood out to me as the season ground along. When the Yankees were dominating in mid- to late 1990s – winning four World Series titles in five years – they were quiet, focused and ruthless professionals. The 1998 team that won 114 regular-season games and 125 overall was the best collection of talent since Cincinnati's legendary Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s.

This group had a lot of that same stuff.

After all the A-Rod stuff in the spring, you really didn't hear that much about the Yankees – beyond the fact they seemed to be winning every night. Once the playoffs began, they simply continued to roll.

And now, here they are.

One win to go.

And, I suspect, it's just the start. These Yankees probably have another two or three championships in them, at least. Next time you run into a TV executive, tell them that. They'll thank you for it.

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