World Series Game Two: Daddy’s Home! Yanks 3 – Phils 1!

In 2004, then Boston Red Sox ace pitcher Perdo Martinez said the Yankees were “his Daddy!”

After losing Game One, “Daddy” (represented for effect by Doggie Daddy) came home with a vengeance as A.J. Burnett, Mariano Rivera, Marx Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada gave a great big “HONEY, I’M HOME!” to Martinez and the Phillies 3-1!

Yankees starter Burnett was “Burnett-tastic” with 7 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball. And, it SHOULD have been better than that, as Alex Rodriguez let a ground ball get past him that scored the Phils' lone run. It SHOULD have been an error, but it wasn’t, and Burnett was charged with his only earned run.

Teixeira and Matsui had solo home runs (Yes, Matsui can do THAT! And therein lies his value – but he still can’t run and he’ll probably never again play the outfield, except in the most dire of emergencies! So I stand by my comments of last post.), and Jorge Posada singled in a run with a pinch hit.

That last run, by the way, makes Joe Girardi end up looking like a genius for his rather unlikely substitution of Jerry Hairston Jr. for Nick Swisher. Hairston singled to lead off the inning, resulting in that very important insurance run. Bottom line, no matter how many New York radio commentators questioned the move (…and they DID!), if it works out – and you win – you’re a genius! So, thanks, Genius Joe… may the rest of your moves for this series turn out as well!

We must acknowledge the great performance by Perdo (Augie Doggie?) Martinez, who pitched 6 innings (plus two batters) of 3-run ball in the losing effort. Like CC Sabathia the night before he pitched well enough to win – but didn’t!

Bad calls by the umpires continued to mar this otherwise great postseason. Both the Yankees and the Phillies had potential rallies killed by double plays called by the Umps that were clearly NOT double plays. I say it’s finally time to introduce REPLAY REVIEW to MLB – as it’s worked so well for the NFL!

One final thought. This World Series, unlike several of recent vintage, is one that truly features the BEST teams in both the American and National Leagues! It’s even now, and may the best (of the best) team win!