Baseball

Although the Yankees may be leading the World Series 2-1, Phillies fans have completely dominated Yankees fans in terms of the noise and energy exuded so far.

Yankee Stadium sounded more like a wake during the first two games of the series when compared to the pure madness seen last night at Citizens Bank Park.

And I’m not talking about an Irish wake either.

The first thing I noticed when flipping on the television to watch Game One at Yankee Stadium was all of the empty seats.

I'll admit, as a longtime Phillies fan, I am more familiar with failure than I am with success.

I even predicted a 6-3 Yankees win Saturday afternoon, because as much as I hoped not, I knew Andy Pettitte would pitch better than Cole Hamels.

Hamels was staked to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a Jayson Werth homer that Werth almost one-handed the ball over the left field fence and a base loaded walk and sacrifice fly.

Last offseason, I started writing a series of columns that profiled each member of the Mets bullpen and analyzed their performance in the previous season.

At the conclusion of each article, I would make a determination on whether or not I thought the pitcher should be brought back.

The articles, for the most part, were met with solid reader reception so this year we will continue the tradition.

The Arizona Fall League is a chance for organizations to get a feel for some of their young players. Let’s take a look at three pitchers drafted in 2009 and how they are fairing so far:

As the A's continue to build what they (and all of us fans) hope is going to be a dynasty that peaks in 3-7 years from now, the core of the team is going to be the starting pitching, which has been the symbol of the A's since Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson were on the staff.

However, many of the young future cornerstones, especially Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro, struggled in 2009.

The A's are presumably looking to improve next year, as the "building" begins to take hold.

Before Game Three of the 2009 World Series could be played between the Yankees and the Phillies, the fans at Citizens Bank Park experienced an 80 minute rain delay to start the night.

After the delay was over and the tarps were pulled off the field, the Fall Classic was on.

After the first two games of the World Series were in New York, the series shifted to Philadelphia where both teams were tied 1-1 and looking to take an advantage.

The 1999 Cleveland Indians had one of the best lineups in the history of Major League Baseball.

They had incredible individual accomplishments. Three sluggers combined for 108 homers. Four hitters had RBIs in the triple-digits. Five players scored 100 or more runs.

They became the first team in nearly 50 years to score 1,000 runs in a season.

Alex Rodriguez broke out of his World Series slump with a two-run home run, and Andy Pettitte picked up his 17th career playoff win as the Yankees won Game Three in Philadelphia. 

It's one thing to say that Cliff Lee won't pitch Game Four of the World Series when the series is tied at a game apiece and your Phillies have a chance to go up 2-1.

But now that the Yankees have taken a series lead, to bypass your ace and risk falling behind 3-1 is a crime.

I haven't disagreed with much of what Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has decided over the last couple of years. But look, your back is against the wall. You simply cannot fall behind 3-1.