Philadelphia Phillies

If in a loss everything would have a Phillies hue, perhaps if Chase Utley would have hit a two-run home run in the late innings of Game Six, and his Reggie Jackson breaking performance could have earned him the World Series MVP in a losing cause.

If the dinger was off Mariano Rivera and pulled the Phillies within a run or two of what was in reality was a 7-3 World Series clinching-victory for the Yankees...

Unless he's pitching against your favorite team, it's quite difficult not to be a fan of Pedro Martinez.

Martinez is more than just a future Hall of Fame pitcher. He's an entertainer that often leaves his opponents baffled one minute but cracking up with laughter the next.

Well, they by no means disappointed. Last night, in a rather anticlimactic fashion, the Phillies relinquished their title of baseball’s best to the clearly superior Yankees.

Make no doubt about it, folks. The Yankees were the better team. They had three reliable workhorses who left little to guesswork.

They synchronized timely hitting with flashes of power. And, much like the Phillies did last year, had the luxury of summoning an absolute stopper to put the game away.

So Jimmy Rollins proved once again that when it comes to playoffs and predictions, he's an idiot. Picking the Phillies to win in five games was clearly an act of a delusional man. Thank God the mighty Yankees proved him wrong.

Wait. Hang on. Scratch that.

Rollins shouldn't be criticized for making a prediction. He should be applauded for pointing out (indirectly and probably unintentionally) the laziness of sportswriters.

I admit it.

I didn't expect anything from Pedro in game two which saw him go 6+ innings and give up a few runs, two of which came via the home run to Traitor Tex and Hideki Matsui respectively.

When you lose, there's always a goat, always someone to blame.

Remember when the Cubs turned on fan Steve Bartman for stopping Moises Alou from catching that foul ball in Game Six of the NLCS against the Marlins in 2003?

Remember when Alex Rodriguez was slammed for being unable to perform in the playoffs when he batted just .159 over 13 divisional championship games against the Angels, Tigers and Indians in 2005, 2006 and 2007?

Remember Bill Buckner?

Hollywood would be hard pressed to write a better script than the one we have today in real life.

The New York Yankees go after their 27th World Title in the spanking brand new $1.2 billion stadium replica of the House That Ruth Built. They will attempt this monumental feat on the back of 37-year old Andy Pettitte, who has won more postseason games than anyone else in the history of the sport.

He was without a doubt the most dominant, feared, respected and admired pitcher in all of baseball during the steroid-era. He was the one pitcher that you felt the need to watch every single time he took to the mound.

For seven years, Pedro Martinez was Boston.

There's been much talk of who might start a possible game seven for Philadelphia should we get to that point.

But before that can ever happen, they must first focus on getting a win tonight to stay alive in the World Series.  If they can do that, then the first six games will be meaningless and it'll be mano y mano for the title of World Champions.

The goal in any series is clear: to win the next game.  It's the only thing you have to do.  It doesn't matter if you're up 3-0 or down 0-3, if you win the game in front of you, you'll take home the trophy.