The weather gods must be baseball fans.
It’s time for Game 1 of the heavyweight battle also known as Yankees-Phillies in the World Series and it doesn’t appear as if weather is going to be an issue.
According to Weather.com, the rain that has drenched the city for the last two days is expected to stop by 6 p.m., in plenty of time for tonight’s first pitch, scheduled for 7:57. That’s when CC Sabathia will step on the mound and stare down loud-mouthed Jimmy Rollins to get the Series started.
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“As a Yankee, and I think any team, when you go into Spring Training, your goal is to win the World Series,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, “and we’re one of two teams that has a chance to do that this year. There’s a lot of pride in that room, and guys have worked very hard to get to this point. But we still have one more goal.”
The Series is a fascinating matchup of two teams separated by just over 100 miles of New Jersey Turnpike and many more miles of history. The Yankees are seeking the 27th championship in franchise history. The Phillies are chasing their third, but are trying to become the first repeat champions since the 2000 Yankees.
Both teams have power. The Yankees led the majors with 244 home runs, while the Phillies were second with 224. It is the first time the top slugging teams have met in the Series since the Yankees and Cardinals in 1926.
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Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard are in the center of the attack. The respective cleanup men have been hotter than summer in the Sahara this October. Each has carried his team through the first two rounds.
“We know that they have a very explosive offense,” Girardi said. “Up and down their lineup, they hit for power, they run, they do a lot of good things in their lineup. Sometimes good pitching is able to shut down good lineups, as we saw. We played a lot of tight games with the Angels. The Angels had a very good lineup and scored a lot of runs during the season, and so did we and those were all tight games. The games against the Twins were fairly tight.
”You take what comes. A lot of times in playoff baseball you see a lot of one-run, two-run close games.”
Game 1 features a pitching matchup made in Cleveland. Former Indians Sabathia and Cliff Lee square off, winners of the last two American League Cy Young awards.
The Phillies topped the Rays in five games in last year’s World Series. Now they face a much tougher opponent.
The Yankees are back in the World Series for the first time since 2003 when Josh Beckett and the Marlins closed them out in six games. Tonight marks the first World Series game at the new Yankee Stadium.
“It’s been six years since the Yanks have played in the World Series,” pitcher Andy Pettitte said, “but it seems like an eternity.”
Pride, pinstripes, power, pomposity – this Series promises to have it all.
It’s time to ring the bell.