Talk Bronx New York

Nothing less was expected. Nothing less was delivered. These are the Yankees. This is New York. They are the best, and that’s what this town mints: winners. If you don’t get it, enjoy your visit anyway.

Meanwhile, we’ll be out by the tens of thousands for a wild romp of a parade, an exuberant beat of the city’s great big heart.

Plenty spectacular it is that The Bombers inaugurated their handsome new Stadium by winning the 2009 World Series, the team’s 27th, before a home-field crowd.

And history doth repeat. The team won the first of its championships in the opening season of the old Stadium, way back in 1923. Ever since, the Yanks have topped baseball at an average of once every three years.

No one else comes close. Hell, add up the Series wins of the teams in each Major League division, and the only division with more than the Yanks is the one they are in, the AL East. The team has won more than a quarter of the World Series ever played. And it’s a thrill every time. Read more..

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In their first season under the lights of their new Bronx stadium, the Yankees won their 27th world title Wednesday night with a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series.

The win is the team’s first championship since 2000 and represents the fifth World Series ring for the “core four” of Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.

“You never know when you’re going to get back here, you know, so for all my teammates that have been here before and we couldn’t do it,” Posada said. “This really says a lot about our team. I’m excited. I mean I’m speechless. I’m really enjoying the moment right now.”

Rivera closed out Game 6, getting the Phillies’ Shane Victorino on a groundball to second to end it.

“Now it’s over. Now there’s a lot of celebration, a lot of smiles and that’s it,” said Rivera. “We win today and I’m going to rest now.”

The star of the game was Hideki Matsui. The Yankees DH was awarded the Series MVP award following his two-run homer, two-run single, and two-run double performance Wednesday night.

His six RBIs tied a record set in 1960 by the Yankees’ Bobby Richardson for most in a single World Series game.

Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte picked up the win, adding to his record of postseason wins and series-clinching wins.

The World Series celebration could be heard all across the city, but especially in the Bronx.

Fans who came pouring out of the stadium following the Bombers’ victory said they were glad they clinched the title at home.

“Amazing, amazing! Greatest game I ever went to. About time. A-Rod, Jeter, Pettitte, Matsui MVP, what more can be said,” shouted one Yankees fan.

“New president, new stadium, new champions, New York!” said another enthusiastic fan.

In Times Square, fans wasted no time stocking up on World Series souvenirs at Modell’s Sporting Goods. Read more..

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This has to happen. Pedro Martinez has to take the ball in the Bronx tonight and cut and curve and quick-pitch the overhyped Yankees hitters into knots. He has to lick those long fingers and throw those 76 mph high changeups and put the entire tri-state region into a palpable state of panic.

He has to beat the Yankees tonight, force a Game 7 and hand some smart tabloid editor the chance to make backpage history. Pedro has to glare in at Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez after punching them out in a big spot, and his photo has to appear tomorrow with the obvious headline:

The Man Who Stares At Goats.

This just has to happen. Pedro has to knock them out with his sheer force of will, just like George Clooney does to the real goats in those incessant TV commercials. This whole thing has unfolded like some kind of corny baseball movie. Only we don’t know how this one will turn out. You can go to the movies tonight, but I have news for you: Michael Jackson dies in the end. Pedro vs. the Yanks? We don’t know what’s going to happen.

All we know is that, for drama, for fun, for pure entertainment value, the Phillies have the perfect guy on the mound. Pedro has been called a lot of things in his brilliant career, but how about this for a first: best bargain in baseball. Commissioner Bud Selig ought to hand Martinez a bonus for all the eyeballs he will attract tonight. The Phillies signed Martinez for $2 million. For the record, the Red Sox [team stats] paid about 10 TIMES THAT for the worthless pitching trio of Brad Penny, John Smoltz and Takashi Saito. Read more..

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Pedro Martinez of the Philadelphia Photo | Pedro Martinez of the Philadelphia Phillies speaks to the media during a press conference at Yankee Stadium. (Nov. 3, 2009)

This will be Pedro’s 19th career start in the Bronx, including postseason action.

 Even Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter discussed it  late Monday night, when it became apparent this World Series would return to the Bronx. The participants themselves are not oblivious to when they’re taking part in great baseball theater.

“Just how strange is this, after all the battles with him being in Boston?” Pettitte said, detailing the nature of his conversation with the Yankees’ captain. “I know I’ve faced him a bunch of times. I don’t know about the playoffs. I can’t really remember that.

“But in the course of a regular season, and big series, and stuff like that, and then to come full circle, this many years have passed, him with the Phillies and me back over here and stuff like that, it’s going to be neat.”

Need we even introduce the mystery person of whom Pettitte speaks? You of course know that it’s Pedro Martinez, set to start for the Phillies tonight in World Series Game 6.

Looking, with his team trailing 3-2 in games, to keep the Yankees from going up the same Canyon of Heroes to which Pedro could not lead the Mets.

Martinez, as he often does, credited his God, to help him “actually have such a long career go full cycle around. Actually be able to compete once again in a World Series, on one of the biggest stages. Just see two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it.” Read more..

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What, the Yankees worry? The crushing Game 5 loss on Thursday? No big deal. Memories of the 2004 ALCS collapse to the Red Sox? That was a long time ago. The Yankees’ struggles in the past against the Angels? This is a different Yankees team. Torii Hunter’s bold plan for the Angels to “shock the world” this weekend in The Bronx? Get serious. “Coming into this series, all the talk was how they’ve dominated us over the years and how they were going to be a big problem for us,” Derek Jeter said. “And then, we’re up 3-1 and we lose one game and then people say, ‘Oh, well, we wasted an opportunity’ and ‘What’s wrong with the Yankees?’ It’s a long series. Last I checked, I think we’re in pretty good shape.” Andy Pettitte is not surprised the ALCS is back in The Bronx. The Yankees’ scheduled starter for Game 6 tonight knew the Angels were a terrific team before the series began - and he knows they remain one now. “This was not going to be an easy series,” Pettitte, the man poised to pitch the Yankees to their first World Series in six years, said yesterday. “I know I said all along that it was going to be a battle, and that’s what we’ve got on our hands.” Fresh off the Angels’ comeback victory in Game 5 in Anaheim (or the Yankees’ blown opportunity, if you prefer) the two teams will square off tonight at Yankee Stadium - weather permitting. Pettitte will be opposed by fellow left-hander Joe Saunders. The Yankees, despite blowing a two-run lead in the seventh inning of Game 5 and giving the Angels renewed confidence, publicly are certain about the series. It’s hard to blame them. They will be home for the next two games and they were baseball’s best home team this year. They’re undefeated at home in the playoffs (4-0) and even if they can’t clinch the series tonight, they will have CC Sabathia (who has been absurdly good in his three postseason starts) set to pitch again in Game 7. “We’re still in the driver’s seat,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “We’re up 3-2. We’re not down 3-2.” Nevertheless, Hunter vows his team will not go down without a fight. “I promise you, that’s the plan . . . to shock the world,” the Angels center fielder told The Post’s Kevin Kernan during a workout yesterday in Anaheim, Calif. “We never give up.” Read more..

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