Most of my postseason predictions were like Stevie Wonder throwin' darts, but I hit a bullseye on Yankees in 6...

  • Where to start?  How about the runners-up?  I cannot remember a starting pitcher in a World Series game going to the mound with less than what Pedro Martinez had last night.  For you Red Sox fans that could not watch, he was featuring similar stuff to John Smoltz when the Yankees ended his brief AL East career earlier this season.  Pedro has guile, but not a whole lot else.
  • The Yankees were the better team and were always going to win this series.  However, Charlie Manuel did not give his team a chance.  He had no starting pitching besides Cliff Lee, but he did not push Lee to his max.  Yankees 4, Lee 2 is the final score.
  • I don't care if Hideki Matsui spends the entire 2010 season with his knees packed in ice pretending that he cannot speak English on the bench, he's earned a one-year contract.  He has always been a great streak hitter and he picked the best time to get hot.  "Godzilla" indeed...
  • We came into this postseason talking about closers, the position many (Billy Beane and his 0 rings) call "overrated."  You can win a division title with Brian Fuentes, Huston Street and Ryan Franklin, but Mariano Rivera or those who do close impressions win World Series.  It was like a game of "Survivor" and 7 of the 8 playoff closers broke at some point.  Not Mo.  Five more years!  Five more years!!
  • Intentional or otherwise, ESPN, Fox and MLB made a wise choice to put the "Core Four" in the spotlight instead of Alex Rodriguez.  Going in, I thought A-Rod's quest would be covered like Peyton Manning's when he finally "won the big one."  To do that justice, steroids would have to be in the lead of every story.  Instead, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte (the honest steroid user), Jorge Posada and Rivera were selected as the main attraction on baseball's grandest stage.  Between cheaters and umpires, baseball has an integrity issue.  This was a good call.
  • If you took an anonymous poll of baseball players and coaches and asked them who the worst umpire was, I GUARANTEE you Joe West would be in the top three.  Yet, there he was behind the plate in Game 6 of the World Series calling a moving strike zone.  We need to stop yelling at the umps and start yelling at the owners and Bud Selig.
  • Where was Brian Cashman last night?  This was his championship more than any player or coach or owner.  Even Damaso Marte made him look like a genius.
  • Joe Girardi had a horrific ALCS, but he bounced back with a solid World Series.  He learned from his mistakes.  He paired down the bullpen to Marte, Joba Chamberlain and Rivera.  And he stuck to his guns with Jose Molina, which earned him a pivotal Game 2 win.  More than anything, Girardi won this World Series in the regular season.  Despite a close divisional race, he managed to provide enough rest for his three starters and closer, so they could carry him in the postseason.
  • This was the best team that smart money could buy.  They trimmed 8 million off last year's payroll from a team that did not even make the playoffs.  They have about $50 million coming off this season's payroll.  It's always been money spent, but now it's money well spent.
  • Congratulations to Mike Mussina for creating the "loser bridge" from the 2000 championship to the 2009 title winners.  "Moose" pitched in pinstripes from 2001-08.  As the Brits would say, "Unlucky."
  • NY media started the season whining about the new ballpark's tiny dimensions and country club atmosphere.  As the weather got cold, the ballpark did not play embarrassingly small in the postseason, but I still think right-to-right-center needs to be pushed back to the old dimensions.  As for the noise, I could hear 'em chanting 3,000 miles away.
  • On to #28, the Yankees should re-sign Matsui and Xavier Nady if they can do it for cheap.  They can clog up the DH hole together.  Johnny Damon has always been a mercenary, so I expect him to go where the cash is flowing.  Cashman is not a sentimentalist, so he won't spring for an old, popular outfielder.  The Yankees one big change will be welcoming a new left-fielder (Jason Bay, Matt Holiday, Jeremy Hermida, etc.).  Otherwise, bring back Pettitte and see if Phil Hughes and Chamberlain can flourish in the back end of the rotation. 
  • 3 months and 2 days until pitchers and catchers report...

Jeter and Mo make me feel old and young at the same time