yankees win world series 2009

Home -> Group -> Sports

yankees win world series 2009

Members of the New York Yankees, with team captain Derek Jeter holding the MLB World Series trophy, celebrate the Yankees' 27th World Series win in history after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the 2009 Major League Baseball World Series in New York, November 4, 2009.

The New York Yankees are World Series champions once again.

The Yankees claimed their record-extending 27th title last night with a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, ending an eight-year championship drought for Major League Baseball’s most successful franchise.

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record by driving in six runs at Yankee Stadium in New York and became the first full- time designated hitter to be named most valuable player.

“I’ve never seen anyone hit like that in a World Series,” first baseman Mark Teixeira said of Matsui in an interview with Fox Sports. “Everyone contributed to this postseason.”

The championship completes a year in which the Yankees opened their new $1.5 billion stadium and spent $424 million to add Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett after missing the playoffs last season. It also marked the emergence of Alex Rodriguez from a three-year postseason slump.

Andy Pettitte collected his 18th career playoff win as the Yankees beat the defending champion Phillies four games to two in the best-of-seven series. Returning home after losing Game 5 in Philadelphia, the Yankees scored four runs in the first three innings off Phillies starting pitcher Pedro Martinez.

Matsui hit a two-run home run in the second inning and a two-run single in the third. The 35-year-old Matsui drove in two more runs with a double in the fifth, pushing the Yankees’ lead to 7-1 and matching the World Series record of six RBI in one game set by Bobby Richardson in 1960.

‘Just Unbelievable’

“It’s awesome, it’s just unbelievable,” Matsui said through an interpreter after accepting his trophy as World Series MVP. “I’m surprised myself.”

Pettitte, 37, allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings to pick up his fourth win of the playoffs and tie David Wells for the most by a Yankee in one postseason. He was the winning pitcher in all three of the Yankees’ series-clinching games.

The 38-year-old Martinez took the loss after allowing four runs over four innings, falling to 1-4 all-time against the Yankees in the postseason.

After their run of 13 straight playoff appearances ended in 2008, the Yankees bolstered their roster in the offseason and started this year as 3-1 favorites among Las Vegas oddsmakers to win the World Series.

They led the majors with 103 wins during the regular season and then swept the Minnesota Twins for their first win in a playoff series since 2004. They advanced to the World Series with a six-game win over the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Championship Series.

Starting Trio

Newcomers Sabathia and Burnett joined Pettitte in a starting pitching staff that had an 8-2 record and a 3.43 earned run average this postseason. The Yankees are the first team since the 1991 Twins to win the World Series using just three starters during the playoffs.

Rodriguez, maligned for driving in just one run over his previous three postseasons with the Yankees, tied a franchise playoff record with six home runs and had a team-record 18 postseason runs batted in. Eight of the third baseman’s RBI tied the game or gave New York the lead.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Rodriguez said after winning the first title of his 16-year major-league career. “I couldn’t be more proud.”

The Yankees hit a franchise-record 20 homers during the playoffs after belting a major league-best 244 during the regular season. They’re the first team to win the World Series after leading the majors in homers since the 1984 Detroit Tigers.

First Since 2000

This is the first time since 2000 the Yankees have won the World Series even though they’ve had the highest payroll in baseball for the past 10 years. Rodriguez is the sport’s highest-paid player with a $275 million contract, and Sabathia’s $161 million deal was the biggest ever for a pitcher.

It’s the fifth title for 35-year-old captain Derek Jeter, one of four players left from the Yankee teams that won four World Series in a five-year span starting in 1996. Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada also collect their fifth rings.

The Yankees are the second team to win two World Series titles this decade, joining the Boston Red Sox (2004 and 2007). They’re the second team in 86 years to win a championship in their first year in a new ballpark, following the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals.

Matsui’s Shot

The Yankees took the lead when Matsui belted his third homer of the World Series, a towering two-run shot on a full- count pitch from Martinez that landed in the second deck in right field. The home run cleared a sign for Japanese construction machinery manufacturer Komatsu Ltd., where his father once worked and which features him in advertisements.

The Phillies got a run back in the third inning, when catcher Carlos Ruiz hammered a triple off the left-centerfield wall and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Rollins.

Matsui came through again in the third, driving in two runs with a two-out, two-strike single to centerfield. It came after Martinez struck out Rodriguez with the bases loaded for the second out.

The Yankees added three more runs in the fifth inning, when Jeter hit a ground-rule double and scored on a single by Teixeira. After a walk to Rodriguez, Matsui greeted Phillies reliever J.A. Happ with a double to the right-centerfield wall to tie Richardson’s 49-year-old RBI record.

Matsui’s heroics came in what may have been his final game for the Yankees after seven seasons. He is set to become a free agent and knee problems prevented him from playing the outfield this year.

Pettitte’s Outing

Pettitte, pitching on three days’ rest for the first time since 2006, limited the Phillies to just two hits over the first five innings. With one out in the sixth, he walked Chase Utley and then surrendered a two-run homer to Ryan Howard.

It was the first homer of the World Series for Howard, who hit 45 during the regular season. Pettitte left two batters later to a standing ovation from the crowd of 50,315, tipping his cap as he entered the Yankees’ dugout.

Yankee relievers Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte and Rivera shut out the Phillies over the final 3 1/3 innings, with Rivera getting the final five outs. When Rivera got Shane Victorino on a ground ball to second base for the game’s final out, the Yankees players ran out of the dugout to celebrate behind the pitcher’s mound.

The team then took a celebratory lap around the field, acknowledging the crowd before returning to the infield for the trophy presentation ceremony. The revelry then moved to the clubhouse, where champagne flowed until the floor and several tables were littered with corks and empty bottles.

“This is way better than I thought it would be,” Sabathia said while carrying his young son, Carsten Charles III, on his shoulders. “You just can’t describe this feeling.”