Yankees Again

Back on top. 27 titles. The New York Yankees returned to prominence tonight with great pitching and clutch hitting from a foreign import. Hideki Matsui, TBG's favorite Yank, came up huge in tonight's clincher and will likely be World Series MVP. While the Bronx Bombers benefited from hired guns like A-Rod, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, they aren't champions without young homegrown talents Joba Chamberlain, Robinson Cano and Phil Hughes. While the role players came up big this year the Yankees won again for one reason. Their veteran nucleus. Mariano Rivera is the best pitcher of his generation. Hands down. The 39-year-old save machine is 83 of 86 in save situations over the past two seasons. Coming into today's game he had a career 0.75 ERA over 131.2 postseason innings. And oh yeah, he does it all with one pitch. Hitters can't hit his cutter because he doesn't even know where it is going. The other face of the Yankees ain't bad either. In an era scarred by steroid use Derek Jeter never hit more than 24 homeruns in a year. He just hit a career .317, played a 3-time Gold Glove shortstop and became both the all-time hits leader among history's shortstops, post-season players and Yankees. For my money, he is the best hitter of this generation (I'll count the Pujols Era slightly after). Finally, tonight's winning battery Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada also earned their 5th rings tonight. It's easy to hate the Yankees for being so good and so dirty rich but a talented core like Pettitte, Jeter, Posada and Rivera is undeniable.

TBG