2009 World Series: Yankees Beat the Phillies

Nine years is a long time. Long enough that the guys who'd won the last one -- Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada -- had watched teammates leave, watched dynasties dissolve, watched the whole apparatus grind through mediocrity and one outright disaster (missing the playoffs entirely in 2008, which felt like getting caught forgetting a password to your own house). Long enough that the New York Yankees spent $423 million in a single offseason, moved into a billion-dollar new ballpark, and arrived at October 2009 knowing that everything they'd spent and built and banked on was going to be settled in the next four to seven games.

Then Cliff Lee showed up for Game 1 and made all that context feel like wishful thinking.

The Lee Problem

Lee threw a complete game. Nine innings. Six hits. Zero earned runs. Zero walks. Ten strikeouts. The only unearned run came on a ground ball that squirted through. Nobody had ever done that in a World Series -- struck out 10 while walking nobody and allowing no earned runs -- and Lee did it in the new stadium's first October game, making Chase Utley's two home runs (one in the third, one in the sixth) feel like formalities in a 6-1 Phillies win. CC Sabathia gave up both Utley shots in seven innings and took the loss.

You know what the worst part was? The Phillies had Cliff Lee AND Cole Hamels AND Pedro Martinez. If they were going to use Lee in Games 1 and 5, and the series went six, they'd get him back for a potential Game 7. (Nobody said this out loud in the Yankees clubhouse because they weren't idiots, but everyone was thinking it.)

Taking Control

Game 2 was A.J. Burnett against Pedro Martinez, which -- depending on your age -- either felt completely normal or deeply surreal. (Pedro was 38, pitching in his second World Series, this time against the team he'd spent the better part of a decade feuding with. Baseball does this sometimes.) Burnett threw seven innings, gave up one run, struck out nine. Teixeira tied it in the fourth with a solo shot; Matsui put the Yankees ahead in the sixth with another. Yankees 3, Phillies 1. Series tied.

Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park was a slugfest -- Yankees 8, Phillies 5 -- but everyone remembers it for one specific at-bat. Alex Rodriguez hit a ball to deep right field that appeared to land off the outfield wall but was ruled a double on the field. Joe Girardi challenged, the umpires walked off to look at video, and came back out to rule it a home run. The ball had hit a Fox broadcast camera mounted on the wall. "When the ball hits the camera, home run," crew chief Gerry Davis explained. Matter-of-fact as anything. It was the first instant replay-overturned home run in postseason history, and it came because a $50 million camera happened to be positioned where A-Rod hit it. Only in New York.

Pettitte started and won Game 3. He'd also start and win Game 6 -- becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to start and win all three series-clinching games in a single postseason (ALDS, ALCS, and World Series). By the time it was over, he had 18 career postseason wins, an all-time record. This detail gets lost in the Matsui conversation, which is fair, but shouldn't.

Game 4 brought Sabathia back on three days' rest -- the Yankees were going to get this thing done -- and he pitched well enough in a 7-4 win, even as Utley hit his third homer of the series in the seventh. The Yankees led three games to one.

The Chase Utley Footnote

It feels strange to write this, but Chase Utley was the best player in the series and he lost. Five home runs -- tying Reggie Jackson's 1977 single-series record -- in a six-game loss. Five. Damn. He hit .286. He drove in 8 runs. He hit a solo shot in the sixth inning of Game 6 after the game was already decided. The Yankees beat the Phillies in this series, but they didn't exactly beat Utley. He just happened to be on the other side when Matsui happened.

Matsui's Night

The Phillies won Game 5 -- Lee came back on normal rest and Burnett on short rest, which went about how you'd expect, 8-6 -- to push it to six games and set up exactly the scenario the Yankees had feared: Lee available for a potential Game 7 if they didn't close it out on November 4.

They closed it out on November 4.

Matsui started the Game 6 scoring with a two-run homer in the second inning off Pedro Martinez -- an eight-pitch at-bat that ended with a shot to right field -- to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. He added a two-run single later in the game to extend the lead after the Yankees had already chased Pedro. By the end of the game he'd gone 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 6 runs batted in, tying Bobby Richardson's 1960 single-game World Series record for RBI. Pettitte gave up three over 5.2 innings, Rivera shut the door, and Shane Victorino grounded to Robinson Cano, who flipped to Teixeira, and it was over.

Rivera dropped to his knees on the mound. Jeter sprinted toward him.

Here's what makes this more than just a great World Series performance: Game 6 was the last game Hideki Matsui ever played as a New York Yankee. He hit free agency after the series, signed a one-year deal with the Angels, and never came back. He was the first Japanese-born player to win World Series MVP. He was the first designated hitter to win it. And he did it in the last game he'd ever wear pinstripes, in a stadium that was playing its first championship series in its first year of existence.

The new Yankee Stadium got its ring in year one. Just like the old one did in 1923. Some things about this franchise just happen the way they're supposed to.

It feels better than I remember it, man. It's been a long time.

The Four Guys

It's worth saying once: Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, and Posada were all in this. The Core Four who'd been together since before anyone knew what the Core Four would become. Four World Series rings already, from 1996 to 2000. Nine years of nothing. And then one more.

Rivera was 39 when he dropped to his knees on that mound. Pettitte was 37 and setting all-time postseason records. Jeter was 35 and playing through what would become the back half of his career. This wasn't a dynasty's opening act -- it was the closing number. And they nailed it.

None of them, not even Matsui, were back in pinstripes to try again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2009 World Series?

The New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies four games to two in the 2009 World Series, played October 28 through November 4. Hideki Matsui won World Series MVP honors with a .615 batting average, 3 home runs, and 8 RBI across the six-game series.

Who was the 2009 World Series MVP?

Hideki Matsui won the award after hitting .615 (8-for-13) with 3 home runs and 8 RBI, including a historic Game 6 -- 3-for-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI -- in the clinching win. Matsui was the first Japanese-born player and the first full-time designated hitter ever to win World Series MVP. It was the last game he ever played as a New York Yankee.

How many home runs did Chase Utley hit in the 2009 World Series?

Chase Utley hit 5 home runs in the 2009 World Series -- two in Game 1, one in Game 4, and two in Game 5 -- tying Reggie Jackson's 1977 record for the most in a single World Series. Utley batted .286 and drove in 8 runs in a losing effort. The record has since been tied by George Springer in 2017.

Was the 2009 World Series at the new Yankee Stadium?

Yes. Games 1, 2, and 6 were played at the new Yankee Stadium, which had opened on April 16, 2009 -- making the 2009 championship the stadium's first. The Yankees also won the championship in the inaugural year of the original Yankee Stadium in 1923, a parallel that the franchise has never let anyone forget.

How long had it been since the Yankees' last World Series title before 2009?

Nine years. The Yankees' previous championship was in 2000, when they beat the Mets in the Subway Series. After four titles in five years (1996-2000), the Yankees went through a nine-year drought that included missing the playoffs entirely in 2008. The 2009 championship was their 27th all-time.