The Joy of Six
4th November 2009
Dear Yankee Fan, Ignore this post, if you will…
Thank you, A.J. Burnett. I don’t relish basking in another one’s failure, but you did most all of us baseball fans a big favor on Monday night, and because of it, we get a Game 6.
If you haven’t been following the numbers, the nation is riveted to the 2009 World Series, and for good reason:
- Chase Utley has tied Reggie Jackson for most home runs in a World Series (5)
- Ryan Howard has now tied Willie Wilson 1980 record for strike outs in a World Series (12)
- Derek Jeter has 53 postseason RBIs (4th all-time), placing him behind David Justice (63), Manny Ramirez (78), and Bernie Williams (80).
- Chase Utley and Jayson Werth joined a group of players that had a multi-homer World Series game with 2 (Utley, Oct. 28, 2009, consecutive – Werth, Oct. 31, 2009). Only Reggie Jackson (Oct. 18, 1977) and Babe Ruth (Oct. 6, 1926 and Oct. 9, 1928) have had 3 homeruns in a single World Series game. The amazing thing? They were all consecutive.
- Jayson Werth is one homerun away from tying a homerun record in a single postseason (8). If he were to homer Weds. night in Game 6 (or Game 7, should the Phillies get there) he would join Barry Bonds (Giants in 2002) and Carlos Beltran (Astros in 2004)
- If the Phillies were to somehow come back and win the World Series, they would join a select group of teams that have come back from being down 1-3:
- 1985-Kansas City (AL) 4, St. Louis (NL) 3
- 1979-Pittsburgh (NL) 4, Baltimore (AL) 3
- 1968-Detroit (AL) 4, St. Louis (NL) 3
- 1958-New York (AL) 4, Milwaukee (NL) 3
- 1925-Pittsburgh (NL) 4, Washington (AL) 3
- 1903-Boston (AL) 5, Pittsburgh (NL) 3
- And finally, as if we need to remind you, Mariano Rivera is a very, very good closer. But just how good in the postseason is amazing. He has the most career saves in a World Series (11), with Rollie Fingers a distant second in that department (6). Rivera did so in 34.2 inning compared to 33.1 for Fingers.
Tonight is the joy of Game 6. If there’s a baseball god, a Game 7 would be nice… Unless you are a Yankees fan, of course.
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown’s full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
