When the Yankees take the field in Arizona this Saturday night, they will get an unusual reception. The spiteful, jealous screams of the more intense Yankees-haters will be drowned out by a strange sound that the Yankees still aren’t used to hearing on the road.
The applause will be scattered at first, then it will gradually swell as more and more hands add to the eventual torrent of sound rumbling from thousands of spectators in tribute to the city of New York.
The “”damn Yankees”” are heading to their 27th World Series and for the first time in eons it won’t just be New Yorkers who want them to win. Instead, they will be America’s sentimental favorite, the living symbol of the determination and resiliency of New York and its inhabitants.
Everybody except me.
The Yankees aren’t my sentimental favorite to win the World Series. It’s not just because I hate the Yankees. I also hate the Diamondbacks, yet they are my pick to win the World Series.
The D-backs are the youngest franchise ever to make it to a World Series, but their lineup is stocked with seasoned veterans. Seventeen of their players are over 30. They sport one 42-year-old pitcher, Mike Morgan, who defines the term “”journeyman”” with what is likely his last stop in a career that spans two decades and 12 different teams. They have two potential Hall-of-Famers in Mark Grace and Matt Williams, who provide plenty of leadership. They also have an awesome manager in Bob Brenly, who, if for nothing else, gets my respect for being an ex-Giant.
These fogies are experienced and they’re good, too. They led the National League in fielding and only missed leading the majors by one error. To put this in perspective, the D-backs committed 41 fewer errors than the Oakland Athletics, whose horrible defense handed the Yanks the clinching game on a silver platter.
Looking at momentum: Arizona has the edge there as well. Although momentum in the sporting world isn’t as easy as multiplying the mass by the velocity vector squared (like it is in physics), several factors point to this conclusion.
The Diamondbacks battled the whole season because they were locked in a tight division race and unable to clinch until the last week of the season. The Yankees were helped by the collapse of the Red Sox and coasted into the postseason.
The Yankees just completed two tough series with the A’s and Mariners, while the Diamondbacks have had extra time to rest — an advantage in the postseason after everyone has played 162-plus games. To top it all off, the Diamondbacks start the series at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix and have the chance to snatch two victories in the desert before heading to New York.
In those first two games, Arizona will be starting a couple of well-rested, healthy pitchers: Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. They have been untouchable this postseason, while the Yankees’ No. 1 pitcher, Roger Clemens, hasn’t thrown more than 100 pitches and was benched early due to leg problems in a game against Oakland. The Yankees had difficulties hitting Oakland’s solid trio of young pitchers — hitting against two veteran power pitchers will be a lot harder.
The last reason that makes me think the Diamondbacks will win is a bit trite and probably very naive: They will win because the Yankees have to lose. There is no way a franchise can win forever, and this year is as good as any for them to lose. They are obviously not as strong as they have been in the past, and after barely surviving two exhaustive series, they are worn out and tired.
The mighty Yankees are starting to crumble. What the fans see this World Series might not just be a team losing, but the end of an era.
