Series preview “ How great would that be?

A World Series here, us against the Yankees? We've proved we can put on a pretty good show. ”
Jimmy Rollins, discussing the potential of a Yankees–Phillies World Series on May 24, 2009. [32]
The two teams played a three-game
interleague series at Yankee Stadium in May 2009, with the Phillies winning two of the three games. [33] The series included two blown saves by Phillies' closer Brad Lidge in games 2 and 3, although the Phillies came back to win the final game in extra innings. [33]
The Yankees had home field advantage for the Series as the American League had won that year's All-Star Game .[34] The team match-up was heavily discussed and analyzed in the media, per the east coast bias, prior to the beginning of the series. Both teams' offensive lineups were heavily touted, [35][36][37]
[38] with the Yankees and Phillies leading their respective leagues in runs scored per game. [39] Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez drew particular focus in the media for his success in earlier rounds of the 2009 playoffs in contrast to past postseason performances. [40][41]
[42] The two lineups featured twenty former All-Stars and three former MVP award winners.[36] Only one regular starter between both teams, Phillies
catcher Carlos Ruiz, did not have at least ten home runs during the 2009 regular season. [36] The two teams combined for 468 home runs during the season, more than any pair of opponents in World Series history.[36]
The pitching staffs were also the subject of significant discussion prior to the series. [37] The starting pitchers for Game 1, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, were regarded as aces[38] who dominated the 2009 postseason with a 0.96 earned run average (ERA) between them. [43] This matchup was of particular note, as Sabathia and Lee were former teammates from the Cleveland Indians and each had won a Cy Young Award with that franchise. [43][44][45] Yankees manager
Joe Girardi had been using a three-man
starting rotation during the playoffs, in contrast to the four-pitcher rotation used by the Phillies. [46][47] This difference led
USA Today to give the Phillies' starting rotation the "edge" in the series, as the World Series had one fewer day off than previous rounds of the playoffs, making the series less conducive to using a three-man rotation. [47] Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN criticized Girardi's strategy, arguing that Chad Gaudin should have pitched in Game 5 or 6, instead of A. J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte on reduced, three days' rest. [48] Wojciechowski argued that while Sabathia had proven his ability to pitch on shorter rest, Burnett and Pettitte should have been given their regular time between starts. [48] Burnett had drawn some criticism, as he performed poorly in his last appearance before the World Series, [43] a start in Game 5 of the ALCS in which he allowed six runs over six innings. [49] However, Burnett had previously been successful on short rest, going 4–0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest before this game. Some believed Girardi settled on a three-man rotation because he had limited options for a fourth starting pitcher, either Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain , who had been inconsistent as starters in the regular season and had been shifted into the bullpen for the postseason. [48][50][51]
The matchup of closers, Mariano Rivera and Brad Lidge, also drew attention. Rivera and Lidge were the only closers who had not blown a save during the 2009 postseason, whereas closers on other postseason teams blew 11 saves in the 24 postseason games before the World Series in 2009. [52] Both had performed well during the postseason, but Lidge had posted a 7.21 ERA during the 2009 regular season, in contrast to Rivera's 1.76. [52][53] Lidge's 2009 numbers were in stark contrast to the previous season (41 out of 41 save opportunities, a 1.95 ERA, and 92 strikeouts in 62 games). As a result, USA Today gave the Yankees the edge, noting that Lidge had blown two saves against the Yankees during their regular season series earlier that year. [47]