One Half of Clash of Titans Is in Place

PHILADELPHIA -- As the Phillies celebrated the NL's first repeat championship in 12 years Wednesday, a fan at Citizens Bank Park held up a sign:

"Bring On The Bronx."

Oh yeah.

Asked about a potential Yankees-Phillies World Series, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins whistled.

"Two big boys," he said.

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Said ex-Yankee Miguel Cairo: "If they win, it will be two big monsters against each other."

OK, Godzilla vs. Rodan, or Bigfoot vs. Yeti, or Frankenstein vs. Dracula, isn't a lock yet. There's still the pesky detail of needing the Yankees to wrap up the ALCS. But if they avoid a collapse, they may finally run into a team that will punch back.

As one Phillies person put it, the Yankees are "on cylinders, but so are we."

There's something else the teams have in common: the belief that only a World Series championship is acceptable.


"We should be here," reliever Ryan Madson said. "That's how we felt as a team."

Said Jayson Werth, who homered twice Wednesday: "This is great and all that, but we got four games to win."

And then he repeated, over and over, "We got four games to win."

On the field, there's a few reasons to believe the Phillies match up well with the Yankees.

Philadelphia's left-handed power will play at Yankee Stadium. And even though the Yankees can run CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte at the Phillies' lefty-heavy order, Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley ranked 1-2 among NL left-handed hitters in OPS against left-handed pitching.

The Phillies play defense and have speed. They had excellent records on the road -- 48-33 -- and against left-handed starters -- 29-16 (although the same is true of the Angels).

Oh, and Philadelphia won two of three at Yankee Stadium in May.

Now, the pitching after Cliff Lee is a question, especially in the bullpen. While closer Brad Lidge showed a disappearing slider in getting the final three outs of Wednesday's game, his fastball still has a tendency to leak back over the plate.

But, oooh, wouldn't Pedro Martinez love to return to New York and rise to the occasion.

Asked if he'd like to pitch at Yankee Stadium, Pedro Martinez said, "That's my home. ... That's where I live. I hope you understand that. ... [Play] the Yankees? You'll find out. Get your ticket."

In any case, Philadelphia isn't afraid of a slugfest.

"When you bring a super-talented pitchers out there," Lidge said, "our guys are on their game. And they step up to the challenge."

"That's my home. ... That's where I live. I hope you understand that. ... [Play] the Yankees? You'll find out. Get your ticket."
-- Pedro Martinez (Remember, the Phillies beat Sabathia in last year's National League Division Series, scoring five runs on six hits and four walks in his 3 2/3 innings.)

Lee, who was in the AL until July, has called the Phillies an American League team playing in the National League because of their tough, deep lineup.

"We're going to be up for a good challenge," Lee said. "This offense is pretty powerful. The American League supposedly is a slugging league. this lineup matches right up with any of those teams.

"For us, playing American League-style baseball is not going to be that big a big deal. It'll be a little tougher on them, the pitchers having to hit [in the NL park]."

And the Phillies won't be intimidated by the Yankees' crowd, payroll or All-Star lineup.

"We're play anybody, anywhere, any time," manager Charlie Manuel said of his team's attitude. "I like that."

The Phillies also have a secret weapon in Manuel.

He doesn't have Joe Girardi's engineering degree or 4-inch-thick books of scouting reports, just the best postseason record of any current manager, 20-11.

Manuel has shown he understands the two biggest requirements for managing in the postseason: urgency (such as pulling Cole Hamels after 4 1/3 innings Wednesday) and flexibility (i.e., putting J.A. Happ in the bullpen and easing Lidge back into a ninth-inning role).

Because we've been pounded over our heads with Yankees propaganda, the obvious is somehow counterintuitive: the Phillies have more World Series experience than the Yankees.

"We were here last year," Werth said. "We know what it takes. We know what we've got to do."

And if it's against the Yankees, the Turnpike Tussle should be a dandy.

"It would be a lot of fun," Lidge said. "It really would. I really would love that matchup.

"It would be fun, for sure. You're talking about two pretty incredible lineups, and pretty good pitching out there too."

Said Manuel: "The Yankees are hot. A-Rod's hitting good. Actually, they're playing pretty good."

Right. And with 110 wins under their belts and $200 million in their Swiss bank accounts, the Yankees would be considered the favorites.

Except by those wearing red.

"We've got one more step," Manuel said as he addressed the Philly crowd, "and we're going to get it."