Yankees' Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty "Goofy" Gomez once said, "I'd rather be lucky than good." In baseball, sometimes the best team wins. Other times, the luckiest team wins. And more often than not, the hottest team heading into the playoffs win. This past posteason, the best and luckiest team came out on top. While the Minnesota Twins were the hottest club heading into the American League Division Series after their miraculous comeback to capture the AL Central crown, their hot streak ran out against the Yankees.
The Yankees had plenty of lucky moments against the Twins and Angels in American League playoffs. First there was Carlos Gomez calling on his Mets days, over-running second base and costing the Twins a run in Game 2, which would go into extra innings. Then in extra innings, the Yankees got a break when Joe Mauer's sure ground-rule double was ruled a foul ball down the left field line. Replays showed that it wasn't even close- the ball was about a foot inside the line.
Against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, it was more of the same. In Game One, Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins let a run-scoring pop up drop in between them. The following night, Jerry Hairston scored the game winner for the Yankees after a potential double play ball turned into a throwing error. And in the clinching game six for the Yanks, Scott Kazmir turned a sacrifice bunt into a touchdown pass down the right field line, putting the game out of reach for the Halos.
Then came the World Series. After Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett picked up dominant victories in the first two contests, the series shifted to a crucial Game 3 in Philly. This game was unquestionably the turning point of the Series as the Yankees would take a 2 games to 1 lead. But what was the turning point in this series? Many would argue that it was Alex Rodriguez's replay home run off of a camera just beyond the right field fence. For me this series turned on a game tying, run scoring single from the most unlikely Yankee batter: Andy Pettitte. Not only did Pettitte grit his way through a rain delay to earn a Game 3 victory, but his run scoring bloop single to tie the game at 3 turned the World Series in the Yanks' favor for good. Just a handful of pitches later, the Yankees had a 5-3 lead. They would win the game and never look back in the series, winning their 27th title in 6 games.
Sure it takes skill for a pitcher to pick up a base hit. But a bloop type single is really luck. Especially when it comes from someone that only bats a couple of times each year. Andy Pettitte came up to the plate after Melky Cabrera failed to move a runner to third with no one out. So he took matters into his own hands and dunked a single to center field. His swing was ugly, and he kind of ran like a duck. But he tied the game and completely turned the momentum, and ruined Cole Hamels' psychie. This was one of many breaks the Yanks' would earn en route to the World Championship.
Maybe it was luck, maybe it was having the highest payroll, or maybe it was just putting the most talented team on the field. Think about it: the Yankees' infield of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, and Mark Teixeira is by far one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time. All four can be Hall of Famers. Think what you want about A-Rod, but he's good enough to get to Cooperstown. Jeter is a lock, Teixeira can get there if he keeps it up, and Cano quietly puts together 200-hit seasons.
Miller Huggins, who managed the 1927 Murderer's Row Yankees, said, "Luck, I never put any stock in it. A smart team makes its own breaks." The 2009 Yankees did just that. Clutch hitting, lucky breaks, smart plays. That's the equation for any championship team.
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