Only one team in all of baseball had the rare pleasure (?) of playing the eventual World Series finalists, the Yankees and Phillies, more than 30 times this season. For those of you keeping score at home, that would be your Toronto Blue Jays.
Toronto went 6-12 in its annual 18-game season series with the Yankees and crossed over in Interleague play to go 4-2 in a pair of three-game sets against the Phillies.
But wait, there's still more! Back in February and March, the Jays played ten more games against the Yankees and Phillies, albeit those of the Grapefruit League variety. Toronto went 3-6-1 in those exhibition contests (1-3 vs. NYY and 2-3-1 vs. PHI).
All of this is a rather long way of saying the Jays have a lot of history with and a detailed knowledge of this year's Fall Classic combatants. With that in mind, I reached out to a player and a coach for a little professional help before this latest edition of the World Series got underway.
Maybe their views are skewed by repeated beatings from the Yankees or from the success they enjoyed against Philadelphia this season, but both Vernon Wells and Brian Butterfield feel the defending champs have little hope, if any, at repeating. They are both picking the Yankees, but for different reasons. Wells thinks New York has a stronger and deeper pitching staff, while Butterfield thinks the Yankees can outslug anyone, the mighty Phillies included.
"CC, A.J. and Andy all have the ability to pitch late into these games," says Wells of the Yankees trio of scheduled starting pitchers, Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte respectively. "That eliminates any holes they might have in that bullpen and gets the ball and the lead to Mariano [Rivera]."
Vernon stopped at this point because nothing more really needed to be said. Once "Enter Sandman" plays at Yankee Stadium it's almost always followed two or three minutes later by the celebratory tones of the Yankees victory song, "New York, New York." This is especially true in the postseason. Rivera now holds a 0.77 ERA and has lost just once in 84 career playoff appearances.
"Their offences both match up, so the key is who can put the most zeroes up on the board," says the Jays centre fielder. Then, with his tongue planted firmly in cheek, a sarcastic Wells dead-pans, "I'll be cheering for the Yankees, Will. You know, I cheer for the Yankees all the time."
If any Jay has a reason to cheer for those Bronx Bombers, it's Butterfield. A Jays coach since 2002, he spent the better part of the previous two decades coaching in the Yankee system, tutoring the likes of Pettitte, Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada from their earliest days in the minor leagues. Just this past summer, Butterfield says he played a practical joke on his old friend Posada, who was originally drafted by the Yankees as a second baseman. He sent an autographed ball over to the visitors clubhouse at Rogers Centre. It read -- "Dear Jorge, You're lucky I told the Yankees what a horse-s*@! infielder you were, otherwise you'd be playing second base in a Puerto Rican beer league instead of enjoying a Hall of Fame career as a catcher. You're welcome, Butter."
Butterfield does this kind of thing every so often, always in good fun. On a day when he noticed his one-time pupil Jeter was sitting out a game against the Jays, he rushed to send over an autographed ball that read, "Hey Jete! Are you really hurt or are you taking a Halla-Day?", a reference to that night's starting pitcher. He also teased Jeter on one other occasion asking in print, "So is it a Bruise or a Burn(-ett)" at a time when A.J. was still pitching for Toronto.
Like so many of his other former students, Posada and Jeter absolutely revere Butterfield, who is as likable, engaging and truly funny as anyone you'll find in baseball. They always seek him out in batting practice on the first day of any series between the Jays and Yankees and seem to like the chance to catch up with him. They'll also like what he has to say about this Series.
"I don't want to sound disrespectful to the Phillies," says Butterfield. "But I don't seen any way this Series lasts any longer than five games. The Yankees are too patient, too awesome and playing in two small bandbox ballparks they are just going to outscore the champs."