Land Of Hope And Dreams

For the thirteenth time in the last twenty two nights, there will be no Yankee baseball this evening. Right now the weather looks like it should cooperate tomorrow, when the Yankees are scheduled to play their first World Series game in six years and three days.

There was no major news coming out of the Yankees workout this afternoon. Their rotation is unannounced beyond Game Three. Chad Gaudin was slated to throw a 70 to 80 pitch bullpen session this afternoon in an effort to get him stretched out for a potential start. It likely would also leave him unavailable for Games One and Two, but given that he was used for just a single inning of mop up work in the Yanks' first nine post-season tilts that shouldn't be a big loss for them.

The Yankees have yet to announce any roster changes, but with Games Three, Four, and Five (if necessary) happening in Citizens Bank Park, it's a sure bet that Eric Hinske will be added back to the roster for pinch hitting purposes. Freddy Guzman, who replaced Hinske on the ALCS roster, would be the likely man to go. However, Joe Girardi has shown an affinity for using pinch runners this October. I wouldn't rule out the Yankees instead choosing to drop Francisco Cervelli. If the Yanks do go with a three man rotation, A.J. Burnett would start Game Five in Philly. I doubt the Yankees would want to lose Posada's bat in that game since they're already missing the DH, so the third catcher on the roster would lose a lot of his already limited usefulness. Lots of factors to consider here; and in some ways the eventual Hinske announcement may give insight to the Yankees' pitching plans for the Series.

In other news, earlier this week the story broke that the Yankees met with Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman during Game Six of the ALCS. While it's no surprise that the Yankees met with him, I am a little surprised about the manner in which it happened. Inviting Chapman to attend Game Six was likely a negotiation ploy by the Yankees, as it was reported just last Friday that a meeting with Chapman would have to wait until the ALCS wrapped. Perhaps the Chapman meeting explains Brian Cashman's conspicuous absence from the clubhouse celebration Sunday night.

Earlier today we took a look back at the only previous New York-Philadelphia World Series, but of course these 2009 teams met earlier this year. To refresh your memory here are the three previews from that series in May, and here are the three recaps. The Phils took two of three, and their fans took over the Stadium. Let's hope things are different this time around.

I watched the final game of that series from a bar on the Jersey shore, where the crowd was seemingly equally divided between Yankees and Phillies fans. Appropriately enough, our friend Rob Iracane over at Walkoff Walk sees this Series as the Garden State's own version of North and South, just without Patrick Swayze before he was dead, Kirstie Allie before she was fat, and David Carradine before he hung himself while beating it.

Deadspin took a look at a similar Jersey-centric North vs. South issue just last week. Thankfully, Phillies' South Jersey area was represented by the laughable hair band, while the Yankees' North Jersey territory was aligned with the classic Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Just like in the World Series, I'll take my chances with the North Jersey side in that match up every time. Just 24 hours and four wins away from the Land of Hope and Dreams. See you in the morning Fackers.