Joey's Soapbox: Phillies To Repeat; Yankees Smell Defeat

It's been a while since I got on my soapbox, but as you can see from the picture to the left, I'm back on it and I brought some props with me. It's time to make my predictions for the 2009 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, or as my colleague calls it, the Doomsday Series.

Let me first say that I would rather not pick either one of these teams, because I am a Mets fan first, second and always. I proudly wave my foam finger in the face of anyone who doubts where my allegiances lie.

That being said, I'm pulling for the Yankees to lose to the Phillies in the World Series. Here is my reasoning for this prediction.

I hate the Phillies and their fans more than Sally Struthers hates salads, but they've only been good for three years. Before 2007, did anybody on the Phillies annoy you? Were their fans up in your faces? No. Everything was cool before 2007 because there was no rivalry or animosity between the two teams and their fans.

However, since 2000, all Yankee fans have been saying is 26 rings this, 26 rings that. Not only that, but if you're a Mets fan who reminds them that they haven't won a ring in nine years, what will they say? They'll say that it's been 23 years since we last won and that their last ring was earned by beating the Mets.

Phillies fans can't talk (even though they will). Not only are they the only team in professional sports with 10,000 losses, but over the course of each franchise's history, the Mets have a better winning percentage than the Phillies.

Despite the fact that the Mets were regular patrons of the 100-loss club for several years before they won the World Series in 1969 and were dismal in the late 70s and early 80s, they still have a better overall record than the Phillies. In 48 seasons, the Mets' regular season winning percentage is .479 (3,655 wins and 3,981 losses). The Phillies have 9,038 wins and 10,167 losses in their 127-year history, for a winning percentage of .471. If they were to start a 1,000 game winning streak, they'd still have a losing record once the skein ended.

Yankee fans can be arrogant as well, but at least they can back it up with all of their championships that they earned in every decade except the 80s. What can Phillies fans back it up with? Not much. Two championships in 127 years isn't that impressive. The Mets have won the same amount of titles in about one-third the time. Even the Marlins have won that many championships and they've only been in existence since 1993. The only thing the Phillies can say they do better then the Mets is that the Phillie Phanatic is better at playing with his wiener.

So let the Phillies and their fans have their fun. Does anyone really expect them to stay around for long? They don't have a single everyday player under the age of 28 and by the time Opening Day comes around, their fearsome foursome of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibañez will all be in their thirties.

By the time their contracts expire, all will be past their prime but will still demand the money of players in their prime. Only Chase Utley is signed beyond the 2011 season. Jayson Werth will become a free agent after next season. Next year is also Jimmy Rollins' last year, although he has an option for 2011, while Howard and Ibañez's contracts expire in 2011 as well. Do you really think they'll all accept pay cuts to continue playing for the Phillies?

The run started by the Phillies in 2007 should end by 2011. Then it will be back to normal, where the Mets will be better than the Phillies and the Yankees will still be talking about their dozens of rings.

Because of that, I am picking the Yankees to lose the World Series in five games to the Phillies. That's right. I'm agreeing with Jimmy Rollins' prediction of five games. Don't worry. It won't become a habit. Once April comes around, it'll be back to smashmouth baseball. Or in the case of Jimmy Rollins, smashface baseball.