Does America want the Phillies?
A columnist wonders about an ideal World Series.
Does America want the Phillies?
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Bill Rhoden of the New York Times offers up a little snack to fuel the fires until the Phillies and Dodgers drop the puck on Thursday night.
In a column the other day, Rhoden offered up a thesis that, truth be told, is probably the majority view in the country (and especially in the part of the country where television executives live). Along the way, he acknowledges that a Yankees-Phillies World Series would be "intriguing," as would all of the other potential matchps, for that matter.
Now for the big however:
Still, what Major League Baseball needs is a great World Series, a Series for the ages. And with all due respect to those two other potential matchups, it’s a Yankees-Dodgers World Series that could take the game back to its roots at a time when baseball desperately needs to recover a portion of the trust, if not the innocence, that it has lost in the steroid era.
You know, with all due respect.
Baseball needs a World Series for the ages, one that reinforces its roots and, yes, its relative purity. Granted, this is a lot to ask one World Series matchup to accomplish, but baseball needs an authentic fall classic.
It needs Yankees-Dodgers, for the good of the game.
You know, for the good of the game.
Yeesh.
I could not possibly hate the yankees, their fans, the new york media, the mlb scheduling morons or these tv execs any more than I do now. They are terrible people. PHILLIES FOR LIFE! rePeat !!!— drumminge6- Here is one vote MLB gets exactly the opposite of what they want.... Phillies vs Angels— joeolive
- So baseball will recover its innocence that was lost in the steroid era by having Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez in the World Series? That's rich.— phillyfan412
- yeah, a series that would feature A-Roid and Manny "i'm trying to get pregnant" to restore its credibility and cleanse the tarnish of the steriod era. That makes sense... what a NY tool.— fcskills
- Americans want the Yankees and Dodgers the same way they want Coke and Pepsi. It's all about branding and the herd mentality. F the spoiled Yankees fans. And seeing all the celebs at the Dodgers games makes me want to puke. If baseball is only about Yanks/Bosox/LA, then the game is really in trouble.— p-diddy
- The Yankees and Dodgers will restore purity and innocence to the game of baseball? What is that writer smoking? The Yankees best player (A-Rod) and the Dodgers most notable player (Manny) both got caught taking steroids - That article makes absolutely no sense at all - GO PHILS!!!— NEPHILLY215
- Like all of the known users that now play for the Dodgers and Yankees. Yes, that's exactly what America needs. Know what, why don't we just give Bud Selig the Nobel Peace Prize while we're at it...— Phandom
- First of all, this question was already answered last year, and the answer was no. But who really cares, as long as us fans what them, then why does it matter. Why do you dig up cr-p just to write and article?— scars73
- Forget abt it...— Barryboy
- Bulletin board material for the fans. I love it. I'm tacking this up over my TV set, so I can focus on it when I feel like switching to an "Everybody Loves Raymond" rerun during the Series.— Muckrakers
- Because nothing says purity like an Arod / Manny matchup.— flash20
- As long as there isn't any morons from New York in it, it will be good!— twpguy
- "Yankees-Dodgers World Series that could take the game back to its roots at a time when baseball desperately needs to recover a portion of the trust, if not the innocence, that it has lost in the steroid era." Are you kidding me? How many players on the Yanks have been found to have done steroids??? Yeah, exactly. Now the Dodgers. Um...wasn't Manny suspended 50 games this season for that very reason? Come on Bill Rhoden, get your head outta the smog.— ssspoooonn
- The "game" between The Phillies and The Rockies last night was simply a GREAT GAME. GREAT FOR THE SPORT, GREAT FOR MLB. However, only because the AL teams (ie: the Yanks, Red Sox, even The Angels) were all "done" - was the entire country "fortunate" enough to see them play in prime time. There is no respect for the Champs (yes, that would be the Phillies) - which, is typical. The Phillies will continue to fight, refuse to say "die" (see inning 9, game 4) and keep moving forward to defend their title. It will be such a shame to "disappoint" what is "best for the game". The Phillies don't need any extra motivation, but the utter lack of respect they get from the broadcasters, the league, and "the general populace" may actually provide some more fuel for their fire. We are goin' back to Cali...and that's just a stop along the path...— mebphila
- Wow. I don't usually post comments to articles, because most things don't get me worked up, but this article really did the trick. Bill Rhoden is off his rocker! How quickly he seems to have forgotten about Manny Ramirez's steroid indiscretions. And the Yankees and there fans are a bunch of spoiled brats. The Yankees spend twice as much money as any other team, so it comes as no surprise that they are usually competetive. The days of the Yankee lore are long gone. In my opinion, it is more interesting to see the Phillies, the team with the most losses in the history of pro sports, rise from the ashes to potentially win a 2nd straight World Series championship. Talk about improbable. Not to mention none of the Phillies have any history with performance enhancing drugs (Romero is not on the active roster). They are just a talented group of guys, with a country bumpkin manager, who play as a team, and never quit. Personally, I don't find anything remotely interesting about a Yankees/Dodgers matchup, and would likely not watch a single game of that series.— phandamonium
