Photos: 2009 Phillies NEW YORK - On a stool at the Yankee Tavern, tucked under the subway tracks a block from Yankee Stadium, Steve LoPresti was the portrait of a lifelong Yankees fan.
"You have two world championships," LoPresti lectured a visitor from Philadelphia. "It took you a hundred years to win the first. We only have 26."
See why Phillies fans love these guys?
And why local fans say that while it was fun to whip Tampa Bay in last year's World Series, this year's matchup offers a rare opportunity:
A chance for Philadelphia to put a beatdown on its northern big brother - on the city that thinks it stands at the center of the known universe, on the team that epitomizes arrogance, overspending and entitlement.
"I hate that team. I hate 'em!" said Anthony Longo, who works at Harry Ochs Meats at the Reading Terminal Market.
New York is Alex Rodriguez dating Kate Hudson, hounded by paparazzi. Philadelphia is Chase Utley marrying Jennifer Cooper, caring for hounds. New York is over-the-top George Steinbrenner. Philadelphia is under-the-radar David Montgomery.
The Yankees have loads of history and tradition and championships.
The Phillies have loads of history and tradition.
"It seems like they have more of everything than we do," said Temple University assistant professor Emily Sparvero, who studies the business of sports. "They have the bigger media market. They have the new billion-dollar stadium. They have the stars in the stands."
Given the cities' geographic proximity, "we're literally and figuratively in their shadow."
Yankee fans are used to winning - and Philadelphia fans, starved for titles, resent them for their expectations.
"If you had to pick one team to beat, it would be the Yankees," said Michael Bare, 28, a Center City information-technology specialist. "There's nothing better than beating the evil empire."
Fans here loathe how the Yankees routinely outspend every other team in baseball, paying whatever it costs to sign the best players for another run at another title.
This year the Yankees' payroll stood at $201 million. The Mets had the second-highest. The Phillies ranked seventh at $114 million, about $87 million less than the Yankees.
Yet the Phillies and Yankees, as teams, encompass no distinct rivalry. The two play each other only rarely, in interleague games.
Many New York sports fans care no more about Philadelphia than they do about, say, Cincinnati.
At the New York Stadium Souvenir Shop, Marta Gonzalez laughed at the suggestion that, as a Yankees fan, she might harbor particular animus for Philadelphia or the Phillies. Really, how could she dislike a place that's so much smaller?
"You're our neighbor," said Gonzalez, 60, trying to be nice.
Which is part of the problem.
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