Phillies: Cliff Lee Tops Yanks in Game 1, 10 Years Ago Today
Ten years ago today, Phillies ace Cliff Lee dazzled in his World Series debut, going the distance against the Joe Girardi-led Yankees in Game 1.
Entering the 2009 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed unstoppable.
Dating back to the previous year’s World Series run, the team had won five straight postseason series, and were poised for a sixth after southpaw ace Cliff Lee‘s dominant 2009 World Series Game 1 victory over eventual Phillies manager Joa Girardi and the New York Yankees at the then-new Yankee Stadium.
This occurred exactly 10 years ago today, October 28, 2009.
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Lee was exactly the type of pitcher the Phillies needed to counter his former Cleveland Indians teammate, and arguably the best pitcher in baseball at that time, in CC Sabathia.
Game 1 was the prime example of that, as Lee allowed just an unearned run (Jimmy Rollins throwing error), six hits and no walks, while striking out 10 of his 32 batters faced, spanning nine innings of work. Sabathia, on the other hand, allowed a pair of solo home runs to Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, along with four hits, three walks, and just six strikeouts over seven frames.
By homering, Utley set a then-postseason record by safely reaching in his 26th straight game. Also, Utley joined Babe Ruth (1928) as the only two left-handed hitters to homer twice off a southpaw in a World Series game.
On the mound, Lee tossed 122 pitches for 80 strikes, while also inducing 16 swinging strikes, 21 strikes looking, 11 ground balls and 11 fly balls.
The Phillies would win the game 6-1, with the other four runs coming in the eighth and ninth innings via a Raul Ibanez two-RBI single, a Shane Victorino RBI single, and a Ryan Howard RBI double.
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Lee had no nerves when crafting his dominant World Series debut outing, telling reporters, “To be honest I really never have been nervous in the big leagues. This is what I wanted to do my whole life.”
He continues, “Game time is the time go out there and have fun and let your skills take over. It’s kind of weird. Boils down to confidence and trusting your teammates.”
And, perhaps the most iconic moment of the game, was when Lee simply stuck out his glove to the side on the mound, and caught a weak popup from Johnny Damon.
Lee describes the play, saying: “You know, it was pretty cool. It was 15 feet in the air. Pretty simple catch. It came right to me.”
in securing the Game 1 win, Lee had gone 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA over his first four postseason appearances in a Phillies uniform. While he would allow five runs in Game 5, he still limited damage and earned a winning decision to allow the series to continue to Game 6 in New York.
Although the Phillies would lose Game 6 and the series overall, Lee prevented the Yankees, and Girardi, from celebrating the organization’s 27th all-time World Series championship at Citizens Bank Park.