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Philly sports showdown showcases friends, foes
by: Andrew O'Brien
Going into Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, many fans may have thought about what would happen if the Los Angeles Angles could mount an epic comeback against the dominant New York Yankees. Yankees fans had different thoughts though.
For starters, they had their eyes set on a trip to the World Series, a ticket the Philadelphia Phillies punched four days before the Yankees. The Phillies knocked off the other Los Angeles team in the playoffs, the Dodgers, in only five games, winning the series 4-1 and headed into their second consecutive World Series.
With the Phillies players and fans waiting to see who they were going to play in their defense of their World Championship,
Yankees fans had another idea flowing in their minds:
A chance for New York teams to have a showdown in Philadelphia this weekend.
Many Yankees fans show support for the New York Giants, and while not every single Yankees fan is a Giants fan, there or more than not. This means both the Giants and Yankees will travel south to take on their respective Philadelphia foes.
Granted the Philadelphia Eagles are more of a rival to the Giants than the Phillies are to the Yankees, both New York sports teams have something in common: Beat Philly.
The Giants are coming off two straight losses but still find themselves atop the NFC East with a 5-2 record. The Eagles are right behind them though, with a 4-2 record, and all ready having their bye week.
The big weekend starts Saturday night when the Yankees and Phillies play Game 3 of the World Series at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark at 8 p.m.
Then the two NFL teams meet Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia at 1 p.m. After the football game, fans get a
sports doubleheader when the Phillies will play the Yankees right across the street at 8:20 p.m. in Game 4.
Both games feature a clash of two gun-slingers.
Eli Manning has thrown for 1,633 yards and 12 touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 92.2. Opposing Manning will be the duo of Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick. McNabb has thrown for 768 yards and 6 touchdowns with a rating of 93.3. McNabb also missed two games due to a rib injury.
On the diamond, Game 4 will showcase two southpaws and former teammates. CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee will both open the series in Game 1 in New York and then are scheduled to pitch in the fourth game. As former teammates on the Cleveland Indians just one year ago, both have experienced a mid-season trade to a World Series contender. Last season, Sabathia was sent to Milwaukee and helped the Brewers make their first playoff appearance since1982, and only third in franchise history. Meanwhile, Lee was traded to the Phillies this season after many talks surfaced of him going to a handful of other destinations. Lee was said to help the Phillies win back-to-back world championships.
An interesting story? Sabathia and Lee met in the new Yankee Stadium’s first ever game back in April. Following the game, Sabathia invited his former teammate and friend Lee back to his place to catch up, hang out with Michael Jordan and to have dinner together.
Of course it depends on the decisions made by each player’s respective managers, but in all likelihood, these two All-Stars will meet again in Game 4.
Although the game between the Giants and Eagles doesn’t have as much championship implications as Game 4 of the World Series, all four teams will be in the national spotlight this weekend, and so will the city of Philadelphia.
