Broad Street vs. Broadway: Phillies and Yankees Turnpike Series has more than a regional feel

October 26, 12:39 PMTampa Bay Sports ExaminerTed Fleming

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Manager Charlie Manuel is a happy man now that the Phillies are no longer loveable losers.

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Executives at FOX Sports had their collective fingers crossed for a Yankees-Dodgers World Series mostly because of the history between the two clubs which dates back to the Bronx versus Brooklyn interborough rivalry days. The Bronx Bombers against Dem Bums had ratings bonanza written all over it.

The Yankees punched their ticket to the Fall Classic by knocking off another California club, the Angels, only the Dodgers will return to the City of Angels having to be content with the title of NL West Division Champions because the Phillies punched them out as easy as the league beat up the 1962 Mets.

While a New York-Philadelphia World Series may not draw much interest from the left coast, there could be more televisions tuned in from the City of Brotherly Love to the Big Apple to make up for what is lost because the Turnpike Series will link two of the most passionate sports cities on the planet.

The way the Dodgers played in the National League Championship Series it could have been a walkover for the Yankees had they met dulling the impact it could have had only the way things turned out FOX gets the next best thing and potentially more than they could have imagined.

Back when the shoe manufacturer Nike coined the phrase “Chicks did the long ball,” in a very funny commercial featuring Mark McGwire, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, little did they know how relevant it would be in 2009. The Yankees and Phillies are loaded with guys who can go long and both parks, Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park, are launching pads with a combined 444 homers disappearing into the stands.

It would be premature to suggest there is a rivalry between the Bombers and Fightin’ Phils but that door could be opened because just 108 miles separate the two stadiums, most of it eaten up on the New Jersey Turnpike, and the type of passionate fans both clubs have. What goes on in the stands could equal what is happening on the field.

The Yankees and Red Sox have a longstanding distaste for each other and the Phillies are now the BoSox of recent years as they have eradicated a tradition of losing. Unlike Boston, Philadelphia can claim to have knocked off New York on the grandest stage of all – the World Series. The Sox can only keep the Yanks out of it.

The two clubs are familiar with each other as they get to play occasionally in interleague play and they are just a bridge away from each other in spring training, the Yankees train in Tampa and the Phillies in Clearwater. Both also have two of the best facilities and stadiums in Florida. That makes for another part of the country that will have some serious interest in the best-of-seven matchup.

Last October Clearwater mayor Frank Hibbard supported the Tampa Bay Rays when they made it to the World Series and angered some for not backing the Phillies who train in his city. He now gets a chance to make amends and you can be sure a “gentlemans” bet will be made with Tampa mayor Pam Iorio.

Play Ball!