I know the World Series just ended and most people aren't looking ahead quite yet, but I am already looking forward to next year and wondering if the Yankees have what it takes to repeat as World Champions in 2010

There are a lot of questions about how the Yankees roster will look next year. Will free agents Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui return? Will Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettite retire? Can Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes stay in the rotation? Will Chien-Ming Wang return to form? Will time finally catch up to all the aging stars?

Lets tackle these questions one at a time.

First, Will free agents Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui return? Odds are that only one of these players will be back next year. If I had to bet , I would say that Damon comes back and Matsui is allowed to leave via free agency. I know Matsui won the World Series MVP, but Godzilla has two bad knees and can no longer play the field, making him expendable. The Yankees could choose to bring in a younger player to fill in as DH and part time left fielder.

Next question: Will Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettite retire? Anytime players reach the age of these two and have accomplished what these two have accomplished this question will arise each and every off season no matter how well they preformed the previous year. Rivera will turn 40 at the end of this month. He had another great season but one has to wonder if he does come back will he still be as effective. Sooner or later time will catch up with him. I suspect he will return because he knows this team has a great chance to get back to the series next year and he can taste his 6th ring already. If he does return we should know pretty quickly whether or not he still has it, because when it comes to pitchers, age rarely sneaks up on them. If a pitcher has lost "it" the opposing batters will let you know. Pettite is not as old as Mo but he is no spring chicken himself. He has won five rings and is the most prolific pitcher in post season history. The question is, what does he have left to prove? The answer is absolutely nothing. But knowing his competitive fire I would imagine that he will forgo retirement and return for at least one more season. The question with Pettite is the same one as with Rivera, will his arm hold up over a long season and playoffs for the second straight year? We will find out.

Next question: Can Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes stay in the Rotation? The answer to this question better be yes or the Yankees are in a world of trouble. The plan all along has been to get these two in the starting rotation and keep them there for years to come. The only problem is, neither of them can but together two consecutive solid starts. If Pettite isn't as strong next year and Wong struggles again it will be up to Hughes and Chamberlain to pick up the slack. So far neither has proven they can be counted on. Time is running out on both of these young pitchers. The Yankees have never had the patience to let pitchers develop and if they struggle again early next year look for one of them to be traded and the other put in the bullpen on a permanent basis.

Next question: Will Chien-Ming Wang return to form? The Yankees better hope so. A couple of years ago Wang was the Yankees ace. He had consecutive 19 win seasons and looked to be a solid starter for the next decade. But, after getting hurt during inter-league play two years ago, he has yet to come close to what he once was and now he can't even stay healthy. If Wong can stay healthy and re-gain his touch the Yankees could have the best rotation in baseball next year.

Last question; Will time finally catch up to all the aging stars? You have to wonder how much longer players like Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Damon, Pettite, Rivera and others can stay on the top of their games. The Yankees have to start thinking about getting younger while these players are still here and not wait until their age shows. This off-season should give us some insight into whether or not Brian Cashman agrees and is ready to start making that transition, which is admittingly a couple years away still, but better to start now then to wait until that time arrives. Bringing in younger players now and letting them sit the bench and fill in while learning from these great players will help ease the transition down the road.

With the age of most of the stars on this team and the questions concerning the rotation, repeating is no sure thing, but then again it never is. If the team can avoid injuries and figure out it's rotation then the Yankees have a good chance to get back to the Fall Classic....and possibly a rematch with the Phillies? We will find out soon enough.

Game six tonight should be a good one. Both teams send veteran pitchers to the mound who know how to win, especially in the playoffs. Andy Pettitte is the all time leader in postseason wins with 17. Pedro Martinez has a 6-2 career playoff record with a 3.40 ERA. Both pitchers have won on the big stage in October and know how to handle the pressure of the World Series. Both are closing in on 40 years of age but have preformed well in the playoffs so far.

Tonight's game will come down to which pitcher can last longer. Pettitte is working on short rest while Martinez is pitching on the shortest rest he has had this playoff season. If tonight's game comes down to the bullpens the advantage has to go to the Phillies. The Yankee's bullpen has been a disaster this postseason except for Rivera. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes have been big disappointments after having outstanding regular seasons. The Phillies bullpen has been a pleasant surprise after struggling during the regular season.

Offensively both teams are clicking. Chase Utley should be the series MVP regardless if the Phillies win it or not. He tied Reggie Jackson's mark for home runs in the World Series in game 5. Ryan Howard continues to struggle and can set the record for most strikeouts in the World Series with one more tonight. You have to figure he is due for a breakout game and that could be bad news for the Yankees if he does. Alex Rodriguez has regained his postseason form after struggling the first two games. Mark Teixeira has had a miserable postseason so far and the Yankees need him to get right in order to take pressure off the rest of the lineup, especially Rodriguez.

Look for a close game and possibly extra innings tonight. If Pettitte can give the Yankees 7 innings then the chances are the Yankees will be celebrating their 27 World Championship. If Pedro can handle the pressure of pitching in a hostel stadium against a team he once called his daddy and make it past the 6th inning then all bets are off. However, I'm taking the Yankees tonight in a close game....I'll even make a prediction....Yankees 5 Phillies 3. Enjoy the game...it should be a good one.

The Yankees have a stranglehold on the World Series as we head into game five tonight in Philadelphia. While the Yankees can taste their 27th World Championship they will have to wait one more game to savor the sweet taste of victory.

Cliff Lee takes the hill for the Phillies tonight against the Yankees A.J. Burnett. Lee befuddled the Yankees in game one for a complete game in which he allowed only one unearned run. He struck out 10 while walking none for the second consecutive playoff game becoming the first pitcher to do so. The Yankees had no answers for him in game one and I don't see that changing in game 5.

The Phillies are due for an offensive breakout and A.J. Burnett is the one Yankee pitcher able to make that happen. While Burnett has had his moments throughout the season and playoffs he has also been maddingly inconsistent. If he struggles with his curveball it could be a long night for him and the Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez has quieted the critics the last two games by coming up with two huge hits. Ryan Howard on the other hand continues to struggle and is closing in on the record for most strikeouts in a series. If Howard can't get right soon it won't matter if Lee wins tonight or not.

The only hope the Phillies have in winning this series is if the Yankees decision to go with a three man rotation blows up in their faces. If the Phillies can get to Burnett tonight and Andy Pettite in game 6 they got a chance. However, I'm still picking the Yankees in 6.

Perhaps there’s never been a better time for a Buffalonian to be a fan of the Houston Astros.


That’s because this past Tuesday, with 13 games left in the regular season and the Astros reeling from a seven-game losing streak, they named Dave Clark their interim manager.

Younger fans might not recall, but Clark was one of the first stars to emerge for the “modern” Bisons, back when Triple-A ball returned to the city in 1985.

Clark first played for the Herd in 1984, when the club was a Double-A affiliate of Cleveland. He returned to town in 1987 as a Triple-A player, and made the Bisons’ final season at War Memorial Stadium quite memorable.

His .340 batting average and .621 slugging percentage in ’87 have remained team records through the modern era. Clark homered 30 times that year, too, a milestone reached by only by six Bison players since then.

Clark returned for another 78 games in 1992, when he was playing in the Pittsburgh organization. He batted .304 in that spell with another 11 homers.

For his contributions over the years, he was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Now Clark’s at the top rung of the managerial ladder, after having good success in minor-league stops in Single-A Hickory (85-55 record) and Double-A Corpus Christi, where he won a championship in 2006. At the time of his promotion, he was Houston’s third base coach, a position he took after compiling a 64-79 record in 2008 while managing Triple-A Round Rock.

Clark will be evaluated for the Astros’ permanent managing position not on whether he wins a majority of the 13 remaining games, but rather on how he will relate to the players.

Astros general manager Ed Wade believes Clark will do just fine, saying, “We saw how he handled himself at the minor league level and we’ve seen how he conducts himself at the big-league level, with the rapport he’s created with the players and his stand-up personality.”

Clark will also be helped by another former Bison: Al Pedrique, who played 61 games for Buffalo in 1988. Pedrique, who had been the Astros’ minor league field coordinator, was named third-base coach.

………

Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants had done all he could to keep his team in the hunt for the National League Wild Card playoff spot. Without his 14-6 record and 2.47 earned run average, the Giants wouldn’t even be close.

But after being a model of consistency over the past three seasons, his performance last Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers was very puzzling.

Lincecum allowed five runs, matching a season-high, in a 6-2 loss at Dodger Stadium. He also walked four while striking out three, only the second time this year he recorded more free passes than K’s. And his 87 pitches matched the fewest in a 2009 start since he threw only 78 on opening day.

The opener, in which he worked only three innings, was the last time Lincecum went as few as the four frames he threw on Sunday.

Postgame, the Giants ace said, “It’s hard to say you let the team down, but I just felt like I could have done a better job out there, put up a better fight.”

“He had an off-day today and we took advantage of the opportunity,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

The rough outing may have spelled the end of the Giants’ post-season hopes – they’re about five games back in the wild card chase with less than 10 days remaining in the season. And for Lincecum, who has never been to the playoffs, it might have been a doubly crushing blow, as he is now considered a dark horse candidate (behind St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright and Chris Capenter) for the N.L.’s Cy Young Award.