HOME SWEET HOME, THE 2009 SEASON
The 2009 season ended with another 100-win season, a batting title for a member of the Brownstones (Troy Tulowitzki) and Ryan Howard dominating capturing leaving the baseball world in the dust with nearly 50 HRs (he had 49.)
But the Brownstones are quickly becoming a lot like their rivals in the Bronx, who measure season success on whether or not they won a title, versus moral victories of this and that.
For a lineup that was pretty potent in 2008, it was more of the same in 2009 for first-year skipper
Don Mattingly.
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LF Toshi Korkura
2B Troy Tulowitzki
DH J.J. Hardy
RF Jeff Francoeur
1B Ryan Howard
3B David Wright
C Victor Martinez
2B Dan Uggla
CF Shane Victorino
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The rotation was anchored by 20-game winner
Jonathon Papelbon in his 2nd year with the club and was backed up by
Daisuke Matsuzaka who went 19-6.
Ubaldo Jimenez, Mike Pelfrey and Taylor Buckhholz picked up the slack at the end of the rotation.
The difference between this year's team and last year's championship squad?
"I think that last year's team was a little bit less heralded in terms of its offense and yet, they managed to put together the right moves at the right time. This year, you can say that about our pitchers. I mean, besides Dice-K, who is an import and [Jonathon Papelbon] Pap, you can't really say that the rest of our guys are household names yet. But we kinda prefer it that way.
Saying that he didn't "intentionally go out and seek stars," that the team was still the same core of guys, but that he hoped they would be even more poised down the stretch to capture a title.
"I think that if I had to say one thing, it's that last year we hoped to win it all and this year, we're expecting it. Maybe that's a jinx, but...I just think that we've got all of the talent in the world and the fact that we didn't make any deadline deals proves that we like where the ballclub is and feel a lot more comfortable about the future than at any point. But I've only been here two years, so it's hard for me to say much of anything."
CRUISE CONTROL
The Browns flew through the playoffs, sweeping the Giants in four games and then taking out the Nationals -- who finished 9 games behind them in the NL East -- in five, to reach the Fall Classic for the third straight year.
But getting to the World Series to face off against the Toronto Blue Jays -- a franchise looking for its fourth title and that has never lost in the World Series -- was going to be more than Mattingly's boys saw after their relative blitzing of the National League.
"I think it immediately exposed our lack of team speed compared to what we had last year," said D.C. Daly, the architect of the ballclub.
Down 3 games to 2 to the Jays, the 'Stones rallied in the bottom of the 10th with their season on the line, to pull out a 4-3 victory and to force a Game 7.
Brooklyn sent Japanese ace
Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound in the deciding game. While there is always a lot of anxiety over big games, D.C. Daly said being around his team, you'd feel like it was just 'another game'.
Brooklyn -- who play outstanding baseball at home (an astounding 58-19 this year), really showed their polish as the game went on. After getting out to a 3-0 lead after just an inning, the game stayed that way until the 5th, when the Browns put up 2 more runs, then 4 in the sixth and the game got completely out of hand in the bottom of the eighth after tempers flaired a bit with the Brownstones up 13-0 and heading into the 9th inning.
The teams calmed down and the celebration experienced Brownstones headed to the mound and craziness got underway, as Brooklyn defended its World Series title.
How does a team that showed up to a town that hadn't had a major league team since the 50s and win two World Series titles back to back explain itself?
"I think some people saw the whole story of baseball back in Brooklyn as some sort of novelty act that needed to be approached with...I don't even know. But this is really serious business and I think America is starting to realize that we're not joking around, that this means just as much to us here as it does to fans in Boston or in the Bronx or wherever else. So in other words, they're probably going to start hating us just as much as they hate those other teams before too long," said Manager Don Mattingly, who was enjoying his first World Series title as a player or manager.
What will the future be for the Brownstones? Will Brooklyn's finest become the newest team to hate from New York? Will they be dubbed the Evil Empire Strikes Back? Or will the self-professed "blue collar club with a rich uncle' make these days nothing more than a memory as the future takes root and the franchise begins to languish?
The answer is one that we'll have to wait to discover. The next time we join the team, it'll be into that very future to find out what's happened and what's next for the team as the legends of the present retire and usher in a new era of Brooklyn baseball.
The best is yet to come?