The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2009 season. Opening on October 28, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National League and defending World Series champions, and the New York Yankees, champions of the American League. The Yankees defeated the Phillies, 4 games to 2, with a Game 6 victory in which Hideki Matsui hit his third home run of the series. He was named Most Valuable Player of the series, making him the first Japanese-born player to win the award. Several records were tied, extended, or broken during this World Series, including team championships (Yankees with 27), career postseason wins (Andy Pettitte with 18), career World Series saves (Mariano Rivera with 11), home runs in a World Series (Chase Utley with five), strikeouts by a hitter in a World Series (Ryan Howard with 13), and runs batted in during a single World Series game (Matsui with six). (Full article...)