History beckons as Series nears end

Individual, team feats ready for the taking in Bronx

Mark Newman / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The 105th World Series is back at Yankee Stadium for the grand finale, and as fans, we are assured of witnessing some important baseball history now.

Game 6 is at 7:57 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with Pedro Martinez back yet again in front of a hostile crowd and facing Andy Pettitte, the all-time leader with five series-clinching victories. The Yankees have a 3-2 series lead, and if necessary, Game 7 would be here Thursday night.

For students of baseball history, there is plenty to love right now. This one will earn its rightful place among some of the best, and now the only question is how high on the list. It will be one you tell stories about, one that sticks out amongst others you sort of recall.

Here is the history that awaits:

If the Yankees win either Wednesday or Thursday, then they will win their 27th world championship, far more than any other major North American sports franchise and their first since 2000. They would duplicate what Babe Ruth and his teammates did in 1923 by winning it all in the first year of Yankee Stadium. It has happened only once since then, and that was when the Cardinals beat the Tigers in five games and celebrated at new Busch Stadium.

In fact, the moment could be even better for the 2009 Yankees than it was for those 1923 Bombers, because this would be at home. That 1923 Fall Classic was a Subway Series, and the Yankees clinched over at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants, scoring five runs in the eighth inning for a 6-4 triumph. One silver lining in the Phillies' Game 5 victory Monday at Citizens Bank Park was that New York fans now have a chance to possibly see their heroes win it all right here in the new ballpark, with two cracks at it.

If the Phillies come back and win, they will become the first Major League Baseball team since the 1979 Pirates to win a World Series Game 7 on the road.