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By Gordon Edes

PHILADELPHIA – A.J.? Oy vey.

Or, #$@&!!@*, depending on the neighborhood.

Handed the chance to pitch the New York Yankees to their first World Series title since the turn of the century, A.J. Burnett(notes) cemented his reputation as Ol’ Unreliable, failing to retire a batter in the third inning before getting the hook

Unlike Bill Clinton, Burnett is from a place in Arkansas not called Hope (he hails from North Little Rock), but that’s exactly what he gave the Philadelphia Phillies, who tagged him for three runs in the first inning and three more in the third en route to an 8-6 win in Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night.

Burnett’s pitching line – 2 innings, 6 earned runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batsman – ranks among the worst in Series history, in duration and ineffectiveness. Only two pitchers – Russ Ortiz(notes) of the 2002 Giants and Mordecai Brown of the 1906 Cubs – have given up more runs in as short a stint. His start was the shortest by anyone since Roger Clemens(notes) lasted only two innings for Houston in Game 1 in 2005 because of a bad hamstring.

Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett was taken out of the game in the bottom of the third inning.

(Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Like CC Sabathia(notes) in Game 4, Burnett pitched after only three days rest, one day less than usual. Unlike Sabathia, Burnett was vulnerable, although manager Joe Girardi said his struggles were unrelated to the short rest.

“It was a command issue,” Girardi said. “He felt good, he just struggled.”

It was the shortest outing by a Yankee pitcher since David Wells(notes) lasted only an inning of Game 5 in the 2003 Series because of back spasms, the day after he boasted that conditioning was overrated.

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By Gordon Edes,

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NEW YORK – The idea isn’t to pick a fight with Yankees fans, but of course, it doesn’t take much, especially if you have a Massachusetts driver’s license.

There are just certain things you don’t dare mention in the company of the pinstriped true believers, and this is one of them, that any team, even another Yankees team, might be as good as the 1998 edition.

That team, remember, won more games than any in history – 125, with 114 coming in the regular season and 11 in the postseason.

There are more shrines to this team in the minds of New York Yankees fans than there are Buddhist temples in Tokyo.

The players are remembered by their handles, not their full names: Paulie and Boomer, Knobby and Coney, Tino and Straw and Bernie and Andy and Jetes and Mo. Joe Torre was a modern-day Joe McCarthy, Brian Cashman the intern-turned-genius general manager. The Boss still ruled in all his glory, and on the seventh day, he rested, content with his handiwork.

“No team can compare to the ’98 team,” Cashman said here the other day.

Even the hard-boiled New York media bought in. “They just never thought they’d lose, and the other team knew it,” said Joel Sherman, longtime columnist for the New York Post. “They’d be losing 4-2 in the fifth and look each other and say, ‘These are the Kansas City Royals, there’s no way we’re going to lose to these guys, and they’d go out and score seven runs in the next inning, and the Royals would quit.”

We get it. They were great. They were special. They did something no other team has ever done.

But …

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By Gordon Edes, Yahoo! Sports

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NEW YORK – Better ballpark, better ballclub, better closer. Game, set and match.

The Yankees remain kings of New York until further notice. Judging by the way they manhandled the misbegotten Mets in five of six interleague meetings, taking two out of three in Yankee Stadium and three straight this weekend in Citi Field by an aggregate score of 44-17, the expiration date on their most favored team status is stamped with something other than 2009.

As for applying the finishing touch to victories, the Mets can roll out K-Rod, Krypton Man or King Kong, it won’t make a difference. The Yankees’ Mariano Rivera(notes), the heavyweight champion of closers, is nowhere close to retiring his belt, as he proved in spectacular fashion Sunday night by not only recording four outs for his 500th save, but by going toe-to-toe with Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez(notes) with a bat in his hands and emerging triumphant, drawing a bases-loaded walk for his first career RBI.

Sentimentalist that he is, Rivera repeated every word that Yankees captain Derek Jeter(notes) said to him after Alex Cora(notes) rolled out to second for the final out in the Yankees’ 4-2 win.

“After the game, he said, ‘Congratulations, you’re the best, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,’   ” said Rivera, who is 19 years removed from the day he received a $3,000 bonus to sign with the Yankees in Panama, 13 years removed from his first career save, and untold years from calling it a career.

“As long as that shoulder and elbow stay healthy,” said pitcher Andy Pettitte(notes), who with Jeter and catcher Jorge Posada(notes) have been with the 39-year-old Rivera for most of the journey. “I imagine he can do this as long as he wants to.”

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