Championship Answers All

"But it's been no bed of roses-
No pleasure cruise" (Queen-We Are The Champions)

Any season that culminates with a championship in hand is a good year, but for the New York Yankees any season that does not end with a world title is incomplete.

The 2009 Baseball season ended the only way it can be deemed satisfactory in Yankees Universe: The Pinstripes congregating in the infield triumphantly.

But, as with all seasons, there were times of discontent. Times where it seemed like nothing could go right. Going all the way back to the beginning, there were doubts about this group of players and coaches.

Spring Training got underway with Alex Rodriguez' admission that he indeed was a steroid user. A short time later, it was thought that the third baseman would be out for the season with a hip injury.

Chien-Ming Wang could not regain whatever it was that made him a two-time 19-game-winner. His absence left a major void in the middle of what was supposed to be a deep starting rotation. July 4th would prove to be the final outing of the 2009 campaign for Wang.

Through his first 35 games in Pinstripes, Mark Teixeira was batting under .240.

As late as June there were those wondering if Brian Cashman should be assembling a search party to find a replacement for Mariano Rivera (as if a replacement actually exists).

The first eight match-ups with the Red Sox ended with Boston W's. To add insult to defeat many of those contests were quite embarrassing.

First-place in the American League East did not belong to New York until the last week of May, and that was short-lived. The Yankees only occupied the division penthouse permanently from the last third of July and on -- not as early as one might expect from a club that went on to win 103 games.

But now, all of that gets washed away with just a few sprays of champagne. None of it really matters.

A-Rod no longer has to deal with questions of clutch or whether he can win a World Series, one of the best postseasons in recent memory answers all those queries.

As to whether or not A-Rod is a "real Yankee," the answer rests in one's definition of that title.

Will the Yankees have to deal with the steroid-stain on A-Rod's resume? Sure, but that's down the road, when he starts moving in on some important numbers (714, 755, 762). For now, all A-Rod has to do is point to his ring.

Does Joe Girardi over-manage? Make more pitching changes than necessary? Maybe. But now he's in select company, he's a World Series-winning manager.

When CC Sabathia was brought to the Bronx, the hulking lefty's postseason credentials did not match his regular season numbers. A fact that left many Yankees fans questioning whether Cashman made another lousy pitching decision.

Both Sabathia and Cashman were vindicated with CC's ace-like performance in the 2009 postseason.

Mariano Rivera got past the initial hiccup and went on to have one of the finest seasons of his already splendid career. And in the playoffs Mo raised his status, if it were possible.

The aging Final Four (Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera) proved that despite the advanced years, some folks just know how to win.

In the end -- bit by bit, piece by piece -- it all came together to complete the puzzle of what was truly the best team of 2009.

Sure, there are still questions, but now there's a simple, one-word answer: Champions.