Tying the bow on baseball season with a World Series observation for every game it took for the Yanks to give the Phillies the downtime necessary to discover the lotta, lotta culture their city has to offer ...

1) Overcome by the inevitable talk of cash flow and competitive inequity, something rather significant has so far been ignored in discussions of New York's postseason dominance. It took its first hit in 2001, and the hits got harder each year thereafter, but this fall marked the return of the Yankees as an intimidating presence.

The proof is in the path to title No. 27. The Yankees went 11-4 in the playoffs, and in each series left themselves three opportunities to close things out. Never did they need more than two – though it's not as if they enjoyed a cakewalk every night. Of the 15 games, the Yankees actually trailed in 11 of them. Six were tied in the seventh inning or later. And eight of New York's 11 wins were decided by the three runs or less.

But the Yankees wound up on the right side of those results because all three of their opponents played scared in the pivotal moments. As a team New York hit just .225 against Minnesota, .279 against Los Angeles, and .247 against Philly, but all three of those clubs seemed to feel a pressure that they needed to make every play perfectly in order to compete with the high-and-mighty Yankees, and they wound up looking tight, and stiff, and trying way to hard because of it.

The Twins and Angels — the AL's first- and fourth-ranked defensive clubs during the regular season – uncharacteristically combined to make 10 errors in the nine games they played against New York, some of which were as silly as dropped throws to first base, or tosses sailed to Brooklyn. And while the Phillies were a bit better — with only two official miscues — they were hardly mistake-free. Just look at gold-glover Shane Victorino allowing Derek Jeter's routine fly to fall in front of him to start the series-winning rally in Game 6.

Based on last year, and their performance earlier in this postseason, we wouldn't have expected such failure from the Phillies. But this Yankee team – this never-ending onslaught of superstars and swagger – had a way of owning the moment while making others feel inferior. And that's where the game's biggest payroll might've paid off the most.

2) We in Boston should never gripe about the Yankees' ability to outspend the competition, given our perennial status among baseball's biggest spenders. But the argument seems particularly out of place this year, given what New York's title signifies in a broader perspective.

People say the disparity between those with and those without continues to widen, but if the end-game for every organization is winning a championship, then that's simply not true. By winning the Series, the Yankees (as would have the Phillies) ensured that there would be eight franchises who won world titles in this decade.

That's the second-most diversity in the history of the World Series. The only period with more was the 1980s, when the Dodgers were the only two-time champion, and only two others (1920s and 1960s) had as many as seven.

As a point of comparison, in seasons that finished between 2000-09, the NFL has had seven teams win titles; the NHL had seven (in nine seasons); and the NBA had six.

Sounds like baseball's got some parity, to me.

3) Alex Rodriguez reminded us how hard it is to really like him in the aftermath of Game 6, when even after winning his first World Series he somehow managed to come off as a phony. But this year he also reminded us how great a player he really is.

Flash back to February. It's just been revealed that A-Rod took steroids. His career is at a crossroads. His personal life is in turmoil. There's a behind-the-scenes book coming out about him. Oh, and he'll soon need hip surgery that's being riskily modified so he must only miss the opening month. It looked like Rodriguez's days as dominant player might be done.

Then he proved all that wrong. Statistically he had a stellar season, managing 30 homers and 100 RBI despite playing just 124 games, as well as an adjusted OPS of 143 that ranked fourth in the American League. What was even more remarkable, though, was that — for as much credit as Mark Teixeira, and Derek Jeter, and CC Sabathia, and Mariano Rivera all received for maybe being the MVP of the Yankees — A-Rod is really just as worthy as any of them.

When he came back on May 8, New York owned a record of 13-15, and was 5.5 games back of Toronto in the Eastern division. Only four AL clubs had worse records, and Teixeira was hitting .198. From that point forward, though, the Yankees went 101-48, soared over every team in their way, and Teixeira hit .310 with 34 homers and 107 RBI with A-Rod protecting him the rest of the way.

Add in an excellent postseason — he had a 1.308 OPS — and suddenly a contract running through 2017 doesn't seem as ridiculous as it might've nine months ago.

4) Speaking of reconciled images ... can anyone begin to understand what it must've been like to be Roger Clemens on Wednesday night? Picture him sitting at home in Kady, with Mindy McCready's latest melodies lingering in the background, while Debbie is rubbing the hottest possible liniments on – well, let's not picture THAT part – and watching the postgame show with some of the biggest imaginable regrets.

Not only was A-Rod on stage in all his glory less than a year after being linked to performance enhancers — but so, too, was Andy Pettitte. The same Andy Pettitte who was tied to drugs along with Clemens, but chose to treat those accusations very differently. And who is today being paraded as a champion, not a cheater.

The Rocket couldn't help but think that if he had done what Pettitte did, and merely came clean immediately, his life would be entirely different than it is today. He, too, would be being celebrated — instead of being ostracized in embarrassment. Let his be a lesson to all.

5) Red Sox fans who saw the Series and would suddenly be willing to take whichever free agent the Yankees don't retain — either Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon — let that six-game set also remind us why that would be a bad idea unless it's at a bargain-basement price.

As I was discussing with a friend about five seconds before he launched his two-run homer off Pedro Martinez, Matsui is still a guy the enemy never wants to see at the plate in a big spot. And Damon is a ballplayer's ballplayer who battles pitchers and makes the plays that help his team win.

But both are old. And subject to breakdowns. Damon had to be lifted from Game 6 after scoring (without a throw) from second base, having tweaked his leg. And Matsui's mobility was such an issue that he had to sit when the series moved to Philadelphia. It'd be crazy to think either is worth signing here as the Sox' replacement for Jason Bay. 

6) It's time for the annual mea culpa, when I look back at my predictions at the start of the year ... and we all laugh at how stupid I am. Here goes nothin':

AL EAST
Prediction: Red Sox, Yankees*, Rays, Blue Jays, Orioles
Actual: Yankees, Red Sox*, Rays, Blue Jays, Orioles
Analysis: Not too bad, actually. Forgive me the hometown bias.

AL CENTRAL
Prediction: Indians, Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Royals
Actual: Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Royals
Analysis: I picked the team that used to have both guys who started Game 1 of the World Series. Too bad the leftovers really sucked.

AL WEST
Prediction: A's, Angels, Rangers, Mariners
Actual: Angels, Rangers, Mariners, A's
Analysis: I fell for it, Michael Lewis. To quote myself, circa March, "I love what Billy Beane did this offseason."

AL PLAYOFFS
Prediction: Red Sox over A's, 3-1; Indians over Yankees, 3-2; Red Sox over Indians, 4-2.
Analysis: Not. Even. Close.

NL EAST
Prediction: Mets, Phillies*, Marlins, Braves, Nationals
Actual: Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Mets, Nationals
Analysis: I'm never picking the Mets to win anything, ever again. Ever.

NL CENTRAL
Prediction: Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Pirates
Actual: Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Astros, Pirates
Analysis: I think I'll pick the Pirates to finish last next year, too. Living on the edge.

NL WEST
Prediction: Diamondbacks, Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Rockies
Actual: Dodgers, Rockies*, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks
Analysis: I should stay up later watching games; for both western divisions, the team I picked to finish first finished last. Yikes.

NL PLAYOFFS
Prediction: Cubs over Phillies, 3-2; Diamondbacks over Mets, 3-2; Cubs over Diamondbacks, 4-2.
Analysis: We're worse off as baseball fans for not having seen that D'Backs-Mets NLDS. Would've been a doozy, I tell ya.

WORLD SERIES
Prediction: Red Sox over Cubs, 4-3.
Analysis: Maybe next year.