This World Series defense stems from the actions of an over eager Philadelphia fan who is using the Phillies World Series appearance as part of her defense against a misdemeanor charge of promoting prostitution from an advertisement on Craigslist.

Susan Finkelstein, a 43-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate student, wanted to take her husband to a World Series game between her darling Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. Mrs. Finkelstein wanted to get tickets for game one of the World Series so badly that she posted an advertisement on Craigslist describing herself as a “buxom blonde” looking to meet up with someone to discuss getting tickets to a World Series game. Unfortunately for Finkelstein, an undercover officer responded to the ad and arranged to meet her in a suburban Philly bar on Tuesday, October 27^th. The two had a few beers and discussed Finkelstein’s ideas about a ticket exchange. The specific facts about what was said at the table between the two are unclear as both sides have different accounts.

According to Finkelstein’s attorney, William J. Brennan, the Craigslist ad may have dropped double entendres but never explicitly offered sex. Brennan said, “If somebody read into that posting a sexual connotation, that’s on them. There’s no overt sexual reference.” Mr. Brennan also said that his client was “a nice lady overcome with Phillies fever.”  Finkelstein told the Associated Press that she was hoping to get cheap tickets, as she had in the past.  “Maybe meet someone, and talk, and bat my eyelashes and maybe get some tickets.”

On the other side, the prosecution believes the advertisement on Craigslist and the conversation with the undercover officer at the bar clearly show Finkelstein’s true intent.  The officer said that she never offered him any money for the tickets, but declined to further elaborate on the conversation and the offer.

Finkelstein has a preliminary hearing in Bucks County Pennsylvania on December 3^rd. In the mean time, the notoriety and press, although embarrassing, has given Finkelstein and her husband some positives. A radio station and car dealer offered her and her husband a pair of tickets to a weekend game of the Phillies. Other reports have her and her husband attending game three of the World Series, but failed to mention how she got the tickets.

In Game 1, Cliff Lee went a full 9 innings to pick up a complete game win.  He gave up 1 unearned run and fanned 10 batters, while walking none!  Then, yesterday in Game 2, the Yankees were desperate for a big game from Burnett.  And he delivered.  Burnett went 7 innings, giving up only 1 earned run, fanned 9, and walked 2.  Braunecker is definitely happy with both pitcher’s strike-out/walk ratio.

So now Braunecker can relax for a few days…until Lee takes the hill again.  Next time, Darek won’t have to worry about Lee actually making it to the game he is scheduled to pitch.  NY traffic can really make things difficult.

On July 4th, 1776, the city of Philadelphia was ground zero for the experiment that was to be known as American Democracy; a beautiful idea that would give the people of this new society a voice to be heard, a haven to practice religion freely, and the unprecedented opportunity to elecPt their new leader on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November every four years.  The people of Philadelphia could not even wait for the ink to dry on the the Declaration of Independence before they were lining the streets, shooting muskets in the air, and marching towards revolution to rid themselves of the tyranny of King George.

232 years later, Philadelphians are once again amassed in the streets to celebrate their freedom from an entity that makes King George look like George Constanza.  His name is “King Championship Drought the 25th.”  And rest easy, Philadelphia, because of your beloved Phillies, he is now in the stockade heading back to Buffalo where he belongs.

But with one of the most important elections of the past 40 years a mere day away, it is hard not to appreciate the irony of the World Series trophy being hoisted in the city that birthed the United States of America on the eve of such a historic decision.  And though theoretically they should be on polar opposite ends of the spectrum, it is also hard not to appreciate the direct correlation between the sporting world and the political arena.

Whether it be Athens vs. Sparta, Louis vs. Shmelling, or the United States vs. the USSR, sports and politics have found a unique, common bond within each other to cross-promote the inherent passions from one discipline to the other.  And why shouldn’t they?  On the international front, sports can unify people from different walks of life to find a belief in one common goal and transplant the masked contempt for another country by letting the players on the field do it for them.  If the players on the field play well and win, it is not only that team that wins, it is that entire country.  A feeling of superiority comes with that victory as well.  This is so prevalent during the Euro Cup, that the head of the European Union really could, and if it were up to me, should be appointed by which country wins the tournament.

Domestically, Politicians use sports as a way to connect with the people.  While in Western Pennsylvania last week, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin congratulated the audience on the Philadelphia Phillies World Series victory.  She was in Western Pennsylvania.  She was then thoroughly booed and was made to walk the plank by Pirates fans.  On the other side of the isle, Senator Obama was quoted that he was rooting for the Phillies while campaigning in Philadelphia.  However, as he was campaigning in Tampa Bay, Senator Obama was quoted that he was rooting for the Rays.  Hmm.  I am all for using sports and sports franchises to form a common bond with the locals on the campaign trail, but by doing this the candidate is just making a mockery of the city itself.  Maybe Giulliani had the right idea.

But when all is said and done, the Phillies will be getting their rings and the election is coming to a head.  Is a championship of American’s Pastime in the revolutionary city for one of the game’s oldest clubs a sign that Americans need to “conserve” their past?  Or will the young Phillies faces represent the fact that the pastime is finally coming into the 21st century harboring the “change” we need?  Whatever the case may be, this fact remains the same: Sports, Politics and Women are the only three things that can bring men that much joy and that much sorrow.

When beginning my search I noticed that Sports Law Blog did a similar comparison with salaries and success, but I could not find other comparisons after 2006.  I will attempt to continue their analysis for the first half of the 2008 season.

To start, I will analyze the top salaries, which includes 2/3 of the top AL East teams, the Red Sox and the struggling Yanks.  As many of you know, the Yanks are the most expensive team in baseball, spending a total of $209, 081,577 on their 2008 roster according to USA Today.  The next team on the list is the other New York team, the Mets, spending $71,288,201 less than the Yanks with a total of $137,793,376.  The Red Sox are fourth on the list spending $133,390,035 on their roster after winning the World Series last season.

The surprising Rays are second to last on the list, spending a mere $43,820,597 on their total roster this year.  That roster has earned them the best record in baseball. The Rays are 53-32 so far and are currently in first place by 3 games over the Red Sox, proving to the league that a low salary does not mean low quality players. Evan Langoria is having a Rookie of the Year type season, but no other Rays are really having a breakout year. This is a scary thought for the rest of the MLB with the second half of the season on the horizon. The Rays play as a team, with the heart and patience to hang in games and come back late in a match if they need to, unlike that of the Yanks so far and many other high paid rosters.

Another surprise team so far this season has been the other Florida squad, the Florida Marlins.  I remember hearing on opening day that the ENTIRE Marlins salary for 2008 was less than the salary of Alex Rodriguez alone this year.  The Marlins management has spent the least in the MLB, paying their players $21,811,500 to start opening day.  After A-Rod and his agent, Scott Boras, worked out a new contract with New York last season, A-Rod was guaranteed $28,000,000 for 2008.  I only analyzed and discussed a couple of teams.  If you want to view the entire list with all 30 MLB teams and their salaries click here.

Using the USA Today data and the results from the past several regular seasons and playoffs, I can conclude that a high payroll does not guarantee success. I have learned after watching March Madness, the NBA, MLB, NHL and just about every sport, that earnings and prior statistics that commentators and gamblers use to handicap games really mean nothing. It is all about the desire, dedication, training regimen, persistence, a little coaching and the overall mindset of the team that wins games.

Look at the NY Giants Super Bowl run and success last season. They came out of nowhere to prove everyone wrong and beat the heavily favored Patriots. Going by all the stats in the NFL, the G-men had no shot at beating Brady and the undefeated Patriots. The only thing they had on their side was the confidence from the great run they were on during the playoffs.

Since baseball does not have a salary cap, teams in New York can spend whatever they want on big name players. However, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is getting wins. Baseball is a team sport and as we can see from the Yankees past 6 seasons, big names (and paychecks) don’t always forge together to win big games. All a team needs to do is get into the playoffs and then anything can happen.

Although the MLB season is only almost half over, it still pays to point out that money does not correlate with success.  Darren looked at how this may eventually affect MLBPA agents in a post that he made back in 2006: Will The Yankees Success Hurt Agents?