While the New York Yankees might be thought of as favored to win the 2009 World Series, we can all use a healthy reminder that the Philadelphia Phillies mean business. After all they are the 2008 defending champs, talented and hungry for the title too. The Game 1 win might be a sign of things to come.

Already the Phillies are ahead of the game compared to the prior match up between these two teams. The last time these two teams met in the World Series, in fact the only other time, was in 1950 when the Yankees swept the Phillies 4-0. That was when the Yankee dynasty was in full throttle and their triumph over the Phillies was just the second win in what would be a streak of 5 consecutive World Series titles.

If you need a physical reminder of the success experienced by last year's Phillies team just check out the collectors' items and memorabilia offered for sale by Steiner Sports. A signed photograph of the team celebrating their 2008 victory is a great image of the joy the whole city experienced. This was the first major championship win for any Philadelphia team in any sport for over 30 years. The 16" x 20" 2008 team signed photograph has 20 signatures from the 2008 championship team. A limited edition of 100 retails for $2,500 each.

Ryan Howard, the National League MVP, hit two doubles an drove in the final run of the first game of the series. I bet some little league player would love a chance to swing an autographed bat in the privacy of their own backyard. Howard has signed a black game model bat that can be picked up from Steiner Sports for $700.

Given the bat is black, some lucky fan might even be able to win the argument that it qualifies as home decor and hang it in the living room as an elegant piece of art.

Yankees fans can have a piece of the old stadium in their own back yard. Steiner Sports is selling the 20' x 20'; plot of sod from the area behind home plate that was used in the Yankees old stadium. The lot comes with the Yankee stencil, white sod paint, lawn flag, special grass seed and a letter of authenticity. Delea Sod Farms, the official sod farm of the NY Yankees™ will provide instructions to properly transplant the living sod into your own yard or local ball field and maintain it for years to come. The auction notes that the actual turf will be coming from northern New Jersey and will be shipped via a freight company which charges a steep $7.50 per mile away. Ten percent of the proceeds benefit Family Services of Westchester which provides social and mental health services for more than 30,000 people a year. The auction has a starting price of $15,000 and ends on July 9th.

[via The New Jersey Star-Ledger]

Let's get this straight. First the New York Yankees build a taxpayer-supported new stadium which, after cost overruns, comes to a whopping $1.5 billion. Then they charge $2,500 a game for the best seats in the house (a price they cut in half when the tickets embarrassingly weren't selling). And now they've begun auctioning off artifacts of the old stadium at exorbitant prices to earn back the $11.5 million the team paid the city to be able to dismantle the publicly owned ballpark.

Now that we've got all that squared away, here's a sampling of the items that went on offer this week from Yankees' partner Steiner Sports. A pair of seats (pictured), made of royal blue plastic and dating from the old stadium's renovation in the mid-1970s, begins at $1,499. A 2x2-foot chunk of freeze-dried sod starts at $280. A square of outfield turf ten times that size costs $10,000 and up. Getting sticker shock? Compared with the original price of top-of-line season tickets this year--$202,500--it's a veritable bargain.