Since then, there has been more emotional volatility than exceptional pitching.
With exceptional pitching and defense, the Yankees barely have to hit.
Pedro Martinez, the Boston ace, throws three exceptional pitches, his fastball, changeup and curveball.
Instead, he sought to eclipse his most conspicuous difference with difference of another kind: exceptional pitching ability.
The Yankees did get exceptional pitching, from starter Hiroki Kuroda to Adam Warren, who entered in the 11th and threw six scoreless innings.
Early humans also needed ways to control would-be bullies, and our exceptional pitching skills — which researchers speculate originally arose to help us ward off predators — probably helped.
But Mike Mussina and Derek Jeter saved the Yankees in Game 3 of that series and they has been gathering momentum ever since, winning seven of their last eight games, buoyed by exceptional pitching.
Smoltz's earned run average is 1.08 and he throws three exceptional pitches, which is two more than most closers, but in his soul Smoltz will always be a starting pitcher, no matter his excellence as a reliever.
However, Atlanta and Arizona, two teams with exceptional pitching, the soul of the game, and supported by boom-town cities (although Phoenix is rising very slowly to baseball), are really playing only for the honor of meeting the winner of this year's real World Series, the American League champion.
Editor's note: Wayne Sutton is the founder and CEO of PitchTo, a mobile development lab that builds tools for investors to make smarter decisions and help entrepreneurs deliver exceptional pitches.
