AP Photo

NEW YORK - There's nothing particularly unique or shameful about losing a World Series to the New York Yankees. It had been done 26 times before last night when the Phillies became the latest victim of the most decorated team in baseball history.

That doesn't remove the sting of coming within two wins of a repeat championship, but neither the 7-3 final score nor the six-game decision is any sort of embarrassment.

"They definitely deserved to win," manager Charlie Manuel said of the Yankees. "They did things right when they had to. We just didn't play as good as we can."

In the short term, there are some decisions that can be picked at like the carcass of a Thanksgiving turkey along about midnight. Sure, Manuel stayed with Pedro Martinez too long. Martinez was...