The 2009 World Series was the 105th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National League (NL), the defending world champions, and the New York Yankees, champions of the American League (AL). The two franchises had previously met in the 1950 World Series in which the Yankees swept the Phillies four games to none. The Yankees defeated the Phillies in 2009 four games to two to win the franchise's 27th World Series championship.Hideki Matsui was named Most Valuable Player of the series, the first by a Japanese born player as well as the first player to win it as a full-time designated hitter.This was the fifth Series played between teams from New York and Philadelphia. The Giants and Athletics faced each other in 1905, 1911 and 1913 in addition to the Yankees Phillies matchup in 1950. The series was also the fourth consecutive time that the Phillies faced a team from the AL East in the World Series. They faced the Baltimore Orioles in 1983, the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.