MLB: Yankees Clinch Franchise's 27th World Series Title

NEW YORK (AP) - They paraded around the warning track high-fiving fans, a New York Yankees victory lap nine years in the making.

Just wait until Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and the other first-timers hit the Canyon of Heroes.

"I can't think of a better place to be than playing baseball in New York," Mark Teixeira said. "This is the top."

Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th championship - the most in all of sports.

Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended in the Arizona desert, the Yankees are baseball's best again.

"It feels better than I remember it, man," captain Derek Jeter said. "It's been a long time."

Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch.

What a way for manager Joe Girardi and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown - the team's first since taking three straight from 1998-2000.

"The Yankees won. The world is right again," team president Randy Levine said.