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NEW YORK - Charlie Manuel fully expected to win when he agreed to be the Philadelphia Phillies' manager five years ago Wednesday.

"I had gone through our minor league system and I knew the players that we had," Manuel said before the Yankees' World Series-clinching 7-3 Game 6 win. "I knew (Ryan) Howard was there, I knew (Chase) Utley was there, guys like that, and I knew (Ryan) Madson had a chance to be a good pitcher because I had seen him in triple-A baseball and things like that, and he put all that together at the major league level.

"I could see if we kind of tweaked our team some and got the right pieces that we definitely could have a winner."

Boy, was he right. Manuel took over Nov. 4, 2004, for a team that went 86-76 and finished second in the National League East, 10 games back. Larry Bowa was fired with two games remaining in the season.

And the Phillies have not finished lower than second place in his five years at the helm, winning the NL East three straight years and the World Series title in 2008.

Unfortunately for Manuel, the five-year anniversary of being hired ended with a World Series loss to the Yankees.

Governor in town

Pennsylvania's first fan, Gov. Ed Rendell, took some time away from helping find a resolution to the Philadelphia transit strike to attend Game 6.

Rendell was visiting the new Yankee Stadium for the first time since it opened this year. He was impressed with the $1.5 billion palace but had hoped it would more closely resemble the ballpark he remembered from growing up in New York City.

"It's nice," he said. "I thought it was a more accurate of a re-creation of the old stadium. It really isn't, particularly with that monster video board, but it's still a very nice stadium."

Swisher stays in

Nick Swisher was in the Yankees' lineup Wednesday night after being benched for Pedro Martinez's previous World Series start.

New York manager Joe Girardi set aside the stats for Game 6 and went with Swisher instead of Jerry Hairston Jr., who got the start in right field last Thursday.

Hairston was 10-for-27 against Martinez entering Game 2 - but hadn't faced him since 2004. He went 1-for-3, singling in the seventh before being lifted for a pinch runner.

Swisher was batting just .114 (4-for-35) in the postseason when Girardi gave him the night off.

"Swish has been our everyday right fielder. We thought it was important that Swish just sit down for a day," Girardi said. "His at-bats have been very good since we sat him down. We don't always look at how many hits you get. We look at the at-bats, and does he hit the ball hard, and does he square ball up and is he seeing pitches? That's what we look at."

Bling bling

Baseball bling alert!

Yankees pitchers A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain and outfielder Swisher were wearing serious hardware on the mound in the World Series: titanium-laced necklaces.

"I wear it because I think it looks cool," Burnett said. "It makes my arm feel better, actually."

The necklace is made by Phiten. Chamberlain has an endorsement deal with the Torrance, Calif.-based company.

According to Phiten USA's Web site, the titanium-based products - which range from warmups to massage oil - regulate the body's energy flow, helping to "to alleviate discomfort, speed recovery, and counteract fatigue by restoring the body's natural healing powers."

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