NEW YORK (AP) - Injured Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher wishes he was with his team preparing to face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Still, the World Series is pretty cool.
Urlacher was a guest of Yankees manager Joe Girardi for Game 6 on Wednesday night. The two got to know each other when Girardi played for the Cubs.
``I just like to watch sports,'' said Urlacher, who dislocated his right wrist in the Bears' season opener at Green Bay on Sept. 13 and is out for the season. ``They're great athletes and I'm excited to see it up close like this.''
Urlacher played baseball growing up - ``Everything but right field,'' he said with a grin - and wasn't worried about catching any flack from Jets or Giants fans while in New York. He also paid tribute to his buddy Girardi, who led the Yankees to the best record in baseball this season.
``He's very even-keeled. He doesn't really get too high or too low,'' he said before the Yankees faced the Phillies.
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FIRST FAN: 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 recreation of the old stadium. It really isn't, particularly with that monster video board, but it's still a very nice stadium.''
The second-term Democrat and former mayor of Philadelphia thinks the Phillies are in a good position to rally for a World Series win.
``It's a shame people are going to have to be so upset here for the next two days,'' he said from the front row of seats next to the Phillies dugout during batting practice. ``I think we're going to win tonight. Game 7 will be a crapshoot.''
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SWISH IS 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.''
The fun-loving Swisher is 2 for 9 with a solo homer in Game 3 since he was benched.
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TITANIUM POWER: Baseball bling alert!
Yankees pitchers A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain and outfielder Nick Swisher are wearing serious hardware in the World Series: titanium-laced necklaces.
``I wear it because I think it looks cool,'' Burnett said, adding: ``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.''
Burnett said his two sons always ask him to get them necklaces when he visits the company's store in Seattle.
``Of course, they're weapons by the end of the day, instead of just necklaces,'' Burnett said with a grin.
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Charlie Manuel fully expected to win when he agreed to be the 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 Game 6. ``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 on Nov. 4, 2004, for a team that went 86-76 and finished second in the NL 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.
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AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg contributed to this report.
