The Philadelphia Phillies held on in the World Series Monday night, besting the New York Yankees in a do-or-die Game 5 clash of nor’eastern pride.

But with the teams back in New York and the Phillies on the brink of elimination, the Yankees are still sitting pretty. Their success will make the rest of baseball look very ugly, however, when we realize we’re crowning champion everything we’ve grown to detest about professional sports.

The sports world may soon be entering an era where it’s acceptable to win even if you cheat, treat teammates with disregard and value the almighty dollar above all else.

We dodged a bullet with the New England Patriots in 2007, but we might not be so lucky with this year’s Yankees.

The Yankees, a franchise with such a storied history, have become a homogeneous blob of boring and uninspired players. Oh, and Alex Rodriguez is a lying, steroid-abusing prima donna. But let’s not be overly critical.

In a dichotomous face-off between the most successful franchise in sports, and a team (and city) where winning is still an unfamiliar notion, even after last year’s World Series victory, more is at stake than tribal pride.

Watching this year’s World Series has been like watching Luke Skywalker — who seems to go by “Cliff Lee” these days — take on the Evil Empire.

With their gray uniforms and dark helmets, always accompanied by stern, menacing demeanors, the Yankees roster looks more like a clone army than a band of brothers who are on the brink of winning a World Series.

Johnny Damon is forced to keep his hair properly cut high and tight so he can look as boring and miserable as the rest.

There’s a reason cameras cut to Derek Jeter in the dugout after every play — he’s the only one with any charisma on the entire team. He’s also one of only a handful of players left on the team from the days before the Yankees got frustrated with not winning for a few seasons and decided to sell their soul to the “winning at any cost, even if it’s not fun anymore” devil.

These salary-inflated Yankees joylessly win not by working together as one cohesive team unit, but as a series of independent brutes that pummel the opposition into submission.

In a world driven by money, winning to the Yankees is a business. This can be said for every sports franchise, but with the Yankees it has taken on a level not seen before. Winning to them has become so corporatized and money-infused, it’s no longer a game that resembles our nation’s pastime any longer.

We should expect nothing less from the billionaire Steinbrenner family in a sport with no salary cap.

OK, I’ll be upfront about it: I’m from Philadelphia, and I’m rooting passionately for my Phillies. But don’t mistake me for some simpleton “homer.”

I despise the Eagles, abhor the Flyers and laugh at the 76ers. In truth, I never truly liked the Phillies until they came together as a team last year, played terrific and inspiring baseball, and had fun while doing it. They represented what we used to view as admirable qualities in our winners — working together, overcoming adversity and enjoying the ride.

When’s the last time the Yankees did any of that?

Dustin is booing the Yankees. Give him something to cheer about at dustin.volz@asu.edu.