This is New York City. And this, Jimmy Rollins says, is where the Philadelphia Phillies will win the World Series, for the second year in a row, and become one of the greatest teams in the past half-century.

The Yankees might be up 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled today at Yankee Stadium, but the Phillies shortstop packed his bags for two games. "Phillies in seven," Rollins says.

The Phillies would become the first visiting team to throw a party at the Yankees' new $1.5 billion crib.

"Wow, playing the Yankees in the World Series, and now to beat them at Yankee Stadium," Rollins says. "It doesn't get any better than that.

"They are the 26-time world champions. ... Everybody has been in their shadows for a long time, and we've got a chance to change that. We've got a chance to be remembered forever."

Rollins predicted at the start of the World Series that the Phillies would need five games to capture the title. He now concedes that was silly and he should have given it more thought because winning in seven games — and becoming the first National League team to win a Game 7 at the Yankees home since the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 — is the ultimate.

"Just like those old baseball highlights," Rollins says, "I want to be the dude that steps up with all of that pressure. Two outs. Game on the line. And I hit a game-winning homer. Can you imagine?"

Rollins' eyebrows jump up. He takes a bite of his cheesesteak sandwich, with extra Cheez Whiz, and stares ahead. He is not about to apologize for the swagger. A little trash-talking can be good for the soul, the All-Star says.

It doesn't seem to bother the Yankees. "Jimmy's an entertainer," New York first baseman Mark Teixeira says. "He can say whatever he wants. He's pretty funny."

In 2007, Rollins also predicted the Phillies would win the NL East, a divisional title that had eluded them for 14 years. The boast stunned fans, titillated the news media and angered a few of his teammates.

"I told my teammates then, just like now," Rollins says, "either you're with me or against me. If you're against me ... get off the team.

"People aren't expecting that from Jimmy, because I'm a laid-back guy. But I'm not playing games. Come with me or stay behind, but you better hurry, because I'm not waiting. I came here to win."

Changing the culture

Rollins, who will turn 31 on Nov. 27, was a second-round draft pick in 1996, the first season of two consecutive last-place finishes for the team. By 2001, he was 22 and starting at shortstop for a team that went 86-76, the Phillies' first winning season since 1993.

From the time he signed his first professional contract with the Phillies, Rollins vowed he would turn this perennial losing organization into a winner. It took until 2007 for the Phillies to reach the playoffs, but now anything less than a World Series title is a disappointment.

Rollins wants what his friend and fellow shortstop Derek Jeter has in New York — year after year of excellence.

"Brother, when you're in Philadelphia," Rollins says, "you don't get respect around here unless you win. Not when New York is (108) miles away. There have been lots of teams to win one World Series and then disappear the next. We want to make sure we win it a second time. And are back again.

"No one ever planned on making this a one-year thing. If that ever changes, when the ride is over, I'll get off the bus and go get my transfer."

Not that the end is near. Rollins signed a five-year, $50 million contract in 2005 that includes a club option for 2011 at $8.5 million. He lives in a sprawling home in nearby New Jersey and is scheduled to get married in January to Johari Smith.

He giggles on his cellphone during lunch when Johari, a former Phillies employee and trainer, asks whether he has the time to be involved in the wedding plans. He lets manager Charlie Manuel tease him about his boastful comments that find their way onto the back pages of the New York tabloids. Rollins might be the smallest Phillies player at 5-7, but no one has a larger presence in the clubhouse.

"If he's getting bored or whatever," Manuel says, "he wants to find a way to get his motor running. He likes the mike. He likes the attention. He's vocal, so in our locker room ... when he's on top of his game, he definitely becomes a very good leader."

The Phillies were down three games to one Monday. Teammates were scratching their heads over a comment made by struggling starter Cole Hamels that he couldn't wait for the season to end. (Hamels has since said his words were misconstrued.) But Rollins cranked up the stereo at his locker and reminded everybody to pack their bags because they would win Game 5 and go back to New York.

Rollins, determined to set the early tone in Monday's game, swung at five of the first six pitches thrown by Yankees starter A.J. Burnett. He lined a single to center, and two pitches later the Phillies had a 3-1 lead. Rollins reached base three times, and all was right with the Phillies.

"We go as Jimmy goes," first baseman Ryan Howard says. "He sets the tone, and we can jump on board."

Talking up the Phillies in '07

It was the same mantra Rollins established in 2007. The Atlanta Braves' 14-year reign was over. The New York Mets won the 2006 NL East Division title, and when spring training commenced, Rollins announced it was the Phillies' turn.

He figured his comments would be limited to the local news media and fans and barely draw attention outside the city limits. The next thing he knew, his name and words were splashed across every channel and newspaper he saw.

"I had just got so tired of watching everyone else win," he says. "The Braves were always winning. The Yankees owned the World Series. Every time we went to Shea (Stadium), we knew we were about to get whupped. I just wanted to take it upon myself to get guys going.

"People are like, 'Oh, my goodness, this dude is crazy. He's lost his mind. How can he say that? What's he thinking?' It was like me against the world."

Most disturbing, Rollins says, was that much of the criticism was emanating from his clubhouse. Rollins declines to identify which players, but he says some of his teammates didn't want the expectations or pressure and let him know about it.

"Jimmy felt it was necessary to come out and say what he said," says Howard, who supported Rollins in 2007. "All you can do is back him as best that you can, and that's what we did."

Rollins didn't let his teammates change his style.

"Guys were saying, 'Hey, you just put a target on your back,' " Rollins says. "I'm like, 'Well, isn't that the way it's supposed to be? Don't you want people coming after you?' I was on a mission."

Rollins won the NL MVP Award and led the Phillies to the NL East title. They were swept in the first round by the Colorado Rockies, but a standard had been established. The Phillies won last year's World Series, became the first NL team since the 1996-97 Braves to win back-to-back pennants and are trying to become the first NL team to win consecutive World Series since the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine in 1975-76.

"It worked much better than I thought it would," says Rollins, who purchased a $340,000 Bentley with last year's $351,000 World Series share, with hopes this year's bonus will help pay for the wedding. "I came here to make a difference, and I believe I have. If you believe in yourself, people will start believing in you. And then they start believing in themselves.

"This organization has changed. The attitude has changed. Expectations have changed. Hopefully we're leaving a legacy that will never be forgotten."

Enlarge By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Now 30, Jimmy Rollins has vowed to turn around the Phillies since he signed his first contract.