Rollins began 2009 by participating in the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) as a member of Team USA; he hit .417 and was named to the all-tournament team. After setting a career high in stolen bases in 2008, he did not steal one in the season's first 17 games, his longest drought to begin a season since 2004. On May 21, he reached the 1500-hit milestone in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. As of the end of June, however, he was hitting just .205 (he went 28 consecutive at-bats without a hit from the end of June until July 2), and was benched for four games by Charlie Manuel in an effort to encourage him to regain the shorter, lower half-driven swing that he used in his 2007 MVP campaign. He did improve in the second half of the season, batting .288 from July 3 to the end of the year. Overall, he compiled an NL-leading 672 at-bats, finished fourth in doubles (43) and stolen bases (31), and tenth in runs (100); in addition, he had a .250 batting average, 21 home runs (five of which were leadoff, the most in his career), and 77 RBIs, also winning the National League Gold Glove award for shortstops. In the postseason, he helped the Phillies reach the 2009 World Series by hitting a walk-off double in game four of the NLCS. The Phillies failed to repeat as champions, however. They lost to the New York Yankees.