Phillies, Rays Set To Square Off in 2008 World Series
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 | MLB, Sports
The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays will meet in Game 1 of the 2008 World Series on Wednesday, October 22nd at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Two 24-year old left-handers will face off in Game 1 – 14-game winner Cole Hamels for the Phillies and -game winner Scott Kazmir for the Rays. Hamels has been spectacular in the 2008 post-season. He has won all 3 games that he has started, going at least 7 innings in each start. He has only let up a total of 13 hits and 3 earned runs during that stretch, striking out 22 batters. Kazmir, on the other hand, has been a little inconsistent, winning only once in 3 starts and getting through 6 full innings only once. Each pitcher will have to have his “A” game, as both offenses have what it takes to score runs in bunches and in a hurry. Phillies stars Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell present one of the most formidable top of the lineups in all of baseball. At the same time, the young stars from the Rays seem unfazed by going from last to first to advance to the World Series for the 1st time in franchise history. Rays Center Fielder B.J. Upton has hit 7 home runs and driven in 15 runs during the 2008 post-season, while American League Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria has 4 home runs and 8 RBI’s over his last 4 playoff games alone. With both Tropicana Field and Citizen’s Bank Ballpark catering to the home run ball, we should see a lot of excitement from the 2 teams.
My prediction – Rays in 7, at home in front of those crazy, cowbell-ringing fans, desperated for that 1st World Championship. Cole Hamels will win both of his starts for the Phillies, but the rest of the Phillies will struggle against the deep, talented Rays offense. B.J. Upton will be named the World Series Most Valuable Player. And for those of you who say this isn’t a great series to watch, I beg to differ. While the ratings might not be great, the Rays story-line alone is a masterpiece. The Rays have had the least number of wins in all of baseball for each of the last 2 seasons. Event his year when the team was in 1st place, the Rays would still only draw around 25,000 fans for each game. With the young talent in place, and a savvy Manager in Joe Maddon, the Rays will be a force to be reckoned with in the AL East for several years to come. As for the Phillies, the club has only won one World Series Championship in i ts 125-year history in 1980. Since the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA Championship in 1983, the city of Philadelphia has seen 7 teams lose in its respective sports Championship Series – including the Phillies in 1983 and 1993. Manager Charlie Manuel, always seems to be on the hot seat, yet he has had his Phillies advance to the playoffs in 2 consecutive seasons. Both teams have compelling stories to tell, but only one will have the dream ending with the World Series Championship Trophy in its grasps…
