Phillies vs. Rays-An Unlikely Matchup

If anybody told me in April that the 2008 World Series was going to be a match up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, I woulda laughed at them. The Phillies? The up and down, roller coaster-like, inconsistent, trade-this-player-for-that Phillies?? No way, not in 08. And the Rays? Are you kidding me? Sure, they are a bright young team with a ridiculously fast outfield, but they've been cellar dwellers for a decade. They couldn't make the steep climb all the way to the pinnacle of the AL East, could they? Well, 6 months later, those doubts have been ripped apart, cooked, stewed, and absolutely chewed up. I am truly impressed and somewhat shocked.

Tampa Bay has been impressive all season long. Right off the blocks, they were in contention. They were perched either first or second in the standings virtually from start to finish. Many skeptics doubted their ability to endure the grinding 162 game schedule. To be honest, I didn't think they'd make it this far either. But the guys proved us wrong by not only defeating the red hot White Sox in the ALDS, but fighting out and winning the ALCS against a very tough Red Sox team.

Phillies, on the other hand, have been under the radar all season long. Everybody was talking about the Mets. The spotlight early on was on the Mets inability to play good baseball. It cost Willie Randolph his job. Then, everybody started rambling on about how hot they were, climbing atop the East by the dog days of summer. Come September, the Mets were in the driver's seat, threatening, but unable to pull away. Later that month, they choked. They choked like they had done just a year prior. It was like all the gas in their tank spilled out at once. Taking advantage of all of this, the Phillies cunningly slided into first place and sailed to their first World Series berth in 15 years.

This was supposed to be the year that Yankee Stadium received its emotional send-off. It did, but it came one month early. The Mets were supposed to have had the NL East locked up, but they choked...again. Bostonians had started to believe that a new Red Sox dynasty was at birth, only to see their beloved Sox stop completely hitting in the ALCS. It was the year where Cliff Lee racked up 22 wins, and Josh Hamilton led the AL in RBIs. In all things improbable, we top it off tonight with the Phils and the Rays in one of the most bizarre World Series matchups in recent memory.

Oh and by the way, these two teams have a grand sum of exactly 1 World Series title in a combined 137 seasons of existence. No Philadelphia sports team has ever won a championship in the last quarter of a century! And if Tampa wins, the Rays will become the first ever team in pro sports history to go from having the worst record in the league to become Champions. How's that for an unlikely match up?!

-D