Before the rains came, this was the World Series nobody was watching.
Die-hard baseball fans, Philadelphians everywhere and, probably, most folks in the Tampa/St. Pete area tuned in, but that’s about all.
Despite Philadelphia being a major city and major sports town, and despite the handful of big names on the Phillies, most people around the country had lukewarm interest in the matchup. Most people didn’t know the Rays (including many of their own fans), and the Phillies hadn’t won a title in a very long time.
Then mother nature stepped in (again) and Bud Selig inevitably bungled the situation with his poor planning and lack of communication, and the world began to take notice.
Even better, the resumed game ended around 10 p.m. in the East, instead of after midnight, and it was exciting from the first at-bat. It was as if baseball, like a movie, just cut to the good part. It was as if the gods said, “Hey everybody, you need to check this out.” So people watched.
The Series’ overall ratings were abysmal, but the final night drew a big audience. What viewers beheld were the tenacious Phillies, who knocked off a team that had won 97 games in the regular season. What they beheld was the story of this Phillies team, the story of Brad Lidge & Company, the story of this crazed, title-starved city of Philadelphia and its fans finally finding the promised land.
You have to start somewhere: A few years ago, the Red Sox were nothing spectacular. Neither were the Angels or the Brewers or a lot of other teams. But they started getting good, and staying good, and they became interesting.
The Phillies had been knocking on the door for a little while, and now they’ve won it all. If they get back to the World Series, or even the playoffs, you can bet a lot more people are going to be interested.
Too bad for Tampa Bay: The Rays won’t get the credit they deserve. They did what a lot of people who knew nothing about them expected them to do. Call it rolling over, collapsing, buckling under the pressure, choking, being exhausted, losing momentum or just being too young.
Nonsense.
The Rays got beat. Plain and simple.
And the Phillies beat a damn good team.
There are no flukes in a 162-game season. You’re not a fluke when you win 97 games. You’re certainly not a fluke when you win the powerhouse American League East.
You’re not a fluke when you get to the World Series, when you have to go through the likes of the Red Sox and the White Sox.
Still, plenty of people won’t give the Rays their due. Plenty of Johnny-Come-Lately experts will second guess Joe Maddon’s in-game decisions, even though they didn’t watch him all year, even though he dialed enough of the right buttons to take a team from worst to first, the biggest turnaround in baseball history.
Sometimes you hit a wall, and in this case the wall was the Phillies.
The Rays will be around a while. Charlie Manuel even told Maddon so after Game 4. But it won’t be easy, not with big spenders like the BoSox and Yankees, and even the Blue Jays now gunning for the top spot in that division.
By Christiaan DeFranco 2 Comments »
Tags: Baseball, Phillies, WS 2008
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