God Doesn't Hate Philly After All - Phillies Finish Rays

By JC De La Torre

The Philadelphia Phillies are the 2008 World Series Champions, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in the resumed Game 5 to clinch the World Series, winning 4 games to 1.

Geoff Jenkins let off the bottom of the 6th with a double to deep right center. James Rollins bunted him over to 3rd base. Jayson Werth popped up but Aki Iwamurra couldn't get to the baseball, it fell and Jenkins scored to give Philadelphia the 3-2 lead. JP Howell would come in for the Rays and get Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.

In the top of the 7th, the Rays came right back. After Dioner Navarro struck out, Rocco Baldelli blasted a solo home run to left field, tying the game back up at 3 a piece. Jason Barlett singled to left. JP Howell bunted Barlett to second. Aki Iwamurra hit an infield single to 2nd that Utley appeared to have no play on, but instead of attempting to throw to first Utley intelligently saw that Bartlett was breaking for the plate - and fired home, easily getting Barlett.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Phillies would answer, Pat Burrell doubled to deep left center field, barely missing a home run. Victorino grounded out to 2nd, advancing the pitch runner for Burrell, Bruntlett to 3rd. The light hitting Pedro Feliz came on against Tampa Bay's Chad Bradford. He fired a seeing-eye single past the pitcher and into center field. Bruntlett scored giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

On to the top of the 8th we went, Carl Crawford opened the inning with a single to left field. Unfortunately, BJ Upton swung at the first pitch he faced from JC Romero and grounded into an inning killing double play. Carlos Pena would pop out to retire the side.

David Price would work the bottom half of the eighth for Tampa Bay, getting rollins to fly out and striking out Werth. While he did walk Utley, he struck out Ryan Howard to retire the side.

On to the 9th, where there was high drama for Philadelphia. Super reliever Brad Lidge came in and got Evan Longoria to pop out to 2nd base. Dioner Navarro got a broken bat single to get on base. Fernando Perez came in to pinch run and promptly stole 2nd base. The tying run is on 2nd...Ben Zobrist came in to pitch hit for Baldelli (why...I'm not sure, perhaps Rocco's illness forced the change), Zobrist hit the ball well to Right Field but right at Jayson Werth for the 2nd out. One last chance for Tampa Bay and Eric Hinske camed in to pitch hit for Jason Bartlett. Hinske's last pinch hitting performance ended in a homer, so the Rays fans hoped for a big hit. Unfortunately, Lidge was at his best and struck out Hinske, and with that strike out, the Phillies ended 20-plus years of misery for the city of Philadelphia and claimed their first World Series title in 28 years, only their 2nd in 126 yrs of baseball.

So God doesn't hate Philadelphia. But we can still hate Philadelphia fans, who displayed their lack of class when their owner stated on the podium, "Let's congradulate the Tampa Bay Rays on a tremendous season," they booed. Why boo? Your team has beaten Tampa Bay, it was good, competive series that the Phillies deserved to win. Why not honor the Rays for their achievement in winning the American League pennant? Most fans greet that with a light applause. The Philadelphia fans? Boo. That's why you had to wait 28 yrs to win a title, and that's why the rest of America will hope you go another 28 yrs before you get another. Word is their rioting now in Philly...yeah, brilliant.

But you know what, no matter how crappy the fans are, hats off to the Phillies. They outplayed the Rays in every facet of the ball game, they got crucial timely hits, solid pitching from both the starters, the bull pen and overall were just the better baseball team. Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge were dominant. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were clutch. Just a great, great team.

Congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies, you were a fantastic group of Champions.

In the coming days, we'll reflect on the Rays, the Series, what was accomplished here and what will be coming down the line - but now's not the time. Tonight belongs to the Phillies.

No Baseball Tonight

Game 5 of the World Series will not be continued tonight, per MLB. The game is tenatively scheduled for 8:37pm Wednesday.

God Hates Philadelphia

By JC De La Torre

Last night, I mentioned that the Rays are probably cursing the baseball gods because they had taken momentum in Game 5 by tying the game just moments before a torrential downpour suspended it, allowing the Phillies to escape.

Having had a night to consider all that has transpired, I have come to a completely different conclusion now - God hates Philadelphia. At least Philadelphia sports teams. Consider the evidence if you will, the city of Philadelphia has been without a major sports championship since 1983. The Eagles became the Buffalo Bills of the NFC, losing in three consecutive NFC Championship games to the Rams, Tampa Bay Bucs, and Panthers before finally breaking threw in 2003 to reach the Super Bowl, where they promptly lost to the Patriots. The Flyers last two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals ended in series defeats (to Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh) and they haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1974-75. The 76ers reached the Finals in 2001, only to be beaten by the Lakers in 5 games. They were the last team to win a major sports championship. The Phillies last trip to the World Series was in 1993, when the lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in 6. Before that, their last trip was in 1983, when they lost to the Baltimore Orioles - in fact, the last time they won the World Series was 1980.

So here we are, Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. The Philadelphia Phillies are up 3-1 in the World Series with their best pitcher, Cole Hamels, on the mound. The Philly papers are already discussing parade routes and celebration locations. Not only that, the Phillies had a friend behind the plate with umpire Jeff Kellogg, who drew memories of the Blacksox scandal and NBA referee Tim Donaghy with his very generous strike zone to Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels and his miniscule strike zone for Rays Pitcher Scott Kazmir. The top hitters for the Rays, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena, had done nothing the entire series. Using those advantages, the Phillies jump to a commanding 2-0 lead in the first inning to take the game by the throat with their best guy on the mound. There's no way the Phils can lose, right? Philadelphia is finally going to get their championship for sure this time, correct?

This is Philadelphia....and God hates them. Carlos Pena finally began to heat up, just barely missing a home run and doubling off the left field wall in the 4th. Up came the ice cold Longoria, who blasted a screaming liner past shortstop James Rollins for his first hit of the series, scoring Pena. Ru-oh, Raggie. Rays new Superstar BJ Upton singled to lead off the 6th, and then in a driving rain storm, stole second to everyone's disbelief. Up came Pena, who smacked a single to left field, Upton wheeled around third and sloshed his way to the plate, tying the score at 2. Then God made his own pitch - drenching the World Series and getting it suspended until...well, who knows? Tonight? Tomorrow night? Thanksgiving?

Had this game occured in 2007, there was an awful rule in Major League Baseball that stated that if a run is score in the top half of an inning to tie the game and the game is called due to weather, the run would be discounted and the victory would go to the team leading before the half inning was played. A simply AWFUL rule that baseball came to their senses and changed. Bad news for the Phillies. Bud "the Liar" Selig says he would have never had a weather-shortened game decide the World Series no matter the score and the entirety of the game would have been played. Suuurrre it would, Bud. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the Rays tied it before the rain hit.

So, you can see how this is playing out, don't you? Cole Hamels is done for this series - he will not be a factor in the continuation of the game tonight (tomorrow night, thanksgiving?). Longo and Pena are heating up just when the Rays need them...some how, some way, the Rays will find a way to win Game 5 and have everyone scrambling back to St. Petersbugh with no travel day, with Shields and Garza eagerly awaiting for Games 6 and 7. The parades will be cancelled...
Shields will pitch another masterful game at home, allowing the rejuvenated Rays to pull out the victory...and Matt Garza will out pitch the calcified Jamie Moyer for Game 7. Destiny denied once again for Philly.

All because God hates the city of Philadelphia.

Or the Phillies will win tonight (tomorrow, thanksgiving?) and all this is moot...but man, wouldn't it be typical Philly if it did go down like that?

Rays Rally, Rain Ruins Game 5

By JC De La Torre

Considering they are playing the playoff lives, the Tampa Bay Rays may be cursing the baseball gods right now. They rallied from an early 2-0 deficit as the heavens opened and deposited a torrential downpour, delaying the game in the bottom of the 6th inning with the score tied at 2. The momentum was switching to the Rays dugout just as the playing surface became unplayable.

Things started rocky for the Rays, after going down in order in the first, the Phillies jumped on starter Scott Kazmir in the bottom half. After getting James Rollins to fly out, Kazmir walked Werth, then hit Utley with a pitch. He rallied by striking out the red hot Ryan Howard, but walked Burrell to load the bases. Shane Victorino up and he lasers a base hit to left, two runs scored.

In the top of the 4th, Upton began the inning with a ground out. Carlos Pena got his first hit of the series as he doubled off the right field wall. Evan Longoria would follow up with his first hit of the series as well, singled to central, scoring Pena to cut the lead to 2-1.

The game remained a one run ballgame until the top of the 6th. With the heavens opening up so badly that Noah began to whey anchor, Hamels got two quick outs for Philadelphia, then saw BJ Upton reach on an infield single. Upton would slosh his way to second base. Carlos Pena would blast his second hit of the game to left field and the speedy Upton would race around the base paths and slide for the tying score. Longoria would line hard to end the inning and that's when Major League Baseball decided to suspend the game. Weather permitting, the game will be resumed tomorrow at 8pm - where the weather for tommorrow night is expected to be cloudy, slight rain and in the 30's. Whenever the game continues, it will be resumed tied at 2-2 at the bottom of the 6th.

One of the top developments for this is the Rays get Cole Hamels out as a factor in Game 5, escaping with a 2-2 tie with Hamels going a strong 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 3 strike outs. Scott Kazmir struggled for the Rays, giving Tampa Bay only 4 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs and 5 strike outs, but he walked 6.

This unbelievable season takes another strange twist.

Dream could be over for Rays - Phils a Win Away

By JC De La Torre

The dream season of the Tampa Bay Rays is almost over and not finishing the way we hoped. The Philadelphia Phillies jumped on a less than sharp Andy Sonnanstine and destroyed Tampa Bay in a 10-2 victory in Game 4 of the World Series. The win by Philadelphia gives them a commanding 3 games to 1 lead and puts them within one win of the World Championship. If Philadelphia wins tomorrow night, it will be the first major sports championship for the city since the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA title in 1983, when the 76ers swept the LA Lakers. The story for the Rays is the ineffectiveness of their pitching, their defense, and their offense. Basically, through 4 games of the World Series, the Phillies have outplayed them in every phase.


It started rough for Andy Sonnanstine, who is one of the best control pitchers in baseball, as he came out and could not find the strike zone in the first inning. Jimmy Rollins led off the first with a screaming double down the right field line. Jayson Werth would fly out to right, but deep enough to put Rollins on third. That's when Sonnanstine lost his control. He would walk Utley, then Ryan Howard grounded to Sonnanstine - instead of trying to go to 2nd for the double play, Sonnanstine cut off Rollins and got him into a run down, he tossed the ball to 3b Evan Longoria, who appeared to tag Rollins out, but inexplicably, the third base umpire ruled him safe. Then, for the first time in Andy Sonnanstine's career, he would walk in a run, walking Pat Burrell. Sonnanstine would recover, getting Victorino to ground to him, he threw to home plate to get the force on Utley, got Pedro Feliz to fly out. After 1 inning, it was 1-0.

As the Rays bats remained silent, the Phillies would add a run in the bottom of the 3rd, Pedro Feliz would single in a run to extend the lead to 2-0. Tampa Bay would cut into the lead in the top half of the 4th with a solo home run by Carl Crawford. In the bottom half of the 4th, the Phillies blew the game open. An error by Aki Iwamurra (his second of the game), put Rollins on first. Sonnanstine would walk Werth, then struck out Utley. Up to the plate stepped the struggling slugger Ryan Howard - he would struggle no more - blasting a moon shot to left field for a 3 run homer, giving the Phils a commanding 5-1 advantage.


In the top of the 5th Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske, added to the playoff roster due to Cliff Floyd's shoulder injury, came in to pinch hit, and promply homered to deep center field, cutting the advantage to 5-2. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Philadelphia Pitcher Joe Blanton, who pitched a sterling performance going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs, on 4 hits, 2 walks and striking out 7, helped himself by sending an Edwin Jackson fast ball into the left field seats for a shocking solo homer, giving the Phils a 6-2 lead. It was the first home run by a pitcher in the World Series since 1974.

From there, the Philadelphia bullpen took over, continuing the rough series for the Rays top two home run threats Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria who are a combined 0-29 with 16 strike outs in the series, while Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard (his 2nd) each added another 2 run blast in the top of the 8th for insurance, wrapping up the crucial game 4 win.


Tampa Bay must win three straight to win the World Series and they open their quest facing the best the Phillies have to offer - Cole Hamels. Needless to say, it will be a tough hill to climb for the Rays, who have had one heck of a season. No one, not even the Rays own fans, could have predicted the Tampa Bay Rays would win the AL Pennant and play in the World Series. While there's hope that the Rays can finish this dream season in a movie style dramatic ending, the odds are against it. So enjoy Game 5 Rays fans, as it may be the end of the road for 2008. The good news, all the Rays young stars are under contract for next season and David Price will be ready to assume his role in the starting rotation, yet another arm for the Rays to use to bolster their battery. They'll also have all season to find a solution for Right Field and a true Closer.

So, fans, root your heart out Monday night, let's hope the Rays can get this thing back to the Trop and spoil the party for Philadelphia. One game at a time, Rays.

Phillies take control of the World Series

By JC De La Torre

Despite 46-year old Jamie Moyer out pitching the young Tampa Bay lion Matt Garza in a long rain delayed Game 3 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies had to rally to defeat the Rays in a thrilling 5-4 victory. Philadelphia takes a 2 games to 1 lead in the series.

Coming in with a double digit ERA in the post season, Moyer was impressive, pitching 6 and 1/3 innings, 3 earned runs on 5 hits, striking out 5.

He was staked to a lead in the 1st inning. Jimmy Robbins got his first hit of the World Series with a single to center field. Rays pitcher Matt Garza was shaky in the early going, and walked Jayson Werth to put two men on with nobody out, then set both men in scoring position on a wild pitch. Chase Utley grounded out to third, but scored Rollins and put Werth on third, Philadelphia led 1-0. Garza would get out trouble with a strike out of Ryan Howard and got Burrell to fly at center.

Tampa Bay would answer in the top of the 2nd inning, as Carl Crawford led off with a double. After Dioner Navarro flied out, Crawford stole third base. Gabe Gross would hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Crawford and tie the game at 1. Unfortunately for the Rays, the Phillies would take the lead right back in the bottom of the second inning with a blast to left field by Carlos Ruiz to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.

It would stay 2-1 for three straight innings as Garza and Moyer entered a pitching war. It would be a battle eventually won by Moyer, as in the bottom half of the sixth inning, back-to-back bombs by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard put the Phillies up with a seemingly insurrmountable 4-1 lead. Tampa Bay would rally in the top of the 7th, as Crawford would reach on a controversial bunt hit. It appeared he was clearly out, but was ruled safe by the first base umpire. Navarro followed with a double to left, setting up men at 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Gabe Gross would get his 2nd sacrifice RBI, as he grounded to first, allowing Crawford to score to cut the lead to 4-2. Bartlett would follow with a grounder to shortstop, but with Navarro going on contact, he scored easily to make it 4-3.

In the 8th, Ryan Madson checked in to pitch to the struggling meat of the Tampa Bay line up. BJ Upton would lead off with an infield hit to short. Carlos Pena struck out. With Longoria approaching the plate, BJ stole second base easily. On the next pitch, BJ tried to steal third, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz fired it to third but the throw handcuffed the 3b Shane Victorino, who let it get away, Upton raced home and scored to tie the game at 4. Tampa Bay set a post-season Major League Baseball record for steals by a team, with their 22nd. Longoria would ground out on the next play. In the bottom of the 8th, Chad Bradford walked Jayson Werth to put the leading run on base and powerful Chase Utley and Ryan Howard awaitng their shot. JP Howell would check into the game for Tampa Bay. Werth stole second. Howell struck out Utley, then picked off Werth off of 2nd, and finally struck out Howard to get the Rays out of trouble.

On to the 9th - the Rays went in order. In the bottom half, Howell hit Bruntlett with a pitch to put the winning run on first. In came Balfour to face Victorino. Balfour threw a wild pitch, Navarro recovered but threw the ball into center field and put Bruntlett on third with no one out. Balfour was forced to intentionally walk Victorino and Greg Dobbs to put the bases loaded with nobody out, this was to set up the force play at the plate. In addition, Rays Manager Joe Maddon made the uncoventional play of putting 5 guys in the infield to plug all the holes, facing the hot hitting catcher Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz chopped it to third, Longoria fielded and desperately tossed it home, but it was over Navarro's head - Brunlett scores - Phillies win.

Philadelphia takes a 2 games to 1 lead in the World Series. Big win for Philly, hearbreaking loss for the Rays. Tampa Bay will try again tomorrow...correction TONIGHT. A Phillie victory tonight and this series may be over.

Even - Rays Beat Phils With Small Ball, Tie the Series

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Philadelphia Phillies playing National League styled small ball and even the World Series at one game a piece with a 4-2 victory at Tropicana Field. "Big Game" James Sheilds continously pitched himself out of trouble as the Phillies continued to struggle to get hits with men in scoring position. Philadelphia is now 1-for-28 with runners at 2nd or 3rd, and for three straight innings in this one they had a runner on third and one out, but couldn't bring home the runs.

The Rays on the other hand, did put the ball in play when the opportunity presented itself. After a 1-2-3 first by Shields in the top frame of the 1st, Tampa Bay opened the bottom half with a flurry. Aki Iwamurra led off with a walk from pitcher Brett Myers. Upton then singled to right field, but Phillies RF Jason Werth to his eye off the ball while trying to spy if Iwamurra was going to third and booted it. Upton and Iwamurra advanced on the error. Pena grounded out to the 2nd baseman, who had no play at the plate or third, Iwamurra scored, Upton advanced to 3rd and the Rays led 1-0. Longoria followed with a hard grounder to shortstop, Upton was running on contact and they had no play at the play, Rays led 2-0 after 1 inning.

In the top of the second, the Phillies got Burrell and Howard on 2nd and 3rd with only one down, but Shields struck out the DH Dobbs and got Pedro Feliz to fly out to get out of the jam. In the bottom half, after a fly out by Cliff Floyd, Navarro singled, Baldelli walked, and Bartlett had an infield single to load the bases with only one away. Aki would pop out to short, but Upton would save the inning with a single to right scoring Navarro. Baldelli also tried to score on the single, but a great throw by Werth had Baldelli dead to rights, Philly catcher Carlos Ruiz held on to the ball and the inning ended with the Rays up 3-0.

Top of the third, another threat from Philadelphia, Ruiz doubled to left and a grounder by James Rollins would advance him to third. Shields began to weave his magic again, striking out Werth and getting Utley to ground out to second to get out of trouble. The Rays would go in order in the bottom half.

The 4th inning provided even more frustration for Philadelphia. Ryan Howard, who was good with the bat tonight, singled to Right. Burrell ground out to third but Howard advanced. Victorino would reach on an infield single, Howard would advance to third with only one out. For the 2nd time, Shields would strike out Dobbs with a runner at 3rd and only 1 down, and then followed that with a ground out to Longoria by Pedro Feliz. In the bottom half, the Rays showed the Phillies how its done, after singles by Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro, Baldelli grounded into a force at 2nd, leaving runners on the corner with 1 away. From there, Jason Bartlett executed a safety squeeze perfectly, as he placed the bunt down the first place side, Floyd scored and Baldelli advanced to second, the Rays had a 4-0 lead.

It would stay that way until the top of the 8th, when the PH Brunlett homered of the relief pitcher David Price, who came in to get the final 7 outs. Price remained in for the 9th, allowed to run but got the Rays out of the inning and the game for a 4-2 victory.

Shields went 5 and 2/3, allowing no runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and he struck out 4. Myers lasted a little longer, going 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), with 3 walks and 2 strike outs for Philly.

The stage shifts to Philadelphia, where the Rays will have Matt Garza on the mound for Game 3, the Phillies counter with the 45 yr old veteran, Jamie Moyer.

If the Rays can take 2-3 of three in Philly, the same way they did in Boston, they'll have two chances at the Trop to close out the Phillies.

Phillies Drop Rays in Game One

By JC De La Torre

It was de ja vu all over again for the Rays, just like in Game One of the ALCS, a tremendous pitching performance and just enough hitting by the opponent were enough to allow the Philadelphia Phillies to take Game 1 of the World Series at the Trop, 3-2.

Cole Hamels was spectacular for the Phils, pitching 7 strong innings scattering 5 hits and only two earned runs while styming the Rays 2, 3, and 4 hitters with an 0-12 night (including two double play balls by BJ Upton that ended Ray threats).

Scot Kazmir wasn't quite as effective, but managed to go 6 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 earned runs, while walking four in his first loss of the post-season.

Things got off on the wrong foot for Kazmir at the beginning of the game. After getting the lead off man Rollins to fly out to right, Kazmir walked Jason Werth. To the plate came Chase Utley and the Rays pulled a large defensive shift (similar to the way they played Boston's pulling slugger David Ortiz). Utley attempted to put down a bunt but pushed it foul. That was unfortunate for Tampa Bay because a couple pitches later, Utley blasted a Kazmir pitch into the right field bleachers to give Philadelphia a quick 2-0 advantage.

It would stay that way until the 4th inning, when Kazmir would get himself into a little trouble again. Victorino would lead off with a single and Pedro Feliz would follow with another single to shallow center. Chris Coste would ground out to Carlos Pena at first, but Pena had no chance at the double play and the runners advanced. Philly Catched Carlos Ruiz would ground to shortstop, but there was no play at the plate and it went over to first, the Rays conceding the run to fall behind 3-0. Kaz would strike out Rollins to get out of the inning, but the damage was done. The Rays woud answer the run by Philadelphia by finally getting on the board with a towering blast to right field by Carl Crawford. The score was 3-1 after 4.

Tampa Bay would get a little closer in the bottom half of the 5th, after two quick outs by Navarro and Zobrist, Jason Bartlett was walked, then promptly stole second. Aki Iwamurra doubled to center, scoring Barlett and cutting the lead to 3-2. Upton would foul out to end the threat.

That would be it for the Rays, though, as Hamels, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge would allow only one base runner (who reached on an error) for the last four innings.

Lidge was dominant in his closing fashion, facing the meat of the Tampa Bay order, he struck out Pena and Longoria, then got Crawford to pop out to 3rd. Game over, Game One to Philadelphia.

The Phillies achieved their goal of taking at least one game in St. Pete to swing the home field advantage away from Tampa Bay, even more distressing for the Rays, 10 of the last 11 game one winners have gone on to win the series, and only 39% of the losers of Game One come back to win the series.

The Rays, however, have been bucking trends all season. They've shifted from being the favorite to becoming the underdog - just the way they like it. Conventional wisdom was that Philly needed two victories out of Hamel and some luck with the other pitchers against the Rays offense. Philly got one of the two from Hamels, we'll see if luck is on their side tonight.

Rays Worst-to-First Saga continues tonight in Game 1 of the World Series

By JC De La Torre

The New York Yankees haven't been to the World Series in five years. the Chicago Cubs haven't been there since 1945. The Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay's opponent in the fall classic, haven't been there since 1993. This Rays fans, is something special.

Tonight, the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Game One of the World Series. Scott Kazmir is on the hill for Tampa Bay, with the Phillies countering with their ace, Cole Hamels. Tampa Bay broke the major league record for single season improvement, as they have now won 104 games in 2008 (including the playoffs), a 37 game improvement over 2007. This beats the old record of 36+ by 1946 Boston Red Sox. Only one team in Major League Baseball history has gone from being the worst team in baseball to the World Series, the 1991 Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately for the Braves, it didn't end well as they lost the World Series in 7 games to another worst-to-first team, the Minnesota Twins, who were last in their division the previous year. The Twins are the only team in modern MLB history to finish in last the previous year to winning the World Championship.

The team that wins game one of the World Series goes on to win 61% of the time.

One last interesting tidbit - in interleague play this season, the Rays were 12-6 versus the National League, while the Phillies had the worst interleague record in baseball, 4-11.

My prediction? Rays in 6.