The 2008 World Series doesn’t have much sex appeal, if that term can be applied to baseball. We won’t see Manny Ramirez return to Boston on sports’s biggest stage, nor will we see former Yankees manager Joe Torre lead another team against his nemesis, the Red Sox. In fact, this series is a ratings disaster. However, there is no question that the Rays and Phillies are the best teams in their respective leagues. Both teams are where they are, they have come from there. It will be exciting to see new and young faces in completely new places. The series will showcase two powerhouse teams showcasing the innovative faces of the league that have propelled each organization to the top of the baseball world. Ring your cowbells and spin your white towels, get ready to see the catwalks of Tropicana Field come into play, and get ready to see home runs hit the short porches of Citizens Bank Park. It will be a fun series to watch, even though not many entrenched fans will see it.
Here are five questions that are evident at the head of this series:
Brad Lidge: How good is the Phillies’ bullpen? Many have asked me this question. Well, I have an answer: it is absolutely, positively, undoubtedly sensational. They really are first class. I mean, after all, Philly is 79-0 in games they’ve led going into the ninth inning. Who to give credit for that? Brad Lidge. Lidge hasn’t blown a save yet this season, even in the playoffs, and there’s nothing to tell me he’s going to blow one in the World Series. His crushing hard slider is virtually unbeatable, and the bridge to Lidge is hard to burn with Ryan Madsen, Chad Durbin and JC Romero.
The constant of almost every world champion in the last 20 years is a good bullpen. We look back to the most recent champions of 2004 and 2007, Boston teams featuring Jonathan Papelbon, who never allowed a run in his postseason career. The New York Yankees, champions in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000, showcased the best closer of the current generation, Mariano Rivera. Plus, we can go back even further to mention the duo of Toronto’s Duane Ward and Tom Henke, the Cincinnati Reds’ “Nasty Boys” and even La Russa’s 1989 A’s, who were unbeatable when Dennis Eckersley was brought in. The Rays showed some weakness in the ALCS, but David Price’s two-inning save in Game 7 is an indication the Phillies could see more of him.
BJ Upton: Where in the world has all this Rays power come from? Before the American League Championship Series, they had never hit 10 home runs in any three-game stretch in franchise history, then proceeded to do so against the Red Sox. The Rays finished tied for fourth in the American League in home runs in 2008, but became the first team to hit at least three home runs in three straight postseason games. They made four in a row in Game 5.
They did it with youth and health. BJ Upton hit only nine round trips in the regular season, in part due to his shoulder problem. Basically, he didn’t throw a ball with authority for two months, yet he tied Troy Glaus (2002) for the most home runs by an American League player in a postseason (7). Evan Longoria missed a month with a wrist injury, but now he’s healthy and throwing baseballs over walls. He is the youngest player to hit six home runs in a postseason. Carlos Peña missed a month due to injury. He now he is healthy. With all three hitting hot bats, Tampa Bay set the record for most home runs in a single postseason series (16) with their performance in the American League Championship Series. They will play the three interim games of the World Series in Philadelphia’s little box, Citizen’s Bank Park.
Carl Crawford: How fast are the Rays? I mean, honestly, how fast? THEY ARE VERY FAST. They started a defensive outfield in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series with Carl Crawford on left, Upton in center, and Fernando Pérez on right.
“The fastest outfield I’ve ever seen,” said Rays coach Don Zimmer, who has been in baseball for more than 60 years.
The speed makes each player steal-threat at almost any time. The Rays stole 10 of 11 bases during the American League Championship Series. Pérez helped win Game 2 by marking and scoring on a 180-foot fly ball just out of the infield. Plus, his speed helps them on defense, which might be the best in baseball, especially in the infield. Jason Bartlett loads the ball as well as anyone in the league at shortstop and second baseman Akinori Iwamura, in his first year at the position, converts the double play as well as anyone in the league.
Ryan Howard: What about the Phillies’ 1-9 production? It sure is hard to believe that Philadelphia has won seven playoff games without a home run and only 3 RBIs by first baseman Ryan Howard. He is, without a doubt, the hottest hitter in the game today, but he can go crazy in the World Series. However, going this far without big production numbers from Howard shows just how big Philadelphia’s team really is. In the National League Championship Series, the Phillies had a different offensive hero every night.
Imagine what will happen if they get Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell to go at the same time.
Matt Garza: Really, how good is the back of the Rays’ rotation? Well, plain and simple, he’s one of the best in baseball, which is crucial in a seven-game playoff series. Matt Garza, the Rays’ No. 3 starter, was utterly dominant and unbeatable in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series (he was good for seven innings, allowing only two hits and striking out nine). Garza maxes out at 98 MPH. I don’t care who you are, he’s incredibly fast and practically impossible to hit when he places the pitch correctly. Garza also has a fantastic slider in his repertoire. Andy Sonnanstine shut out the Red Sox for the first six innings of Game 4; he throws 87-89, but he has an incredible sense for the art of throwing.
Scott Kazmir could easily be the fourth-best starter, but he looked great throwing six shutout innings in Game 5. A 14-game winner in 2008, Edwin Jackson is the No. 5 starter. That’s an incredibly deep rotation, and it’s certainly deeper than the Phillies’, given that Jaime Moyer has been hit hard this postseason (first by the Brewers, then by the Dodgers). However, Philadelphia has the best starter of both teams in the World Series, ace Cole Hamels.
I originally predicted the Rays at 4, but after a much deeper look at the pitching matchups and incredible lineups that both teams feature, I changed my mind about that prediction, at least about the number of games to be played.
Not ruling out the Rays, but the Phillies seem to have the best lineup from 1 to 9. That’s only if they can all be consistent with each other, though. Sure, his bullpen is great, but his downfall lies in his starting rotation in the days after Cole Hamels started. I don’t expect Moyer, Joe Blanton or Brett Myers to calm the Rays down. But can the Rays’ lineup continue to produce as it has this postseason? The answer to that question lies in how they wrecked the Red Sox’s excellent starting five. I’ve got news for you, the pitchers taking the mound for Philly, with the exception of Cole Hamels, are nothing compared to the monster arms of the Red Sox. If the Rays could do what they did against guys like Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, there’s no telling how hard they’re going to hit the Phillies guys they have in their rotation. The key for Tampa Bay will be scoring runs early and often. I expect the Phillies to put on an offensive display at some point in the series, but for the most part, the Rays’ deep rotation shouldn’t allow too many hits or runs too often. Pitching, as it often is in the postseason, is the biggest key for both teams heading into the series.
Here are the expected pitching matchups for the first four games of this World Series:
Game 1: Phillies (Cole Hamels) @ Rays (Scott Kazmir)
Game 2: Phillies (Brett Myers) @ Rays (James Shields)
Game 3: Rays (Matt Garza) @ Phillies (Jaime Moyer)
Game 4: Rays (Andy Sonnanstine) @ Phillies (Joe Blanton)
To me, the Rays seemed to be the strongest team in October, which is why I had them down an easy 4 over Philly. But, after the Red Sox came back from 3 games down to 1 to square up the American League Championship Series, I, like everyone else, began to wonder how good the Rays really are.
Was it pure Red Sox magic again that led the Rays to squander that seven-run lead and overall series lead, or was it a display of the only way to beat the Rays? I seem to lean toward the fact that it was Red Sox magic once again, especially after witnessing Boston miraculously and heroically come from behind countless times in the postseason over the past decade. However, one fact is certain: To beat the Rays, you have to score a lot of runs in a row. I don’t think the Phillies can do such a thing against Tampa Bay’s deep rotation. However, I think we’re going to see a much better World Series than a lot of people, myself included, had originally thought.
My NEW prediction: Lightning at 6.