Tagged As: MLB Playoffs, Sports, World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies are meeting in a World Series that few would have predicted at the beginning of the season. The series may not be what television outlets wanted, but it should a very entertaining one.

The entertainment value will come from watching two very similar teams duke it out. From a historical perspective this is a series between one of the league’s oldest franchises (the Phillies at the ripe old age of 126) and one of the leagues youngest (the Rays at the age of 11). On the field this is a match up that pits powerful bats against good pitching.

Phillies tickets provided entry to the third most dangerous team in the National League. Philadelphia has watched all season long as Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utely have scared National League pitchers. Toward the end of the season Jimmy Rollins began to turn his bad season around and other players like Jayson Werth were dangerous enough to make teams suffer.

Rays tickets were not guarantees to a show with an onslaught of runs, but one with a lineup that lived and died with the home run ball. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria were the main culprits, but during the postseason B.J. Upton joined the duo to make a trio of power hitters. The long ball and the multiple steal threats led from a surprising start to what could be an unbelievable finish.

The pitching on both sides has been pretty solid. Matt Garza, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir were dinged up a little bit by the Red Sox, but most teams would have been roughed up. The young starters are all quality performers on the mound and need to be at their best to make it through the middle of the Phillies lineup.

The Phillies have had to rely on the performances by Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton to start the game and Ryan Madson, J.C. Romeo, and Brad Lidge to hold the game until victory. The Rays bats may not be as dangerous as the Phillies, but they are definitely more of a challenge than the Dodgers.

World Series Tickets