Tagged As: World Series, Phillies, Rays

While the young Rays were trying to go from worst to first in just a season, the worst team ever in Major League Baseball was trying to start finish a new era they began after the turn of the century. The Phillies have had just one losing season since 2001 after collecting the most losses over the course of the 19th and 20th century.

This century has proved to be a time to start anew for teams like the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox. Phillies were sure that their time was next, but the postponement of the potential series-ending game on Monday after a storm system that seemed to be sent by the gods came to stop Philadelphia from celebrating at Citizens Bank Ballpark.

Surely it must have seemed like some omnipotent force that would not allow the Phillies to defeat the Rays was delivering the storms. For 50 hours Phillies sports fanatics must had time to truly contemplate the consequences of their potential victory. Would the Earth split open and the end of days descend? Did some McCain supporter conjure the front as a misguided attempt to aid the beleaguered Republican? Was it Obama’s witchcraft? Or was it simply a classic Philadelphia move to make the worst of a possible great sports memory?

In the end the front passed and the Phillies took the field for three innings, scoring two more runs and allowing one more to clinch their first World Series title since Mike Schmidt and the 1980 Phillies and bring home the first major sports title since the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers.

In a series that found Philadelphia toothless with runners in scoring position (they posted a .201 average through the five games), the two runs came off singles to center by Jayson Werth in the sixth inning and Pedro Feliz in the seventh to score two runners who were actually in scoring position. Brad Lidge close the game out for his 48th save of the season in 48 tries.

The Rays could only manage to score on a solo shot by Rocco Baldelli in the seventh. Philadelphia starting pitcher Cole Hamels won the MVP for his 2-0 record and 2.77 ERA. This was a truly memorable World Series that will be remembered by baseball historians who will hopefully gloss over the fact that the series had low ratings (as is the case in any World Series without a New York or Boston team).

Hopefully the city of Brotherly Love will loosen up and show its teams across the board some slack. The Philadelphia Eagles may be able to play with the fear of frozen beer bottles being thrown at them. The 76ers will be able to play without having every loss questioned after the signing of Elton Brand. This series could usher in a new era of sports etiquette for Philadelphia…or it could make fans wonder what is freakin’ wrong with the rest of their teams.