2008 Phillies - Rays World Series Coverage

10/19/08 11:49 PM ET
World Series breakdown: Phils vs. Rays
Tampa Bay's superior starting pitching could be the difference

By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

Phillies at bat: The Phils enjoy lineup depth that rivals even good American League teams. The top six spots in the batting order all feature dangerous hitters, with a combination of left-handed, right-handed and switch-hitters. They're a power-and-patience team, having led the National League in homers and finishing fifth in walks. They scored the third-most runs despite the 10th-best batting average. The Rays can be prone to allowing the home run, a tendency they must control.

Rays at bat: Even more than the Phillies, the Rays practically define the Bill James concept of "secondary average." They hit .260 as a team, but they do everything else offensively. They hit for power. They draw walks. They steal bases. They even hit into the fewest double plays in the American League. So while the Phils' excellent defense will help cut down on the base hits, the Rays can beat you without a lot of hits. Philadelphia will need to throw strikes and keep the ball in the park. One subplot: The Phils haven't controlled the running game very well this year, something the Rays will likely look to exploit.

Key late-game matchups:

1. J.P. Howell vs. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard: Howell is no specialist. He averaged more than an inning per appearance and was equally tough on right- and left-handed hitters. However, he's a left-hander, and so are Howard and Utley. And when the Nos. 3-4 hitters in the Phils lineup come to the plate in the seventh or eighth inning, they're likely to see Howell. Utley has minimal platoon split anymore, but Howard is a completely different hitter against southpaws.

2. Ryan Madson vs. Evan Longoria: Not a lot of tactical complexity here. Madson is the Phils' primary weapon in between their starters and Brad Lidge. Longoria is the Rays' best player and best hitter. They'll see plenty of each other in this series. Most notably, the bottom half of the Rays' lineup is much less daunting than the top four spots. So if Philadelphia can get past the cleanup hitter, it's relatively smooth sailing until the No. 1 spot comes back around.

Secret weapon: With Pedro Feliz struggling, the Phils might look to Greg Dobbs for an offensive lift. Dobbs is 6-for-11 through the first two rounds, and put up a line of .301/.333/.491 (average/on-base/slugging) in the regular season. Dobbs might even be a candidate to serve as the designated hitter at Tropicana Field.

Achilles' heel: The back of the Phillies' rotation is a question. Jamie Moyer has struggled in the postseason and Joe Blanton didn't look sharp in the NL Championship Series; both have some very bad matchup numbers against a couple of Rays hitters. Where Tampa Bay goes fully four deep in the starting staff, Philadelphia will be hoping, rather than expecting, to get first-rate performances from its Nos. 3-4 starters.

The Phillies will win if ... their entire lineup produces. At various points in the postseason, nearly every member of the Phils' offense has had a little run. But at no point in the playoffs has Philadelphia gotten the whole group clicking at once. The Phillies need to get the table-setters on base, get the sluggers pounding, and get contributions from the bottom third of the order.

The Rays will win if ... they take advantage of their edge in starting pitching. In every game not started by Cole Hamels, Tampa Bay should have the better starter on the mound. If their starters pitch the way they're capable, the Rays have the advantage in this series.

Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tickets are sold out. Dang.

catbox_9 wrote:

Tickets are sold out. Dang.

Stubhub has some tickets


They sent my an email on MLB.com


I think I will pass

10/21/08 7:00 PM ET
It's the u30ws (Under 30 World Series)
Phils-Rays matchup one of the youngest in postseason history

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com

Welcome to the u30ws -- a World Series for the next generation.

Many of the stars of this year's Fall Classic can proudly proclaim, "I Love the 80's," because that's the decade in which they were born. This is a championship fight that truly caters to the under-30 crowd.

No fewer than 24 members of the most recent rosters of the Rays and Phillies can watch the World Series highlights on ESPN, knowing full well they haven't lived a day of their life in which the cable network, which launched in September 1979, did not exist.

Seventeen of those players were born during the Reagan administration (1981-89). Thirteen were born after compact discs first hit the marketplace in October 1982.

Yes, youth is served in a Fall Classic that should showcase that the game is in good hands -- even if those hands have never held a vinyl record.

Just listening to what television shows players listed as some of their favorites speaks to the youth of these rosters.

"[I watched] 'Boy Meets World' on Friday nights," Rays center fielder B.J. Upton said. "I loved Topanga."

Said third baseman Evan Longoria: "I was a big 'Saved by the Bell' guy. And 'Family Matters.'"

Yes, this is a World Series designed more for fans of Urkel than Uecker.

The youth is particularly prevalent in the starting rotations of the Rays and Phillies.

Sure, Jamie Moyer is the 45-year-old granddaddy of the bunch, but the next-oldest starter for either club is the Phils' Pat Burrell, who just turned 32.

In all, seven of the eight starters lined up to pitch in the Series are younger than 30 -- the highest percentage since all seven starters in the 1986 Series between the Mets and Red Sox were under 28.

The Rays' rotation of Scott Kazmir (24), James Shields (26), Matt Garza (24) and Andy Sonnanstine (25) is the youngest Series rotation since that of the '69 Mets, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The youth extends to the lineups. Rays outfielder Gabe Gross celebrated his 29th birthday on the eve of this World Series. No word on whether he realizes that makes him three years younger, to the day, than actor Jeremy Miller of "Growing Pains."

Actually, the Rays' abnormally adolescent roster, with an average age of 27.4, makes a Phillies roster with six players born after the dawn of the '80s look like "That '70s Show."

Consider that the Rays have 15 players who weren't even born the last time the Phillies clinched a World Series title on Oct. 21, 1980. Longoria was just 8 years old the last time the Phils were in the Series, in 1993, and Upton was 9.

Rays manager Joe Maddon, in discussing the impact of those two youngsters, uttered a comment that bodes well for the game's future.

"I just think this is the beginning, obviously, and I'm not being very bright by saying that," Maddon said. "These guys are really talented, and you'll keep seeing them getting better every year."

The same can be said for quite a number of the other young guns on the Rays' roster.

Meanwhile, if the Phillies look old, it's only by comparison. They have 11 players under 30, including prominent lineup members Shane Victorino (born Nov. 30, 1980), Ryan Howard (Nov. 19, 1979), Chase Utley (Dec. 17, 1978) and Jimmy Rollins (Nov. 27, 1978).

This, then, is a Series for those raised on MTV and PlayStation. For those who barely remember a world without the Web and who remember Michael Jackson, not the Jackson 5.

Just don't tell that to Moyer.

With an average age of 27.4, the Rays are one of the more youthful teams to ever appear in the World Series. However, they don't rank in the top 30. The five youngest:
Year	Team	Age
1914	Boston Braves	25.9
1911	New York Giants	26.0
1970	Cincinnati Reds	26.5
1912	New York Giants	26.7
1912	Boston Red Sox	26.8

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Moyer is old enough to be a daddy for most of these players

Cool

TV ratings fall for Game 1 of World Series

2 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Television ratings for Game 1 of the World Series were down from last year.

The Philadelphia Phillies' 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Fox on Wednesday night earned a 9.2 rating and 15 share, the network said Thursday.

That's down 12 percent from the 10.5 for the 2007 Game 1 between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, but up 15 percent from the 8.0 for Cardinals-Tigers two years ago.

The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.

Can't believe the Tigers-Cardinals series ratings was so low

10/27/08 9:30 PM ET
Game 4 draws Series' highest ratings
Philadelphia's 10-2 victory outdraws Fall Classic opener

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

PHILADELPHIA -- Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night broadcast by FOX, had the highest rating of any game in the Fall Classic, the network reported.

Philadelphia's 10-2 victory over the Rays drew a 9.3 rating and a 15 share of the viewing audience, edging out Game 1's 9.2 and 15 share.

Commissioner Bud Selig said after Game 1 that he was happy with that particular rating.

"I think we're doing remarkably well," Selig said.

Overall, the rating for the World Series is an 8.0 with a 14 share, down 25 percent from last year's Red Sox victory over the Rockies, which ended in four games. A single ratings point for over-the-air TV in the U.S. is about 1.1 million viewers.

The share is the percentage of households tuned in to a particular show or event.

This year's numbers are a bit skewed, because Saturday night's rain-delayed Game 3 drew a 6.1 rating. The game began at 10:07 p.m. ET and didn't end until 1:47 a.m., with the Phillies winning, 5-4, in the bottom of the ninth, although the 6 rating held for the final few hours of the game.

"It was a terribly difficult situation," Selig was quoted as saying in the Sports Business Daily about his decision to hold that game until rain stopped 91 minutes after the scheduled start time. "You know what? It was a great game, and those who saw it enjoyed it."

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

10/29/08 11:07 PM ET

Box >

Octoberphest! Phillies win World Series
Phils clinch second Fall Classic title in Game 5; Hamels MVP

By Ken Mandel / MLB.com

PHILADELPHIA -- They warmed themselves by sheer numbers, ignoring the clouds that formed with each frozen scream. They added to the chilly night by waving white towels.

The City of Brotherly Love waited two days longer than expected, but after a wait that had entered its 28th year, what's another few days? After a weather delay announced at "an even 46 hours," the electrified crowd began simmering with celebratory dreams as the suspended Game 5 of the 2008 World Series began.

The Phillies delivered the long-awaited goods with a 4-3 win over the Rays on a 44-degree Wednesday night, completing a five-game triumph to earn the franchise the second World Series championship in its 125-year history. It started a baseball celebration not seen since Oct. 21, 1980, when Tug McGraw struck out Kansas City's Willie Wilson and leapt into Mike Schmidt's arms.

"I always thought we could win the World Series," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told the national television audience and the fans at Citizens Bank Park as the World Series trophy was presented to the club after the game. "I knew we could beat anybody in our league. I look at what I see in our guys, I see chemistry and our attitude and our makeup and how much we like to play and how much the Philadelphia fans back us, I know we can win the World Series.

"This is for Philadelphia. This is for our fans. Hey, I look around here and who's the world champions? I thank you."

Setting the scene for Game 5, which was interrupted in the sixth inning Monday and then postponed Tuesday, was a quote from ancient Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca that was displayed on the scoreboard prior to play resuming: "It is the rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

Indeed, there was some rough road right to the end, as closer Brad Lidge allowed the tying run to reach second base with one out in the ninth. But he struck out Eric Hinske then went to his knees in celebration before being mobbed by teammates in front of the mound, starting with a gentle tackle from the first-base side courtesy of Ryan Howard.

"I never felt better to be hit by a big guy like that in my life," said Lidge, perfect in the regular season and perfect enough Wednesday night.

And there were many in that dogpile that made the magic happen.

At the top of the list was Cole Hamels, the ace lefty who pitched the first part of this split Game 5 and won Game 1. Hamels was named the Series MVP, joining Willie Stargell (1979), Darrell Porter (1982), Orel Hershiser (1988), Livan Hernandez (1997) as the only players win a League Championship Series MVP and a World Series MVP the same year.

"This is something you have to live for," Hamels said. "Going out there, I had the support of these fans, I had my teammates behind me. All I had to do was throw a baseball as well as I know how to."

The Phillies would need other heroes to win Game 5, once Hamels passed off the game to his teammates on Wednesday. And several came through.

The key, said leadoff hitter and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, was staying in the game mentally the whole time.

"Charlie does a great job of keeping us mentally prepared," Rollins said. "He's done it all year long. Even though we had a day and a half off, we all went home with the game still playing in our mind. No one ever shut down. We didn't have an attitude that we were starting over."

Geoff Jenkins secured his World Series moment when he led off the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double to deep right-center -- his first postseason hit. He went to third on a sacrifice and celebrated his way to home plate after Akinori Iwamura couldn't field a Jayson Werth popup behind second.

Rollins said he told Jenkins: "It's not the bottom of the first, it's the bottom of the sixth, so act like it."

That lead was short-lived, as Rocco Baldelli muscled a game-tying homer just over the left-field flower bed in the seventh. Jason Bartlett singled and was sacrificed to second by J.P. Howell, setting up a brilliant defensive play by second baseman Chase Utley.

With Bartlett racing around third on an up-the-middle roller, Utley faked a throw the first -- knowing he had no shot of getting Iwamura -- then threw home to get Bartlett at the plate.

In the seventh, Pat Burrell picked the ideal time for his first World Series hit, pounding a double off the wall in left-center field. Pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett went to third on a groundout and scored on Pedro Feliz's tiebreaking single.

The unified fans, all 45,940 of them, were rewarded for their patience with a World Series championship that belonged to them as much as the men on the field, and the passionate nation erupted upon the final out.

Jamie Moyer, the native son who attended the victory parade for that 1980 triumph, now will ride on a float for the first time in his 22-year career. So will 40-year-old Matt Stairs and organizational pillars Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Utley and Burrell.

"This is a dream come true," Moyer said. "Being at the parade in '80 and now we're going to be in a parade [Friday], it's all been worth it. We battled all season long and everybody played well this season. We've had our ups and downs like every club has, and we were able to stay healthy and battle through it and here we are."

J.C. Romero got the win, recording four outs, while Lidge sealed the city of Philadelphia's first major championship for any of the sports teams since the 76ers won the 1983 NBA title.

Wednesday's effort had far-reaching ramifications than those in attendance. This was for parents to show their kids what it was like nearly three decades ago, when manager Dallas Green led a group of players known as Michael Jack, Charlie Hustle, Bull, Tugger, Bake, Lefty and Charlie Hustle to a World Series title. For those parents who may not have themselves been born, now they know, too.

For this group of Phillies, it served as a way for them to carve out an identity in their new ballpark. Veterans Stadium went down after the 2003 season, taking with it those memories. It now serves as the parking lot for the new place, and J-Roll, Ut, Howie, the Flyin' Hawaiian, Chooch, J-Dub, Hollywood, Mad Dog and Lidger have christened the building their own.

The one constant has been the Phillies fans. As the World Series trophy was hoisted by GM Pat Gillick nearby, Phillies president and CEO David Montgomery told the crowd: "To our consummate Philadelphia fans, we're so proud that we are the Philadelphia Phillies and our first name is Philadelphia. We represent our city."

So now the 1980 team has company in the realm of World Series champions, as led by Manuel, who waited a long time for this one himself.

"It means everything to me," said Manuel. "You know what, you see people in baseball, like for instance, you'll see people if they've got a ring on, everybody always wants to see the ring, but not only that, the symbol is that you're a winner. Once you win a World Series, you became a winner.

"Dallas Green is a good example of that. If you go ask him, the biggest thing he ever did in baseball, he would say, 'People call me a winner.' Why? Because he's got a ring where he managed and won a World Series. In baseball, when someone asks me what I want to be known as, I want to be known as a winner. That kind of tells the whole story."

Ken Mandel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

They should have restarted the game like they used to. I hate rule changes that change hundred+ year old rules.

It's official: Lowest-rated World Series ever

The ratings are in, and the pundits were right. Sort of.

The average TV rating for the World Series was, as many snarky sports columnists predicted, the lowest-rated World Series in history, attracting an average of 13.6-million viewers over five games played in six evenings.

The Rays/Philadelphia Phillies matchup notched a 14-percent audience decline from the previous historic low: the Detroit Tigers/St. Louis Cardinals game in 2006, which drew an average 15.8-million viewers over five nights.

In the Tampa Bay area, the games scored well, attracting an average 754,000 viewers; more than 830,000 fans watched Wednesday's final innings, or about 45-percent of area viewers with TVs turned on. Nationwide, the games averaged a 8.4 rating and 14 share, meaning 8.4-percent of those with TVs watched the game, or 14-percent of those with their televisions turned on.

Of course, there are explanations for this (or, as the critics might say, excuses). Rain delayed Saturday's game to near 10 p.m.; the contest eventually lasted almost until 2 a.m. Weather also forced the historic suspension of Monday's game -- the first time a World Series game was ever delayed -- earning low ratings as viewers realized the contest wouldn't resume that night and bailed. And recent history shows the World Series really builds in audience when it goes to six and seven games, so ending at five games also precluded that possibility.

Putting the best face on things, Fox touted the 19.8-million people who watched the final innings Wednesday, a 33-percent advantage over the other networks. As opposed to Monday, when ABC's Dancing with the Stars outrated the rain-challenged game, Wednesday's conclusion attracted 18 percent of those watching TV nationwide.

Locally, the World Series ratings scored lower than the last Super Bowl, which earned a 49.8 rating and 71 share. But the Tampa Bay area has only had a few years to develop the kind of fan following teams such as the Red Sox and Phillies have enjoyed for decades, and the Super Bowl's one big game always outdraws baseball's extended series.

Perhaps this World Series is less a historic low than a promising beginning; the introduction of the Tampa Bay Rays to a national audience. Or is that just another, um, explanation?

Quote :

Or is that just another, um, explanation?

Could it be the awful announcers??? I know they made me turn down the volume!

FOX Sucks

Baseball needs to be on ABC or NBC again

Rather see ESPN televise the playoffs than TBS


I miss seeing Braves Games

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Quote :

Or is that just another, um, explanation?

Could it be the awful announcers??? I know they made me turn down the volume!

I like Joe Buck. Tim McCarver though, .

They're better than those biased ESPN announcers.

Rather have biased ESPN coverage


and a lots of Braves Games on TBS



Instead of a Sunday Game of the Week and Playoffs [ full of Frank TV Promos]

Wasn't for Family Guy reruns


I wouldn't even watch TBS

Well, I didnt really watch it all.
But I dont really like either of those teams that much.
If the TIGERS were in it, however.....

gdennis59 wrote:

Well, I didnt really watch it all.
But I dont really like either of those teams that much.
If the TIGERS were in it, however.....

Maybe Next Year