My Long Overdue Post on the Phillies

Let's be real here for a second. I do not have access to players or coaches for interviews. I was not in Philadelphia to see Game 7, or any game for that matter. There is nothing I can tell you specifically about the game that ESPN has not already, or that you probably did not notice for yourself. So, because of that, here are my quick-hit thoughts on the series itself, how it was covered, and the reaction. 

1. The city of Philadelphia does not read this blog. That was a joke. But seriously. In case you missed it, earlier in the week, I posted about how Philadelphia's first championship since the 76ers in 1983 was diminished.  Philly didn't care, and why would they? No matter how it went down, the fact will remain the same: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series, and they celebrated it like none other. The entire city was out in the streets many hours past the end of the game. They celebrated like they had every right to. But, speaking of Philadelphia ...

2. Philadelphia fans really are that obnoxious. If you watched the post-game coverage, you know exactly what I'm talking about. They booed - about three different times - the man who was presenting them with the World Series trophy. Look, Bud Selig leaves a lot to be desired, but you just won the World Series. Can't you be happy? For once? 

3. According to ESPN, the Rays lost the World Series. My roommate had to point this out to me about 19 times before I finally started believing: ESPN has more than just a Red Sox-Yankees-Cowboys-Sidney Crosby-Duke basketball-USC football bias. It extended to the Rays. Or maybe it was just a bias against the Phillies. Who knows? But I digress.

The fact remains the same that the story ESPN was pushing before, during, and after the series was not a championship for Philadelphia, but a loss for the Rays. 

Before the World Series, you could have watched Baseball Tonight for a good 15 minutes and not realized that the Phillies were even playing in it. It was the Rays' Cinderella season, the Rays' never-give-up attitude, the Rays' triumph over Boston. All the Phillies had done was cruise through a terrible National League.

During the World Series, even when Philly went up 1-0, then 2-1, then 3-1, it was never "The Phillies are getting closer to history." It was always "What do the Rays have to do to get their bats going again?" Forget how good the Phillies pitching was. The worst was leading up to Game 5b. What we were supposed to watch for was not whether Philadelphia would celebrate their first championship in 25 years; no, the most important thing was to watch young phenom David Price work his magic. 

Then, after the game, there was far too little "These Phillies really were terrific" and far too much "The Rays had a great season." That stuff should be saved for a few days. Let Philadelphia soak it all in. 

4. Pitching and defense really does win you championships. Case in point. It was just that nobody thought Philadelphia would have more of both. The key plays: Iwamura mishandles a bloop fly ball that knocks in a Phillies run. Chase Utley is alert in the field and goes home with a ball that saves a run. Feliz hits a ground ball that would normally be an out, but because the Rays were playing in, squirts up the middle to knock in another run. It wasn't shown in the highlight video, but in the 8th, with a man on, Utley and Rollins put together a perfectly executed double play to get the impossibly fast B.J. Upton out. Then, in the 9th, it was Brad Lidge's destructive slider.

Congratulations to the Phillies. Tampa, you will be around a long time. Right now, though, it's all about Philadelphia. 

(Photo Credits: AP)

Phillies' Glory Soured

The entire city of Philadelphia should have celebrated their first championship since 1983 last night. Instead, the sell-out crowd at Citizens Bank Park went away soaked and unsatisfied. Sadly, the rain is only the tip of the iceberg. 

The series, for starters, is not drawing any ratings. The truth is that baseball relies on their ratings coming from the two teams' markets. Nothing against the Philadelphia market; I expect they're holding their end. I have a hard team believing that Tampa is doing the same, though. The Tampa Cinderella story was the main story line promoted by ESPN coming into the game, as well. After so long, though, it got old. 

Second, the umpiring has been absolutely abysmal. I've never seen more wide strike zones in my life. It actually seems like the area of the strike zone is the same; the dimensions are just different. There's been no leniency with high and low, but if it gets within the height, it's going to be called a strike. 

Then, there was the Longoria call. It's one thing if the ump is far away and can't make the call. He was right there, though. If there's one thing this series will give us, it may be an expansion of instant replay.

Third, overall shoddy play. The Phillies have pitched well, but you can't give them all the credit for Longoria/Pena going 0-29. The Phillies are up 3-1 in the series despite having something like three hits with RISP the entire series. 

Fourth, the rain situation. Thank goodness the Rays scored that second run. 

There were so many variables that lead to good choices or bad choices, so I'm going to run through them now, and whether it was a good call or bad call.

A. The game was played to begin with. Bad call. Give a 6-year-old a five minute lesson on how to read a Doppler Radar. He could have told you there was no way this game should have been played. This isn't football. This isn't soccer. The fact that the game was played in that weather was a disservice to Philadelphia fans and to the players themselves, who easily could have been hurt.

B. The game wasn't called around the third, when the intensity really picked up. Bad call. Before it got to give, just end it. Both starters would only go a few innings and would be available on only a few days later in the series. Then, you wouldn't have to deal with the whole "They played their five and were up" nonsense.

C. The game was not called until Tampa tied it. The only good call. Bud Selig said that if it weren't tied, then the game would go to rain delay until the umpires saw fit. I'm talking 24 hour rain delay. Players sleeping in the clubhouse. It would have been an absolute fiasco (more than it already was), and there would have been 100 people in the ballpark to see the end. 

You just have to feel for Philadelphia fans. They've been waiting for this for so long. Their team is stacked, and the World Series is theirs. Odds are, they will still eventually win this, and Philadelphia will go insane. The memories won't be looked upon fondly by any other fans, though. It will be even worse than Super Bowl XL,  which is now known basically for its terrible refereeing. 

Poor Philadelphia.

(Photo Credits: AP)