Rays’ rebound makes this a Series to watch

With a little help from the men in blue and a lot of help from the Philadelphia Phillies’ reluctance to get a hit when it counts, we’ve got ourselves a World Series. And if you haven’t been paying attention, now would be a good time to start.

The Tampa Bay Rays did what they had to do in Game 2, both for themselves and for the television ratings. Their 4-2 win didn’t just even this series, it made the series.

This wasn’t the matchup Fox was hoping for. Red Sox-Cubs, Red Sox-Dodgers or Cubs-Anybody was what TV execs were hoping for. At the bottom of their wish list when the playoffs began were Brewers-Rays and Phillies-Rays.

I’m not knocking anyone here, just stating the obvious. Sports are like the rest of life in this shallow culture of ours. The masses respond to celebrity. They’ll read all about the latest on Britney Spears and can name all of Madonna’s ex-husbands, but they can’t name three Supreme Court Justices or two members of the President’s cabinet.

The Phillies and the Rays are the two best teams in baseball. That’s why they’re the last two playing. If you love baseball, you watch the Series because you know just how good these two teams are. But if you’re not a die-hard fan, you need a reason to watch.

Well, now you have it. Had the Rays lost Thursday and gone to Philadelphia in a 0-2 hole, this thing would have been over as far as fan interest is concerned. Everyone would have figured that after losing the first two at home, the Rays were out of it and moved on.

That isn’t true, of course. Teams have lost the first two at home before and gone on to win the World Series. It even happened two years in a row — in 1985, when the Royals started 0-2 and beat St. Louis, and in 1986, when the Mets beat the Red Sox. The fact is no series can be said to be at a critical stage until one team has three wins — not two.

But facts have little to do with interest, which is why 1-1 is perfect to get people to start watching a series that has already had more than its share of drama and controversy. On Thursday, the umps got involved, helping the Rays with two highly questionable calls. In the first, Rocco Baldelli of the Rays was called out on a checked swing, then given another chance. In the second, Jimmy Rollins appeared to be hit by rookie reliever David Price but wasn’t given first base.

But if the umps seemed to be conspiring against Philadelphia — and that’s probably the way paranoid Philly fans see it — the Phillies shot themselves in the foot over and over and over again. They kept getting men on base, but found it impossible to drive them in, going an A-Rod-esque 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranding 11 runners in nine innings.

This has to be incredibly frustrating to Philly fans, who have had their hearts ripped out and stomped flat so many times over the years. But it should also be frightening to Rays fans, who have to suspect that the Phillies will get a big hit sooner or later, and when that happens, the floodgates could open.

The first two games have been close: Game 1 a 3-2 Philadelphia win and Game 2 going to the Rays 4-2. Both games could have gone the other way with one big hit. And both teams are capable of scoring runs in bunches.

Both teams are also trying to end years of losing. The Rays, who had never finished higher than fourth place in the five-team American League East, are trying to go from worst in baseball to world champions. The Phillies are trying to win their second championship in their 115-year history and their first since 1980.

That’s another reason to watch. Whatever happens from here on out, it’s going to be historic. And given how tight the games have been so far, and the opportunities that have been squandered, it’s likely that it’s going to go the distance.

And here’s another reason to watch: These teams are loaded with talent. Phillies ace Cole Hamels is a terrific young pitcher and could be the NL Cy Young winner. Chase Utley, Rollins, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino make up the top of a powerful lineup.

The Rays have this kid Price saving huge games after starting the season in Class A. They don’t have a starting pitcher older than 26 or a position player older than 30. B.J. Upton is as smooth and talented a center fielder as you’ll ever see, and he has been a beast at the plate.

Both of these teams are in position to dominate their leagues for the next several years. If you didn’t know who Evan Longoria, Upton, James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Dioner Navarro and the rest of the Rays were before this started, you should by now.

You may as well watch them now, because they aren’t going away.

c. 2008 NBC Sports.com

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