by Sam Thomas
photo by Manny Perez
The Tampa Bay Rays are too hot to falter, and they will win their first World Series in their first post-season trip.
Tampa Bay Rays will face off with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 World Series; the winner will be crowned the best team in baseball. When it comes to these two teams they break down very similarly. Both have very powerful lineups consisting of speed, batting average, and power. They both have above average starting pitching, and bullpens. While the Rays are a team made up of youngsters the Phillies are a team of seasoned veterans. But with both having similar potential, who will win?
The answer is simple, and that is the better team will win. And in this case, the Tampa Bay Rays is the better team. While the Philadelphia Phillies are a great ball club, they just don’t match up with the power, speed, and defense of the Rays.
When comparing the two teams, the Rays come out on top in nearly every category. When it comes to hitting, the Rays stand far above the rest. The Rays can hit one through nine in their lineup. They can beat you with both the long ball and small ball, producing runs the hard way. Going threw their lineup you can’t find a week spot. Their two through six accounted for 14 home runs in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. They don’t just hit home runs though, they produce runs with the best of them. They can steal bases with anyone in their lineup with the exceptions of few of the big guys. This makes the Rays just that more dangerous.
Looking past the Rays’ hitting, which beats the Phillies every day of the week and twice on Sundays, let’s look at defense. The Rays don’t just beat the Phillies in fielding percentage and errors committed, they beat the rest of Baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have one of best fielding percentages in Major League Baseball. The Phillies have an OK defense, but have some incredible weak spots in the field. The right side of the infield for the Phillies, consisting of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard – both of which have less than proficient speed and are more susceptible to making errors – will hurt them in the series. So once again, the Rays take the Phillies.
When it comes to pitching, it’s a toss up. The Rays have superior starting pitching but lack an actual shut-em-down ace, which the Phillies have in game-one starter, Cole Hamels, who was nearly un-hittable in the post season, going 3 and 0 with 1.93 earned run average (ERA).
After Cole Hamels, though, you’re not going to get much. The other three starting pitchers for the Phillies put up less than stellar numbers with three over five ERAs, including an ERA of 40.5 by intended game three starter Jamie Moyer. While the Rays have far superior starting pitching – with the exclusion of Cole Hamels – the Phillies take the crown in the category of Bullpens.
The Phillies have, hands down, the best relief pitchers in baseball, anchored by the best closer in baseball, Cherry Creek native Brad Lidge. Brad Lidge is simply the best, going 41 for 41 in save opportunities during the regular season, and giving up a mere two hits and zero runs in the post season. The fact is, Lidge is nearly unhittable.
Although the Phillies have some good pitching, so did the Red Sox. The Sox had one of the best pitchers in Baseball in Jon Lester, who went 3 and 0 in his first three starts in the post season with an ERA of ZERO in 19.2 innings of work (one of the best post season starts in the history of baseball). Well, the Rays saw him in games four and seven and lit him up, scoring eight runs off him in two games. The other starters for the Sox aren’t too shabby either in Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, combining to give up 15 runs in four games.
The series is as it should be, coming down to the two best teams in baseball. One team full of veterans who have waited long and hard for a shot at the title, while the other is a team of names that you’ve only heard for the first time in this post season (but that you’ll be hearing a lot of in seasons to come). The World Series comes down to two completely different teams that are nearly the same. One caries the best home record in baseball and the other holds the best road record in baseball. This has all the makings of one electric World Series.
Regardless of the previous games and stats, it all comes down to who plays the best baseball at the right the time. So this, like any other prediction, is just a prediction; but when it comes true and the Rays take the series four games to one, just remember: you heard it from me first.
