Phillies win World Series

After a generation of frustration and a bizarre 50 hour rain delay, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series on Wednesday night.  The finish of Monday night’s suspended game saw Philadelphia prevail over the plucky Tampa Bay Rays by a 4-3 score, giving them a 4-1 victory in the series.

It was the Phillies first championship since 1980 and the city’s first in any sport since Julius Erving and Moses Malone led the NBA 76ers to a championship in 1983.  J.C. Romero got the credit for the game 5 victory, with closer Brad Lidge picking up the save.  J.P. Howell was saddled with the loss.  The Phillies pitching ace Cole Hamels was named series MVP.

The Phillies tried furiously to get game 5 completed on Monday night in conditions that may have justified postponement.  A driving rainstorm intensified throughout the game, finally leading to a decision by the umpires and MLB commissioner Bud Selig to suspend play.  Selig had informed officials of both teams before the mudbath began that game 5 would be played to its completion, no matter how long it took.  He likely didn’t think it would take over two days.

True to their reputation, Phillies fans booed Selig when he presented Hamels with the MVP trophy.  Clearly they would have booed Selig in any circumstance, however the implication was that the MLB commissioner was attempting to assist Tampa Bay in calling the suspension.  In reality, he was doing the right thing for the sport and may have vindicated himself somewhat from his infamous decision to end the 2002 All Star game in a tie.

There’s a good chance that both teams will be postseason fixtures for awhile.  Philadelphia has a nucleus of veteran players complimenting a talented young pitching staff.  Tampa Bay has one of the youngest—and most talented—teams in baseball.  They’re loaded with young talent at every position, not the least of which is rookie of the year Evan Longoria.  Both teams have good chemistry from the top down, with easy going yet experienced baseball men Joe Maddon (Tampa) and Charlie Manuel (Philly) as managers.

Despite the loss, Tampa was one of the most amazing turnaround stories in the history of sports.  They not only were the worst team in baseball last year, but arguably the worst of the last decade.  Tampa finished 30 games out of first place in the AL East in 2007; in 2008, they challenged all year for the best record in baseball and transformed their home venue of Tropicana Field into the toughest in the sport.  Still, manager Maddon suggested that his team wasn’t going to spend too much time resting on their accomplishments:

"I believe this firmly, our guys are not going to be satisfied without playing in October from now on. And that's a good thing. And that's all because of this group of people this year."

Philadelphia didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the final week of the season but despite just getting in “under the wire”, Charlie Manuel had been confident all along that his team was championship material:

"I always thought we'd win the World Series. I knew we could beat anyone in the league.”