The full exorcism has neared completion. Just one more hurdle to accomplish a full cleansing. Of course, by winning the pennant, the Rays have washed the Devil away from not only their name, but from their reputation as well. He must be cast out in his entirety, taking with him the sad memories of the Tanyon Sturtzes, the Esteban Yans, and the Vince Naomolis. The Philadelphia Phillies are the last hurdle to reaching the heavenly gates. Demons be gone.
Photo of the actual exorcism
I’m obviously going to be a little biased in my pick here. Not just because I have future wagers on the Rays to win it all. And not because I’ve been rattling on and on all year about how legit this Tampa Bay team was. And not even because they are my hometown team. I am biased because this is one of the most exciting young teams to come around in sometime. They have always been the league’s perennial doormat till just as recently as 11 months ago. They beat out the 2-headed Boston-N.Y. monster to win the AL East. They staved off a disastrous meltdown against a Red Sox team that (almost) wouldn’t be denied.
In case you hadn’t guessed it yet, I’m taking the Rays to win this series at -145. I could also cash my Rays World Series winner ticket placed at the beginning of the playoffs at +605. That would be super duper!
Youth will be served when these teams meet. This is especially true with the starting rotations. Seven of the eight starters are under the age of 30, with only Jamie Moyer at 45. Moyer would probably look more natural playing shuffleboard with some of the “lifelong” Rays fans than he would on the mound.
I agree with a certain Stooge look-alike when he says that this series could very well be decided by the bullpens. We know they both have great starting arms. They can both put the ball out of the park. They both have speed on the base pads. The Rays key guys out of the bullpen are going to have to shake off their rocky ALCS experience to keep their team hopes alive. Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler got rocked by the Red Sox. The closer-by-committee strategy began to unravel. Enter David Price. If his four tough outs to clinch Game 7 are indicative of things to come, the Rays might have found the answer to Philadelphia’s lights out closer – Brad Lidge.
The Price is right
Lidge has been untouchable this season, saving 41 games in as many opportunities. He is now perfect on five save tries in this postseason. The irony of ironies here is that his only blown save came during the All-Star game in the 15th inning, giving the Rays home-field advantage for this meeting. The winning All-Star pitcher was Game 1 starter Scott Kazmir. Lidge is still terrifying coming in to pitch the 9th. I would highly suggest Tampa Bay tries their darndest to stay ahead of the competition.
For added fun, I’m taking the Rays to win in seven games at +365. The last four World Series have been lopsided. Three sweeps by Boston (twice) and the White Sox, and an ugly 4-1 Cards win have taken some of the electricity out of the Fall Classic. The Phils are coming off a week without playing. That was also the case for the ’06 Tigers and ’07 Rockies. We know how that ended for those teams. Philly is just too tough and evenly matched with the Rays for this to end quickly either way.
Legendary basketball announcer Dick Vitale is another “lifelong” Rays fan. As they clinched on Sunday night, the camera caught Dickie V. in the stands jumping around like a mad man. Until then, his craziest Rays memory had to be in 2000, when he was at a game and started choking on some fruit and turning blue. An off-duty fireman with the same name as me ran down and performed the Heimlich on Vitale. Since then, I have seen countless choke jobs worse than that at the Trop.
The Rays are AWESOME BABY!
This has been a special year and promises to be a special World Series for this town. Everything is coming together. Heck, even Nick Bollea was just released from jail here to enjoy the games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Caylee Anthony show up and throw out the first pitch tonight. The season has been that magical.
