whats so great about it? Brad goes to the WS and all we get is Micheal Bourn and Geoff Geary......woopity doo.
Pretty interesting to hear Philly GM Pat Gillick recogonize Ed Wade for putting together this Phillies team.
It's not for the Astros, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a win for baseball fans over sensationalist media and casual fans. No, Lidge wasn't finished, and no, he didn't have nightmares or visions of Albert Pujols. He wasn't a headcase. He was a good pitcher who simply fell into bad mechanics because of the extremely rare WBC and lack of spring training, then corrected those mechanics (first half of 2007) before suffering a somewhat severe knee injury and running into some really bad luck on top of it. All season long, the nitwits swore he'd collapse when the games meant something. August and September, when the Phillies were in a heated competition for the NL East... 15-for-15 with an ERA of around 1.5. In October, in the playoffs, he remains perfect with an ERA of around 1.2 and pitches the final three outs to take his team to the World Series. Turns out, he wasn't a mental case and he didn't collapse. He was a good pitcher who needed a healthy knee and time for luck to even out. It's a less sexy story for the media, but it's the truth, and it's a victory for true baseball fans against sensationalism.
that was the first thing I thought, Wade has really put together a solid team through the draft in Philly. So we should be WS contenders around 2014(ish)
I don't know why people think it is such bad thing to have Tampa vs. Philly. Even with smaller markets, it doesn't mean the WS will have low ratings or even be boring. Of the late 90s, the highest rated WS games were between Florida and Cleveland, while another series between Anaheim and SF, originally thought to be a flop, suddenly came on strong as the series headed to 7 games. Doesn't it get boring when the same teams or markets keep winning or get all the airtime when they aren't winning? Tampa is still an up-coming franchise, held the AL East lead for most of the season, and won the 2nd most games in the American League, while the Phillies were probably the best National League team for the last half of the season (we knew the Cubs weren't going to be in it). So essentially the best teams would be playing the World Series.
Also, its not like Tampa/Philly are towns like San Antonio/Sacramento. Philly will hold their own, and there's plenty of rabid baseball fans in Florida who watch games... and it can only increase with the Rays in it.
PREACH ON MY BROTHER! Another victory for those of who think rationally about baseball instead of the talk radio mentality.
Even, if Tampa loses this game, they have the better team from the start of the season to All-Star Break to now. Plus, I have to say I think they are gonna be here to stay.
