- Gary Shelton writes that the Rays’ win shouldn’t surprise anyone. (St. Petersburg Times)

- Phil Sherdian notes that the Phillies are the definition of tight ball club. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

- Joe Posnanski writes that Rays’ manager Joe Maddon doesn’t do anything halfway. (Kansas City Star)

- Gregg Doyel questions what Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel does all game. (CBS Sports)

- Steve Henson has the story of a Rays fan who stands to win $25,000 if his team can win the World Series. (Yahoo! Sports)

There’s a pretty damning stat out there for teams that drop the opening game of the World Series. The team that was victorious in Game 1 has gone on to capture 63 of the last 103 Series, including 10 of the last 11.

So following their 3-2 loss in Game 1 Wednesday night, one could understand why the Rays would feel pressure to come away with a win over the Phillies in Game 2 on Thursday. Not only were they battling history, but also major inexperience considering their roster is filled with youngsters who have never played in the postseason, nevertheless the World Series.

Not that it was necessarily a must win, but Tampa Bay did come out of Game 2 with a win as they held on to beat Philadelphia 4-2 after mounting a 4-0 lead after the fourth inning. B.J. Upton went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the Rays, while starter James Shields pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing seven hits and striking out four.

Considering there aren’t any significant stats that apply to Game 2 victories, the Rays’ win might not attract much attention outside of the fact that they have now tied the best of seven series at one game apiece. But being down 0-2 would have been incredibly difficult to overcome, especially when you factor in that Tampa isn’t used to playing in Philly in October.

After losing Game 1 to the more experienced Red Sox in the ALDS, the Rays rattled off three in a row before squandering a 7-0 lead in Game 5 and then dropping Game 6 at home. Coming back after losing Game 1 was impressive, as well as showing the guts to win in Game 7 when they had lost all of the momentum. So it’ll be interesting to see if the young Rays can continue to show how resilient they are this postseason after facing some adversity. Their Game 2 victory Thursday night was huge.

Before the World Series, ESPN.com hired a company to determine which team had the best probability of winning.

Unsurprisingly, the Rays came out on top.

We previously employed our Diamond Mind simulation software to project the results of the League Division and Championship Series. In the American League, we projected the Rays to easily defeat the White Sox, most likely in four games, and the Angels to defeat the Red Sox, but only if they could win Game 1. In the NLDS, our simulations projected the Phillies to defeat the Brewers, most likely in four games, and the Dodgers to upset the Cubs. The Phillies and Rays easily dispatched their opponents in four games, the Dodgers did indeed upset the favored Cubbies, and the Red Sox won that crucial opening game and went on to eliminate the Angels.

As we noted in our previous articles for ESPN.com, luck plays an even greater role in a short series than the regular season, which itself can be rather unpredictable. With that caveat in mind, the results of our simulations project the Tampa Bay Rays to continue their “Cinderella” run and defeat the Phillies. In fact, Tampa Bay won over 71 percent of our 2,000 series simulations, the largest winning margin of any postseason projection we’ve done for ESPN.com.

Not a good start there, Diamond Mind.

- Bob Ford sings the praises of a very calm Cole Hamels. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

- John Romano urges the Rays not to panic (St. Petersburg Times)

- Jeff Passan writes that the Rays might be too cool for own good. (Yahoo! Sports)

- Should Fox dread Rays/Phillies? (Sports Media Watch)

- Phillies prove that there’s another team playing in World Series. (Some fool who doesn’t know what he’s talking about)

For good reason, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the talk of the 2008 MLB Season. Not only are they a rags-to-riches story, but they also are a young, likeable club and one hat is easy to root for. We love pulling for the underdog and the Rays certainly fit the bill.

Of course, they’re not the underdogs anymore. As soon as they beat the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, they instantly became World Series favorites because they’ve created the best storyline. Not to mention, they come from a better conference, arguably have better overall talent and they’re the hotter team, as well.

But as they proved in their 3-2 win in Game 1 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies are competing for a title, too. Nobody outside of Philly is talking about this club and for those who missed Game 1, it might have come as a surprise that the Phillies have thrown the first punch in this series.

The media (and I’m throwing myself into the mix here too considering I dedicated my column to the Rays this week) needs to start paying attention to the Fightin’ Phils or else we might wind up missing an even better story than the 2008 Rays. Philly has been a long-suffering sports city that is craving a title as much as anyone. And with phenomenal ace Cole Hamels (7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 Ks) and a solid lineup that features all-everything 2B Chase Utley (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 R), the Phillies might just close in on that title. (Although they’re going to need Ryan Howard to start hitting because Tampa won’t be held to just two runs every night.)

It’ll be exciting to watch the Rays’ magical season continue to play out, but ignoring the Phillies’ story would be a mistake.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has pointed out that the presence of black players in this year’s World Series will hopefully inspire future generations of African Americans to pick up the game.

For all the millions baseball has poured into reviving its sport in the inner cities of America, into trying to reclaim a place alongside football and basketball in popularity among young African Americans, the World Series has sent an entirely different message.

That changes tonight, when Rollins and the Philadelphia Phillies open the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the 2005 Series, the Houston Astros had no black players. The Colorado Rockies last year had one, an obscure relief pitcher.

But this year, the competing teams both feature African American stars, to the delight of the players involved and to the officials charged with luring black youth back to the baseball diamond.

“It’s got to be huge, just to see these faces on TV,” Tampa Bay pitcher David Price said, “so young African Americans can relate and see something to shoot for.”

Blacks accounted for 8.2% of major league players last season, according to a diversity study by the University of Central Florida, the lowest annual percentage since the study began in 1990.

Growing up, I remember admiring guys like Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Kirby Puckett, and Ozzie Smith. There are still many great African Americans in the game, but the sport has become a cultural blend of talent, rather than a stage for only one or two ethnicities. Still, it’s startling how rapidly baseball’s popularity has decreased amongst African Americans, as they are more likely to play football or basketball.

On a broader scale, we’ve seen the same thing happening with American males and tennis. Kids want to relate to the athletes they admire, and the fact that there hasn’t been a dominant male American tennis player in this century has hurt the sport. The same is happening with African Americans and baseball. I recommend watching the current Costas Now on HBO. He interviews Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and the two legends field questions and listen to opinions from the likes of Jimmy Rollins and Dave Winfield about the current African American presence in baseball.

- Mike Bianchi writes that if the Rays win the World Series, it would be the greatest sports story ever. (Orlando Sentinel)

- Here’s a look at some of the moments from the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies title run. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

- Mike Celzic notes that the Rays’ momentum should make the Phillies nervous. (NBC Sports)

- Bob Vetrone Jr. says that Philadelphia’s title drought will end. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

- Bill Plaschke has a plan to update the World Series. (Los Angeles Times)

- Michael Hiestand says not to blame the markets if the World Series hits an all-time low in ratings. (USA Today)

- Matthew Futterman writes that the economy could cripple the Rays. (Wall Street Journal)

- Bob Ford takes a moment to honor Jimmy Rollins and Larry Bowa – little shortstops who could. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Real Clear Sports lists the top 10 infamous World Series moments of all time.

5. Loma Prieta Earthquake
Shortly before Game 3 began at Candlestick Park, the 6.9 magnitude Lorna Prieta earthquake struck. It was the first major earthquake in America to be broadcast on live television. At the time the quake struck, Tim McCarver was narrating highlights and Al Michaels cut in to say “I’ll tell you what — we’re having an earth–,” and at that point the feed from San Francisco was lost. Fans in the stadium were heard cheering “Let’s play ball,” shortly afterwards, as the damage at the stadium itself was minimal. A power outage forced the game to be postponed, however, and the damage to the rest of the bay area was far greater than a mere power outage…

4. Clemens Throws bat at Piazza
After two quick Clemens’ strikeouts, Piazza strode to the plate. On a 1-2 count, Clemens hummed a fastball inside, which Piazza fouled-off his hands, shattering his bat into three pieces. The barrel of the bat landed between the mound and first base, where it rested until Clemens ran over and picked it up (later saying that he thought it was the ball), and threw it over the first base line and into foul territory, directly in the path of Piazza. A confused Piazza turns towards Clemens, yelling at him “What’s your problem?” The two would get close to one another, but Clemens refused to acknowledge Piazza, and the situation eventually deescalated. Piazza grounded out on the next pitch, while the Yankees would go on to win the game, 6-5, and the series, 4-1, but the Clemens-Piazza fight remains the most memorable moment from the Subway Series.

1. Bill Buckner’s Error
Entering the bottom of the 10th inning, the Red Sox were leading 5-3, and after two quick outs, the title was seemingly inevitable. Three straight singles from the Mets made it 5-4, but still, all Boston needed was one out for their first World Series win since 1918. But then Bob Stanley uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the Mets to tie the game at five. Mookie Wilson followed, and hit a slow-bouncer down the first-base line, and it looked like, finally, the Sox were out of the inning, and onto the 11th. All Bill Bucker had to do was field the ball and toss it to first…

These are some great moments from the past 20 years. I’ll never forget watching the Giants-A’s ’89 Series as a youngster and not understanding the magnitude of the situation. And I’ll still never get why Clemens decided to chuck a bat at Piazza, then lie about why he did it, and then stick with the lie later. Hey, he kind of did that again later when it was discovered he used stero…

Forget the magical, out-of-nowhere season for just a second. Instead, take a moment to appreciate how the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays got here.

No big name free agents. No blockbuster trades. No big payroll. The Rays’ built their success through years of phenomenal drafting, patience, and unlike most MLB teams, had the foresight to resist overspending on overpriced talent.

The Rays’ roster is littered with examples of how a baseball team should build success.

Take Matt Garza, the starting pitcher who limited the Red Sox to just two runs in 13 innings in the ALCS. He was the top prospect in the Minnesota Twins’ organization entering the 2007 season, and the 21st-best prospect in Major League Baseball according to Baseball America. But he couldn’t crack the Twins’ starting rotation out of spring training and the team began to grow impatient. The Twins felt that they could get a quality bat in return for their star prospect, and they eventually did.

In the 2008 offseason, Minnesota packaged Garza along with Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan, and sent them to Tampa for Delmon Young, Jason Pridie and Brendan Harris. And while Garza only had a smattering of success in the regular season this year (he went 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA), he saved his best work for Boston in the postseason and wound up earning the ALCS MVP.

With their 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the World Series for the first time in the history of their franchise.

There was no choke from the bullpen this time as reliever David Price struck out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth, then (after putting the first guy on) retired the BoSox in the ninth. Starter Matt Garza was amazing for Tampa, limiting Boston to just one run on two hits. It was the second time he baffled the Red Sox this series, holding them to just two runs in 13 innings.

I’ll take full credit/blame for Tampa Bay’s victory. I wrote after Boston’s Game 6 victory that the Red Sox were a virtual lock to head to the World Series. As I wrote in that post, I wasn’t necessarily rooting against the Red Sox, but I appreciate how the Rays built their team over the year. They’ve done it with youth and through their farm system and they should be commended for doing so in a league that sometimes rewards teams for being able to spend the most money.

A Tampa-Philadelphia World Series certainly isn’t the most glamorous matchup the postseason could have produced (and it’s no doubt killing the TV networks), but the Rays were the story of the year and it’ll be exciting to see if they can cap this amazing season off by winning a championship.