– 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.
Nina Mandell of FanNation ranks the five biggest traitors in sports.
1. Nick Saban: We all know that sports figures, and public figures for that matter, are capable of denying the truth at any given time. But none did it quite as brazenly as then-Dolphins coach Saban before jumping to a multi-million dollar offer at ‘Bama, after five weeks of repeated denials. “I guess I have to say it. I’m not going to be the Alabama coach. … I don’t control what people say. I don’t control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I’m just telling you there’s no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here,” he said on Dec. 21, 2006. Less than three weeks later, came this statement: “What I realized in the last two years is that we love college coaching because of the ability that it gives you to affect people, young people. … If I knew that my heart was someplace else in what I wanted to do, I don’t think it would be fair to the [Dolphins] organization if I stayed.” Thus proving, Nick Saban’s heart = his wallet.
2. Bobby Petrino: When the going got tough, this former Atlanta Falcons head coach got going. Coming off a blowout loss and strapped with a team that was reeling from the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, Petrino took off to become the head coach at Arkansas, piling onto the Falcons’ woes. “He preached team and he preached family and then he quit on us. That’s not what a man does. He lied to us,” said then-quarterback Joey Harrington.
5. Carlos Boozer: Looking for a raise? Try what’s been deemed the Carlos Boozer negotiating tactics. After two years in Cleveland, Boozer was about to move up to the penthouse after reportedly making a verbal agreement to a $40 million deal. That’s when the Utah Jazz suddenly announced they’d locked up Boozer for six years at $68 million. “We are both very surprised and very disappointed by what is now being reported,” said the Cavaliers in a statement. Apparently the hatred spread worldwide. When one Cleveland Plain-Dealer reporter decided to revisit the betrayal at the Beijing Olympics, she found that Boozer was known as “Fan Gu Zai,” which, loosely translated, means “Betrayal Skull Dude” in China.
And now Nick Saban is a hero in Alabama. Guess he got what he deserved.
College football coaches might be the greediest men in sports. They’ll sell their souls to the highest bidder and then lie through their teeth any chance they get. As it turns out though, Petrino did the Falcons a favor. Mike Smith has done a great job in Atlanta so far and Petrino was overmatched in the NFL from the start.
– 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)
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