– 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)
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.
But the Garza trade was just one of many intelligent moves that the Rays have made throughout the years to get them where they are now.
There’s B.J. Upton, who has quickly become one of baseball’s best centerfielders at age 24. The Rays drafted him with the second overall pick in 2002 and after a couple of years in the minors, he made his debut in early August of 2004.
Upton didn’t rot behind an overpriced veteran free agent because the Rays felt that they needed to spend big to win. The club allowed him to play and develop his game at the major league level and obviously the moved paid off, because he’s become a crucial part of the team’s championship run, belting seven home runs so far in the postseason.
Before Upton, there was Carl Crawford – the Rays’ second round pick in the 1999 MLB Draft. The team took the same approach with Crawford as they did Upton, and allowed him to slowly develop in the big leagues. But really, there was nothing slow about Crawford’s development since he became the eighth player to record 1,000 hits and steal 250 bases before turning the age of 27.
Against Boston in the postseason, Crawford tied an ALCS record with five hits in one game, going 5-5 in the Rays’ 13-4 Game 4 victory. He also scored three runs, stole two bases and drove in two runs.
The Rays’ draft success doesn’t end with Crawford and Upton, either. Evan Longoria (the third overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft) made the 2008 All-Star Game and is the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year after batting .272 with 85 RBI and 27 home runs. He also almost single-handedly beat the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS by belting two home runs in his first two at bats.
The team also drafted starters James Shields and Andy Sonnanstine, who each of have notched postseason victories. In fact, Sonnanstine has won both of his postseason starts, which is incredible considering he’s making his playoff debut.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about how the Rays have successfully built their roster through sound drafting and decision-making and not talk about Scott Kazmir.
While the mainstream media chooses to focus on Garza, Upton and Crawford this postseason (and rightfully so), it’s easy to forget that Kazmir has been the rock of the Rays’ youth movement since he arrived in Tampa following a trade with the New York Mets in 2004.
July 30, 2004 is a day most Mets fans would like to forget. That’s when their team traded Kazmir and minor league pitcher Joselo Diaz to the Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato. Little did the Mets know that they had just traded away a front-of-the-rotation starter for practically nothing.
Since the trade, Kazmir has gone 47-37 with a 3.61 ERA, which might not seem that impressive. But remember that before this season the Rays were consistently bottom feeders in the AL East. Kazmir has often won in spite of his team, not because of it. And to put it mildly, he’s been absolutely fantastic as the team’s ace.
There are more Rays that deserve mention and praise, such as Dioner Navarro, Akinori Iwamura and Gabe Gross, but surely those players will prove how they’ve helped turn this team from nobodies into title contenders when the World Series kicks off Wednesday night.
The bottom line is that the Rays did it the right way. That’s not to say that every team that spent more than Tampa and who didn’t make the World Series did it the wrong way, but there should be a greater appreciation for a club that is knocking on the doorstep of a championship and spent just over $43 million to do so. (Even the Rays’ World Series counterparts, the Philadelphia Phillies, spent over $98 million on their payroll – 13th most in all of baseball.)
The Rays were patient in building their success and now are reaping the benefits. While it’s exciting when a team makes a big splash in free agency or pulls off a blockbuster trade, there’s just something about one waiting their turn and winning with youth.
Instead of bitching about how they can’t compete with how much the Yankees and Red Sox spend, more teams in smaller markets should take a cue from the Rays and be patient. Of course, not every team can draft and trade as well as the Rays have over the years, but it’s obvious they’re better off trying to build through their farm system than dishing out huge contracts to just one or two players and hoping a couple of individuals can win in a team sport.
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