Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay

Phillies -111 vs. Rays

In a prefect world from a ratings standpoint, these teams would not be playing in the Fall Classic. It was apparent that baseball and its media outlets would have loved a Cubs-Red Sox, a Cubs-White Sox or a Dodgers-Red Sox matchup. Even though Philadelphia is one of the largest television markets in the country, the fact that they are not the national draw Fox had hoped for. Perhaps even worse are the Tampa Bay Rays who just now have a growing fan base in their home town. Either way these are the teams that earned a trip to the World Series and neither team nor their fans should or will apologize for making it.

Both teams are scrambling to be known as the underdog. Most of the year they were. Philadelphia was not picked by most to win their division for the second straight season nor were they given much of a chance in the postseason. Tampa Bay was doubted every step of the way through the regular and postseason. Yet here are both teams.

The best of seven series begins with Game 1 Wednesday night in St. Petersburg. The series will shift to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since 1993 for Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 Saturday through Monday. If needed, the series will then return to Tropicana Field for Game 6 and 7 on October 29 and 30.

Game 1’s pitching matchup has not yet been set because the Rays are still deciding what their World Series rotation will be.  One thing is clear, however, Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels will take his three postseason victories and 1.23 ERA to the hill. Hamels won the LCS MVP for his excellent work.

Going into the series, both teams are healthy and it is hard to give one of the teams an edge, although the underdog mantra both teams claim actually belongs to Philadelphia as Las Vegas has determined the Rays as the favorite. And with recent history, it is easy to see why this is the case. Last year the Colorado Rockies steamrolled through the end of the regular season and the postseason to win 21 of their last 22 games.  Sweeps of the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks kept the Rockies resting while Boston battled back from a 3-1 deficit against Cleveland to win the American League Pennant in 7 games. The Rockies seemed to have lost their edge and momentum while the Red Sox were fresh and won the World Series in four. A similar situation emerged in 2006 when the Detroit Tigers swept Oakland in the ALCS and had a week long wait for the Cardinals to wrap up their series victory over the Mets. The heavily favored Tigers seemed out of synch, committing errors and slumped at the plate as St. Louis topped them in five games. The Phillies took the field last a week ago Wednesday which will give them the same time off as the Tigers and Rockies, while the Rays played Sunday night.

With Hamels taking the mound, the Phillies look to turn the tide on the recent trend and steal at least one game on the road before going home for three games in Philadelphia.

InSpin.com

Temple vs. Ohio

Owls -3 vs. Bobcats

The absence of a World Series game tonight has opened the door for a rare Tuesday night college football showdown tonight in baseball-mad Philadelphia. Two struggling teams from the Mid-American Conference meet at Lincoln Financial Field tonight as the Ohio Bobcats travel east to take own their conference rival Temple Owls.

Ohio (2-5, 1-2) looks to continue their season turnaround as they attempt to win their third game in four tries. The Bobcats started the season a disappointing 0-4, even though they gave state rivals Ohio State a run for their money in the second week of the season as they led the Buckeyes at half time and added an early second half touchdown before ultimately surrendering the lead and eventually the game 26-14. Wins over Kent State and VMI sandwiched between a 41-20 thumping in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan has given Ohio some hope that their season may now be on the right track, especially against a Temple team whom the Bobcats’ blasted 23-7 in the teams’ first meeting last season in Athens, Ohio.

In their second season of playing football in the MAC, Temple (2-5, 1-3) has struggled against their new conference rivals as well as in their non-conference schedule.  The Owls started the season with a convincing 35-7 victory over Army, but followed that win with five losses in six games. Their only win during that time came on the road against Miami of Ohio, 28-10 on October 4.

If Temple hopes to win this contest, they must stop Ohio’s offense because their own offense has been lackluster throughout 2008. The Owls have the 113th best scoring offense, rank 115th in the nation in total yards, 101st in passing yards and 108th in rushing yards.

Meanwhile the Bobcats’ offense ranks in the middle of the pack, however they have been putting up big numbers on offense, but it has not helped them win more than 2 games.

InSpin.com