The World Series is one of the most prestigious championships in all of sports. This year the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays both found a way to withstand the competition and make it to the playoffs. Fortunately for Phillies fans, they have the taste of victory for the first time since 1980 and only the second time in franchise history.
The Phillies finally won the 2008 World Series on Wednesday night after waiting for 46 hours to resume game 5, which had been suspended due to a rain delay. Pat Burrell came up in the bottom of the 7th with no outs and no one on with the score tied at 3-3 and got his first hit of the series. After going 0-13 through the first four games he hit a double that missed being a home run by about two feet, off the center field wall.
Then the winning run came across the plate with a base hit by 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz. The scored stayed the same until the top of the 9th when Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who had not blown a save all season, struck out Eric Hinske to finish the game and win the World Series.
It had been 15 years since the Phillies played for the title of World Series Champions and 28 years since they actually won that crown.
For the Rays, who have only been in the league for 10 years, this is the first time that they have made the playoffs, let alone gone all the way to the World Series. Many people doubted they would be able to go this far or even make the playoffs at all this year with such a young team, but they proved everyone wrong.
Before this year, the Rays never had a winning season, and only finished higher than last place in their division twice. Established as a club in 1883, the Phillies are the leaders in the Major League in losses all-time as a franchise, with over 10,000. They are the only team in the MLB (and in fact, all major professional sports) that has lost over 10,000 games in history.
This World Series was one that showed two teams on the rise, out to prove that they can both win and be a prominent team in Major League Baseball.
This World Series also showcased many of the players that will be part of the next generation of talented athletes in MLB. Both the Phillies and Rays have a young core of good players who are just now showing how great they can be.
On the Phillies, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels are just three of these young players who look to be the future of professional baseball. The Rays also have quite a few young players who seem to have a very promising future, including pitchers Scott Kazmir, JP Howell and David Price. They also have Rookie of The Year candidate Evan Longoria who has been a big boost for the team throughout the entire season.
This World Series will be known for years to come as one that showed that a team with a losing history can turn everything around and prove to be the best. It had it all – good young players who are making names for themselves, two teams that have never been known to be winners, and players going all-out on the field, playing to win. This series should be one that will be talked about for years to come.