Shock Talk

OK, so the column of two weeks ago ended like this: “I’m going with the Red Sox in seven, setting up Dodgers-Red Sox, a ratings dream for the folks at Fox.”

Yup. The folks here at the City Weekly have a real-life Nostradamus filling this space. Might as well have lumped in predictions of a McCain-Palin landslide victory and a Nebraska Big 12 title and BCS berth along with that failed attempt at prognostication.

Despite the humbling, count me as one baseball nut who won’t cry over the matchup of the surging Philadelphia Phillies and the surprising Tampa Bay Rays. Contrary to popular opinion, here’s betting Major League Baseball and the executives at Fox agree.

Sure, there is no big-market team in this Series. No Yankees. No Red Sox. No Manny and the Dodgers, either. All the supposed ratings pushers are absent.

Doesn’t matter. Not this season. Not with this matchup. Not with these storylines. Not with the wealth of young talent that will entertain starting on Wednesday night.

These aren’t hired hands leading the way for the Phillies and Rays. Yes, free agents play a part for managers Charlie Manuel and Joe Maddon. But the heart of each of these teams grew on the Phillies or Rays farm, logged the long bus trips before making the leap to the majors.

For the Phillies, sluggers Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are home-grown. For the Rays, the list could go on and on – Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, James Shields, B.J. Upton, David Price, Rocco Baldelli, etc., etc.

Also, seeing if the Rays can actually cap their dream season – and give the state of Florida three world titles in 15 years – is reason enough to watch.

This is a franchise that hadn’t won more than 70 games in its previous 10 seasons. These Rays are the ultimate underdog, the perfect excuse for otherwise impartial baseball fans to hop on a bandwagon.

Remember the feeling in 1997 and 2003 when the Marlins won out in October? How easy was it to root for them? You may have even reveled in the whole Bartman foul ball saga five years back. Sorry, Cubs fans.

But seriously, each time, those Marlins weren’t considered legitimate threats when the postseason arrived. Critics scoffed at their payroll, decried their youth and stated they’d fold under the pressure. Each time, the Marlins became world champs.

A similar scenario presents itself this October, even though the Phillies are a bit of a Cindarella story in their own right. This is a classic big market vs. small market matchup. Philadelphia sports the 13th-largest payroll in baseball at $98.3 million. The Rays are 29th, only ahead of the Marlins, at $43.8 million.

Only someone has forgotten to tell the Rays that this is their first postseason. The Rays are favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers, an amazing feat considering Tampa Bay’s neophyte status in playoff baseball.

And they now surely have the hearts of sports fans who can’t pass up a good underdog.