Phillies, Rays earn chance to end futility

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- So much for tradition.Philadelphia and Tampa Bay will face off in a World Series that features less postseason history than any since the infancy of the event.The Phillies, one of the original National League teams, won their only world championship in 1980. The Rays, who came into being in 1998, posted the only winning record in their history this season.The Phillies have lost more regular-season games (10,098) than any major league team. The Rays never had lost fewer than 91 games in a season until this year.The Phillies have won only six National League pennants in their 126 seasons. The Rays had been in first place only 11 days in their first 10 seasons but managed to sit atop the American League East for 110 days this season.None of that matters anymore.One of these teams is about to claim a world championship. The best-of-seven series gets under way here on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.Seven things about the 2008 World Series worth watching:-- 1. THE PRODUCERPhillies center fielder Shane Victorino was unwanted for a long time. He twice was lost by the Dodgers during the winter draft -- to San Diego in 2002 and the Phillies in 2004. Both times, he was offered back. The Dodgers took him back during the 2003 season but let the Phillies keep him in 2005.He already has set a Phillies record with 11 RBI this postseason, one more than Lenny Dykstra in 1993. That's two more RBI than Alex Rodriguez has in 24 postseason games with the Yankees and 10 more than Rodriguez has in the past four Octobers.-- 2. HOME SWEET HIMEThe Rays can thank left-hander Scott Kazmir for having the home-field advantage against the Phillies. The series starts at Tropicana Field on Wednesday and Thursday. The next three games are scheduled at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Series will return to St. Petersburg for the conclusion, if necessary, on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.The Rays received the home-field advantage because the American League won the All-Star Game 4-3 in 15 innings at Yankee Stadium. Kazmir worked a scoreless 15th to earn the victory. The losing pitcher? Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge.What's the home field worth? The team with the home-field advantage has won 11 of the past 14 World Series.-- 3. CLOSING STATEMENTLidge has been perfect this season. The right-hander converted 41 of 41 saves during the regular season, and is 5-for-5 this postseason. He worked 4-1/3 scoreless innings vs. the Dodgers in the NLCS. Lidge has set the tone for a Phillies bullpen that has allowed only six earned runs in 28-2/3 postseason innings.-- 4. KID STUFFTampa Bay lefty David Price has become a postseason sensation in his first professional season. Price, who turned 23 in August, was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft. He did not sign until after the minor league season ended, so he made his debut in 2008 and quickly rose to the big leagues in mid-September.The Rays added Price to the ALCS roster and are glad they did. Working out of the bullpen, he earned his first victory against a big-league team in the Rays' 9-8, 11-inning victory in Game 2 and then got his first professional save in the Game 7 win over Boston, getting the final four outs.It shouldn't be a surprise. He was 12-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 19 minor league appearances and then had a 1.93 ERA in five regular-season games with the Rays.-- 5. SURPRISE, SURPRISEThe Rays are only the fourth team to rebound from a 90-loss season one year to appear in the World Series the next year. History, however, isn't on the Rays' side. The three previous teams to go from 90 losses to the Fall Classic lost in the best-of-seven showdown. The Tigers were knocked off in five games by the Cardinals in 2006. The Phillies lost to Toronto in six games in 1993. And the Red Sox lost in seven games to the Cardinals in 1967.-- 6. ERSATZ GRASSThis will be the 13th World Series in which one of the two teams has an artificial surface home. In the previous 12, the team that played home games on the artificial surface won nine World Series -- the Blue Jays against the Phillies in 1993 and Braves in 1992; the Twins against the Braves in 1991; the Reds against the A's in 1990, Yankees in 1976 and Red Sox in 1975; the Cardinals against the Brewers in 1982; and the Pirates against the Orioles in 1979 and 1971.The three that lost were the Phillies against the Orioles in 1983 and the Reds against the A's in 1972 and Orioles in 1970.There have been three World Series played entirely on fake grass -- the Twins beating the Cardinals in 1987, the Royals beating the Cardinals in 1985 and the Phillies beating the Royals in 1980.-- 7. HOME AWAY FROM HOMEThe Rays had a best-in-baseball 57-24 record at home during the regular season but were 40-41 on the road, tied for seventh among the 30 major league teams.Philadelphia, meanwhile, was 48-33 at home during the regular season, tied for third in the NL. The Phillies were 44-37 on the road, best in the NL and second in the majors to the Angels.The Phillies are 4-0 at home in the postseason -- 3-2 on the road. The Rays are 4-2 at home in the postseason, 3-2 on the road.(Tracy Ringolsby writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colo. E-mail ringolsbyt(at)RockyMountainNews.com.)