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Phillies win the World Series

The Philadelphia Phillies just won World Series. If that sounds strange, it was strange. Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started but was stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night and won the series 4-1.

Left in limbo by a two-day storm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Phillies craved for so long.
It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.

Tampa Bay did itself proud, too, until this final week. Baseball’s best success story this season, the worst-to-first Rays played like the Devil Rays from the past decade.

And I was the one thought Rays would come out on top…

Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series

The doubts have smothered the Tampa Bay Rays all season. From arduous games to demanding tests, the Rays were expected to fade away. Sooner or later, the inspirational Rays would go home. But the Rays are not going home after all. They are going to the World Series.

By advancing to the World Series, the Rays are engineering one of the best worst-to-first stories in baseball history. Only the 1991 Braves lost more games in the season before they shockingly rushed into the World Series. The Braves lost 97 games in 1990, one more than the Rays lost a year ago.

If the Rays had lost Game 7, the number seven would have haunted them in the off-season. The Rays had a 7-0 lead in Game 5 and were seven outs away from clinching the ALCS But the Red Sox scored eight runs to win, then won Game 6, too. Since the Rays avoided a collapse and prevailed in Game 7, it is a lucky number for them now.

Playing Philadelphia Phillies, this could be an epic World Series, two teams playing good baseball. First game tonight folks. This is the way it’s done:Rays goes to the World Series