Rays make SI cover

Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli is pictured colliding with Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz at home plate on the cover of the Nov. 3 issue of Sports Illustrated.

It is the Rays' second appearance on an SI cover this season and first featuring an actual player photo. Carl Crawford was shown hoisting the Yankees' Derek Jeter in the air on an illustrated cover (see below) in May.

Here is Tom Verducci's story from this week's issue:

Dear America, Wish You Were Here
The Phillies and the Rays played long ball and small ball, had plenty of close calls, even rain and drama long after last call in the latest Fall Classic to open its doors to the game's upwardly mobile. So, where were you?

BY TOM VERDUCCI

Four times since 2000 baseball commissioner Bud Selig has been summoned to Washington to testify before lawmakers on the biggest perceived threats to the game: competitive imbalance and performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball, went the Beltway wisdom, owed its fans a labor climate in which the same big spenders didn't win all the titles, and it owed them a tough antidrug policy that would restore trust in the players and their statistics.  The result of baseball's effort to comply was on display last Saturday night in Philadelphia, where the World Series—already assured of crowning an eighth different champion in nine seasons—returned for the first time in 15 years. Neither the interloping Phillies nor the Tampa Bay Rays had been to the Fall Classic since the six-division format began in 1994. Their surprise entries capped a season in which no major leaguers tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and the rate of home runs dropped to its lowest level since '93. For Selig, the biggest controversies related to the use of instant replay and the dangers posed by splintered maple bats.

Yet this is what happened when the Phillies and the Rays played a suspenseful version—Saturday's Game 3 was decided, in the best of boyhood backyard dreams, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth—of this postmodern game in October: Almost nobody watched. Doubtless harmed by a pregame rain delay of 91 minutes, Game 3 attracted the smallest viewing audience by nearly 25% since Nielsen started tracking the World Series in 1968. With an average viewership of 13.2 million through Game 4, the Series threatened to overtake the 2006 St. Louis–Detroit matchup (15.8 million) as the least-watched ever.

Wasn't this the tidied-up kind of baseball the public had wanted? Well, yes, if you also believe that most people really prefer veggie burgers to bacon double cheeseburgers. Without the heavily financed teams or heavily muscled galoots, here's what remained: an entertaining symposium on the state of the game and where it's going. Philadelphia and, in particular, Tampa Bay proved that no team is too far from the World Series, so long as it is stocked with young pitching and athleticism.

"If you appreciate the game," said 45-year-old Phillies lefthander Jamie Moyer after Game 3, "you appreciate this Series. But I don't know if our society likes it this way. Our society likes the five-run homer and the 10-run game."

Added Rays manager Joe Maddon, "I think the game has been heading this way for the last couple of years. And to be honest with you, that change allowed us to get where we are. The style we play is where the game is now and where it's going."

Philadelphia, however, was clearly better at this new brand of baseball than Tampa Bay in its decisive Series victory. And what says new paradigm better than a crown for Philly, a city that, entering the Series, had been 0 for 99 in professional championships since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983? Ringless since 1980, the Phillies moved through the postseason with such ease that their fans seemed to throw off their notorious inferiority complex. Optimistic Phillies fans? Oh, my, this really is a new paradigm.

"You can see the excitement, the passion, the sheer joy on people's faces," Phillies infielder Greg Dobbs said on Sunday after his team's 10–2 victory in Game 4. "These people have embraced this team. We can see it driving home after games. If we lose, it's not, 'Oh, boo. You suck.' None of that. After we lose, they're eager to pick us up and say, 'Get 'em tomorrow. We're not worried.' "

The Phils helped flip the Philadelphia story by winning back-to-back National League East titles despite being seven games out with 17 games to play last year and 31⁄2 games out with 16 to play this year. The karma is so good that the team went its final 10 home games, over 33 days, without losing. A world championship for a suffering city dovetails with some cosmic pay-it-backward force that has been at work in baseball ever since Selig told a Senate judiciary committee in 2000 that too many franchises were bereft of "hope and faith." In a five-year stretch the 2002 Angels (42 years), '04 Red Sox (86 years), '05 White Sox (88 years) and '06 Cardinals (24 years) won titles that were a generation or more in the making.

You got an inkling of what a baseball championship means to Philadelphia when country singer Tim McGraw reached into his back pocket during the pregame ceremony at Citizens Bank Ballpark before Game 3. McGraw is the son of the late Tug McGraw, the joyful reliever who closed the 1980 Phillies' championship. Tim produced some of his father's ashes and scattered them on the mound. You gotta bereave? Not anymore.

These un-phillies were built around a homegrown core: leftfielder Pat Burrell, 32; shortstop Jimmy Rollins, 29; second baseman Chase Utley, 29; catcher Carlos Ruiz, 29; first baseman Ryan Howard, 28; setup reliever Ryan Madson, 28; starting pitcher Brett Myers, 28; and lefthanded ace Cole Hamels, 24. (Centerfielder Shane Victorino, 27, was plucked from the Dodgers' system at 24.) All of those players except Burrell remain under contract through at least next season.

General manager Pat Gillick, who won titles with Toronto in 1992 and '93, turned a good club into a champion by thievishly filling out his roster. After arriving in November 2005, he added Moyer, Dobbs, closer Brad Lidge, utility player Eric Bruntlett, relievers Chad Durbin and Scott Eyre, third baseman Pedro Feliz and outfielders Jason Werth, Matt Stairs, So Taguchi and Geoff Jenkins—all at the major league cost of just two inconsequential players, middle reliever Geoff Geary and unproven outfielder Michael Bourn.

The Philadelphia phantasmagoria wasn't complete, however, until Hamels emerged as the bona fide stopper. The Phillies drafted him with the 17th pick in 2002 out of Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, where his appreciation for Padres closer Trevor Hoffman and his lack of an overpowering fastball led him to embrace the changeup. "Growing up in San Diego," Hamels says, "the competition is so heavy that guys can hit 95-mile-an-hour fastballs. . . . You can't really go out there and think, I can blow away everybody."

Over 84 major league starts, the 6' 3", 190-pound Hamels has gone 38–23 and established his change as one of the best in the game. "I play catch with him, and even then the movement on his changeup is amazing to see," Moyer says. "What separates his from other guys' is he has such good movement and he throws it to both sides of the plate. The typical lefthanded changeup moves down and away from righthanders. But Cole will throw his anytime and anywhere. He can get away with throwing it down and in to lefthanders because there's so much movement. Maybe a scientist can explain it better, the way he's tall and it's all about levers and such. But it's so good, it's almost like an
 optical illusion as it comes to the plate."

Hamels was so hot that he alone overcame a host of factors working against his club in its 3–2 Game 1 victory. The Phillies had not played in seven days, setting them up for the same rustiness that undid the 2006 Tigers and the '07 Rockies in the World Series; they had not played indoors on turf in 21⁄2 years; and their opponent owned the biggest home field advantage in baseball beneath the circuslike big top of funky Tropicana Field. Hamels—who is the youngest pitcher to win four starts in the same postseason—was so good (seven innings, two runs) that Philadelphia became the first team to win a Series game with 13 hitless at bats with runners in scoring position.

"He likes being in this position," pitching coach Rich Dubee says of the player teammates call Hollywood for his comfort in the spotlight. "He knows he has stardom written all over him."

Hollywood stole the glamour from the Rays, who otherwise were a breakout hit themselves. They set a postseason record with 22 stolen bases and, through Sunday, were just two home runs shy of that postseason record (27 by the 2002 Giants). Tampa Bay's youth and ability to manufacture runs, without a great sacrifice in power, make it the right team at the right time, a well-rounded model for the post–Mitchell Report era: The AL home run champion this year (Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera) went deep the fewest times (37) for an AL leader since 1989. The Rays' inventiveness was on full display in Game 2, which they won 4–2 without an extra-base hit but with the help of three runs that scored on outs—two groundouts and a safety squeeze."I can't tell you how happy I was with that," Maddon said. "Ground ball, ground ball, bunt, three points right there. That's beautiful."

Beautiful? Indeed, the Series was shaping up as a connoisseur's delight, with the little-watched Game 3 installment continuing the trend. The Rays, down 4–1 in the seventh, summoned more resourcefulness, tying the game with two runs on groundouts and adding another in the eighth without the ball leaving the infield, thanks to B.J. Upton's speed. The centerfielder beat out an infield single and, one out later, zipped around the bases on two pitches, stealing second on the first and third on the next, then continuing home when catcher Carlos Ruiz threw wildly.

The Phillies answered with a bizarre run of their own to win the game in the ninth. Bruntlett, a .217 batter, was hit by a J.P. Howell fastball to open the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Dioner Navarro. Maddon had the next two batters intentionally walked to load the bases, then repositioned rightfielder Ben Zobrist to a fifth infield spot, behind the mound and in front of second base. At 13 minutes before two in the morning, the diamond in South Philly resembled the 30th Street train station. Fifteen men were jammed around it: five infielders, four umpires, three baserunners, a pitcher, a catcher and a batter, Ruiz. Taking a mighty cut, Ruiz—himself only a .219 hitter during the regular season—found one piece of no-man's-land inside the crowded infield. He bounced a 45-foot dribbler toward third; Evan Longoria hopelessly flung the ball wildly to the plate. The latest start in World Series history (10:06 p.m. first pitch) ended with the first walk-off infield hit in World Series history.

I think it's great that right now the game is getting back to a game for athletes with speed and multiple skills," Rollins said before Game 4. "I look at a guy like B.J., and he's just ridiculous. He can just flat out fly. But you know what? It's pretty good to have power too. There's still nothing like having the ability to score with one swing."

Indeed, for all their young legs, the Phillies, trying to become the first team since the 1984 Tigers to lead its league in homers and win the World Series, still can mash with any team in baseball, as their Game 4 rout attested. Howard drove in half the runs with two swings, a three-run bomb to left and a two-run bomb to right. Werth also walloped a homer, as, remarkably, did winning pitcher Joe Blanton, a career .061 hitter (2 for 33, postseason included) whose ovoid silhouette and massive swing made him look, as Stairs put it, "like a younger Babe Ruth."

It was the first home run by a pitcher in 34 Fall Classics. "I literally fell off my chair," reliever Clay Condrey said.

It was that kind of Series of surprises, even if it failed to be a ratings hit. "Tampa Bay winning is a manifestation of the change in this sport and how good that change has been for baseball," Selig says. "If it means lesser ratings in the short term, so be it."

At a quarter to two in the morning on Sunday, Citizens Bank Park was filled with energized Phillies fans waving their white rally towels. An hour later, downtown Philadelphia was still so crazy with happy baseball fans that a section of Broad Street was closed to traffic, except when Victorino happened to drive up and police quickly permitted him to go through. It is the kind of civic goodwill that Nielsen ratings can never measure. "The longer you wait for things," Moyer says, "the more you appreciate them."

Comments

[Lee]

MLB is showing in this series what Tampa Bay fans hate about MLB-too much hatred for the area by the officials.MLB showed it when they block the Giants from moving here.THey give us a team and put us in the toughest division in baseball.Then they showed it in this series by having an umpire crew that is bar none the worst I have seen in a while.Strikes for Phillies pitchers were not strikes for Rays.The Rays pitchers suffered by throwing far too many pitches.They missed a balk.They missed a tag out three feet in front of their face that cost a run.It is why Rays fans do not come out to watch them - MLB has too much influence on what happens on the field.Baseball is the one sport where the officials are involved in the action on every single play.I am not sure if I want to give a sport like that my hard earned money.

[John]

What a glorious season. No shame in losing in the World Series, especially when not many were giving you a chance to even getting there. Thank you, players, Joe and staff, Stu, Andrew, Gerry, Matt and everyone connected with the New Beasts of the East. You brought a lot of joy to a lot of people this spring, summer and fall.

[Phillies Phor Ever]

Well, you tried to get Bud Selig to steal a victory for your team but it didn't work. Go Phillies!!!!

World Series Champions!!!

[Rick O]

Congratulations on a great year Rays fans.

[Baseball fan]

Fox is dumb to start the games so late, especially since both teams are east coast teams. Most working people just aren't going to stay up that late. If they want people to watch, show the games when people are awake.

GO PHILLYS U STINK RAYS U STINK!!! SO WHAT WE SPIT ON YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO IT TONIGHT BECAUSE YOU STINK!!!!!

AL QAEDA RAYS THATS A GOOD TEAM TO ROOT FOR.GOD BLESS AMERICA.GO PHILS

Anyone with the moniker RucktheFays is a real classy guy.

THEY AL QADEA RAYS.NOW THAT'S A TEAM TO ROOT FOR.A-HOLE!!!

Guys, if Philly wins, they will ruin that city! It will be in flames! It'll make the LA riots of 1992 look like a Civil Rights era nonviolent protest. Those people really are worse than diarrhea. Ugly on the inside and out.

To "Phillys 4eva" -- Those were excellent comments. You're probably the mayor of that pimple of a city too.

RTF - Hurry up, get to the game so you can r@pe and pillage the community when it's over! I hate to say this, but if al Qaeda was playing Philly, I'd root for al Qaeda.

[Patrick]

2009 will be the test in terms of attendance. I don't know of a lot of last place teams that full the house.
But after we win the series maybe we can pick up in numbers.In all fairness we haven't had baseball for a 100 years like the big cities and we have been more of a city made up of transplants. Cut us a break

I hope the Rays come out with fire tonight. I'm feeling real uneasy about it. But whatever happens, we've had a great year and I'm proud of our guys. They've represented us very well.

[jdunk]

RTF:

Hurry up, you have people to abuse at the baseball game tonight. Philly is a loser town and will always be. And you're a big reason for that!

[Phillys 4eva!!!!]

U Tampa 'FANS' are a bunch of phukking morons!!!!! Go to ur traylor parks and moter homes becuz philly rules we r the best and u know it so quit crying u phukking losers!!! so what we spit on some kid alejedly was spit on and beer was thrown on a dude grow the phukk up and man up becuz we r a city of men that can take it!!!

[cheese steaks are for losers]

The more philly fans i meet or read the comments they leave makes me proud of dropping one on our way out of the stadium. Maybe a senseless act of violence but oh was it worth it

[RucktheFays]

I'll be at the game tonight. Too bad it's the last one of 2008 for the Rays. Doc, at least you had some fire about players and the team. I'll have some Dom Perignon in your honor. Jdunk---big F YOU you front running, trailer trash punk. I

[RucktheFays]

Still no proof about the beer on a kid or the threats in the bathroom. That dope wrote those things to deflect the fact that the Rays were being beaten. No proof. No names. No witneses. No police reports about any of those incidents. As far as the "future of baseball.." not without a fan base and a real stadium. Face it, there is no draw during the regular season. The future will require paying these young guys when their current deals are up or they're moving to other teams. That requires revenue. If you like what you have, you're in trouble.

[jdunk]

RTF: My last post was intended for you.

[Tuck]

Philly was lucky that the weather wouldn't permit a finish Monday night. They blew a 2-run lead...momentum had switched in the Rays favor.

Let's face it; the Rays are a young, streaky team...especially at the plate. They were on fire for 3 games against the Red Sox then cooled off against the Phils.

If Evan, BJ, and CC get hot again the Rays can win the next 3 games.

I would be nervous if I were a Phils fan. The Phils have to win a 3 1/2 inning game or the Series comes back to St. Pete with the Rays again full of confidence.

I can't wait to see what happens tonight...unless the weather is once again too miserable to play. Why does anyone live in such a crappy climate anyways?

[Fred]

Well said Keith. I agree and after observing their players and watching interviews, those guys have class. Their fans, on the other hand, are atrocious and a complete embarrassment. The city is a dirty anus, no question, and so are its inhabitants, but the players are a pretty likable bunch of guys.

[RucktheFays]

"What up big mouth?" Patrick-Another one with difficulty speaking BASIC F'IN ENGLISH. Idiot. I'm noticing a pattern. "If the Umps did this and if the umps did that... blah blah" If your mother had wheels she would be a bicycle. Deal with it. No control over the umps. Hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball and run. Do those things well and the umps don't matter. The Phillies have done those things better so far.

Let's hope there's some objectivity tonight from the umpires. All I hope for is fairness, not an advantage or to be gifted calls. Just a level playing field. Kaz was hosed repeatedly.

[Keith]

Attended games 3 & 4 in Philly and can say without hesitation that Philly fans are without doubt the most classless bunch of morons you'll ever see. They are idiots who know less about the sport and their own team than any fans I have ever encountered. Their own players don't like them. They're angry and bitter and self-hating, and they can keep that armpit of a city. The only shame of it is that the Phillies organization isn't that bad -- they deserve better fans. Luckily, the Rays are the future of baseball. Go Rays!

[jdunk]

Like I said, you have no life and continue to prove it by your juvenile comments. In fact, you and your low life buddies are probably the ones who drop "f" bombs around kids and pour beer on opposing fans. Way to go! And I love the Rays as much as you love the Phillies, however, I don't let my team dictate my happiness because I actually have more important things in life like a wife and kids. It's called maturity. Try applying it to your life!

Ditto jdunk! RTF is an absolute joke, a caricature of Philly fan. Indeed, he's right, Philly has ALL the advantages tonight. If they win, hats off to them. Given that Tampa Bay has thwarted most of their recent championship runs, they're bound to win one. Sheer percentages dictate that. But, that said, the beauty is if Philly wins, that city will look like Dresden in WWII. Those fools will destroy that sewer of a city, and we can only hope that RTF is in its midst.

[RucktheFays]

Jdunk... it's called reading the paper. I realize some of the things in the paper might be too advanced for you, and that's OK. I guess more than one year in 10th grade didn't do it for you. This stuff is published every day on this site and in the paper. I understand that most of your time reading the paper involves the comics and the want ads. That GED didn't get you into the auto repair program at some community college. Doc-this is what I'm talking about. Another jackarse that has no substance and then "go rays." Another fickle fan. His reason the Rays will win is probably because he thinks the Rays' logo and colors are pretty. Tool.

[Patrick]

This one is for Ruckthefays
You right lets' talk baseball
You are 100% right
your team gets 4 outs to every 3 of ours every inning.
And we still are in the game.
How much are you paying the umpires
If you know baseball as much as you brag about you know that you make an average hitter a good hitter when the count is in his favor, Poor Kaz had to throw 15 pitches more an inning. Your pitchers get off the hook before they could feel the pressure. What-Up Big Mouth

[jdunk]

To Ruck the Fays:

You're a perfect example with what is wrong with Philly fan...YOU HAVE NO LIFE! Anyone that can make as many comments as you have needs to re-examine their life. Dude, it's a freakin' baseball game. And yes, at least our town won't be on fire if we win. GO RAYS!

[RucktheFays]

Well at least you used some baseball terms and a player's name, so a 1/4 tip of the hat. However, that rookie gets a dose of reality tonight. He pitched well at home with fans screaming for an out, but 46,000 people screaming for his failure is a completely different story. Every Rays pitcher except three has an ERA of almost 4.00 or higher in the World Series, and Price is one of them. Good young arm, this will be too much.

[Tim]

Hey decent .. a little over the top but we get your point .. Nice Elmer Fudd impression by the way ..

[Dr. Strunk]

And, I have to add, during game 5 episode one, Rays got 6 hits in Hamels' 75 or so pitches, and Phillies only got 4 in Kaz's 100+. So they have Hamels sussed, and they'll have Moyer sussed, and they will win the World Series.

[Decent]

The philies have left 3712 men on base during the world series.

Three extra at bats equates to 3 more phillies who can't score can't score can't score can't score can't score.

3 at bats. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?

Pay Attention Phillies...YOU DON'T HAVE BJ ON YOUR TEAM. BJ PAYS FOR THE RAYS. BE FEARFUL WHEN BJ IS ON BASE. BE VERWY, VERWY CAREFUL.

[Dr. Strunk]

OK, RTF, you're right. The Phillies have more outs to work with and a better bullpen. Better closer, for sure, in Lidge, but in most circumstances, Phillies will have to have a lead before he is brought in. I think the Rays will get a lead, and keep it, in the top of the 7th. David Price will be brought in to seal the deal. They come back here to St. Pete, play one game at a time, and win on Halloween. BOO!

[RucktheFays]

See, obviously, you made a typo. TSK TSK. However, still no baseball talk from you. No response to the number of outs each team has left. No response to the bullpen stats. No repsonse to the spots in each team's order. Not surprised though. No one has contributed any worthwhile BASEBALL comments all day. I can't fight about baseball against unarmed people. If anyone can tell me how the Rays are going to win the World Series, I'd love to hear it... not on PlayStation 3 either.

[Tim]

I love the way this just went from baseball blog to a "hate Obama" blog ..
Unlike you, Gomesy , I'm not in love with the M-I-L-F Hockey Mom ...

Back to the subject .. GO RAYS !!!!!!!!!!

[Gomesy]

Obama is a terrorist. Do you really want a black man as your president?!?!?

[Tim]

I was taking a walk down by the water today , enjoying 65 degrees and sunshine.
I thought I stepped in a pile of "Phillie" but it turned out to be dog crap .. same difference ..

[SJ]

Jeff, BS has been strangely silent on the dome issue. I wondery why. NOT.

I guarantee while he was sitting in that open sewer in Phil, he was wishing he was warm and dry in our "dumpy" dome!

[jimmy]

The anger is almost comical in philly. Angry when you lose (which you do more than any other city in SPORTS history by the way) and NOW, angry even when you may win. Which you won't. But the good thing is, it will make you EVEN more angry. See how things work out for the best....

[Dr. Strunk]

you mean this?:

I guess you are still forgetting... the Phils have 4 ABs and the Rays have 3. The Phils have the top of the order coming up after a pinch hitter. The Rays have the bottom. The Phils bullpen squashes Tampa's in every category. And the Phils lead the series 3-1. Thanks for stopping by. Good night Tampa. Tonight the Phillies will step on the collective throats of the Rays, their fans, and their town.

Some facts, some opinion. I realize that Philly REALLY wants a championship, in part to make up for the fact that they have been PWNED by the teams from the Tampa Bay area in football and hockey. We'll see who steps on whose throats tonight.

[RucktheFays]

If anyone actually had some baseball stuff to sling, I'd answer that, too. I started today with a series of facts regarding tonight's end to game 5, and right away some tool has to bash Philly and the fans. You get what you give. Deal with it, or get off the site. Go ahead, scroll back and check my first post today. I'll wait.

[Jeff]

Who names a team after a sandwich anyway?!? The Chicago Subs or the New York Hoagies?

Seriously, though, the 8:30 PM EDT start times obviously are ment to pander to the PDT zone which they don't do very well because it is hard to get home by 5:30 PM (PDT) in West Coast traffic. To bad most of the market is in the EDT and CDT zones which are practically the same since CDT residence tend to go to bed around the 10:00 PM news which coincides with the EDT's 11:00 PM news. Only the least populated MDT zone makes out well with FOX's start time. No wonder FOX is losing its arss. Especially when both teams are from the EDT zone. This is what happens when a network tries to please ever time zone, it doesn't work. So, very the time zones so that everyone gets to see at least one complete game.

Speaking of which, what does BS and the rest of those morons have to say about St. Pete.'s funky little circus dome now after a 91 minute rain delay in one game and a rain out in another with freezing wind chills for days!

[bets]

RTF- I, also, can tell that you are poor an uneducated.

[Dr. Strunk]

Hey, RTF, you're the one that came on this forum and started slinging stuff. A couple of days ago, if I remember correctly. You can't even dish it out very well, and you certainly can't take it.

[RucktheFays]

It was a typo doc. Get a life. As for the house thing dsh... I didn't bring it up until someone brought up my mom's basement. Your Uncle/Dad should tell you to mind your own business.

[RucktheFays]

Gee doc. The putz that's checks grammar and spelling is the same putz that uses "betcha." I believe some people that flip burgers know some punctuation, etc. Your kids are probably perfect examples. You must be a proctologist. Except you're up your own rectum.

RTF- I know that you are poor and didn't pay off any houses because anyone that actually owns a home does not have to brag about it on a blog to people they don't even know.

[RucktheFays]

dsh you aren't worth answering. I have a house and paid off my parents' house. Go back and play with your stepfather.