World Series Bound!

Look out Fox! Here come the Tampa Bay Rays!

The 2008 World Series has no ghosts, no curses, and no panache. The television producers are shouting from the rooftops, wondering why two teams that no one will watch were the teams that had to make it through the whirlwinds of October.

What you do have in this series is a story, a worst to first tale about a rag-tag group of ball players who wanted it more. They believed they could do it, and after a grueling series with the beloved Boston Red Sox, it is now their turn to enjoy the bright lights of the fall classic. From the beginning of spring training their motto was 9=8, it is an unusual credo to say the least, but it worked.

During the spring, manager Joe Maddon introduced the concept as nine guys playing hard for nine innings equal one of the eight playoff spots. It was simple math for a group of guys who up to this season have had nine losing seasons in as many years. It was something that the players and the fans could hold on to, an idea that Maddon was not willing to make it ten losing seasons in ten years.

Later on in the season the insightful manager would further clarify to his team how his theory would help them achieve a greater season than any Rays team had been able to reach since their inception. Maddon told the team he wanted nine more wins from his bullpen, nine wins from his fielders, and nine wins from his lineup, a total of 27 wins. That would set the pace for the 93 wins the Rays would record this season, in order to clinch their first ever American League East Division Title.

Whether a simple concept or a confusing maze of math, the team grabbed hold of their intuitive leader, and rode his mind and his math all the way to the World Series. Whatever the reason, the Rays have been playing inspired baseball this season, even at a point where they almost gave away their ticket to the Series, after a disappointed blown lead during game five of the ALCS. They never allowed themselves to be dazed by the notion that they would fold under the pressure of never having played October baseball; they were down but not out.

Having said that, the executives at Fox Sports, can rest easy, even though the marquee names and usual faces seen in the October highlight reels are missing, you have been given a gift of something better. There is a story to tell, with this team that is best told by watching the enthusiasm with which they play the game. It will be an exciting series pitting together two teams who are as uncharacteristic as any whom have played in the years since the World Series began.

If the math holds true and 9=8, then the fans of the “American Pastime” are guaranteed to see seven entertaining games.