CONTEXT
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies will face each other in the 2008 World Series, which begins tomorrow night. The Rays have advanced this far by defeating the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies have advanced this far by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both the Rays and Phillies managed to defeat their opponents by outplaying them in a short series.
KEY PLAYERS
Tampa Bay:
Roster
Philadelphia:
Roster
Both the Rays and Phillies are filled to the brim with possible difference-makers. The 50 listed above will likely be the most important.
KEY QUESTIONS
Can the Tampa Bay Rays outscore the Philadelphia Phillies?
They can.
Can the Philadelphia Phillies outscore the Tampa Bay Rays?
They can.
Will one of the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies outscore the other four times?
Most certainly yes!
X FACTOR
The Rays will play a maximum of four games at home, while the Phillies will play a maximum of three games at home. The home crowds may or may not help. I imagine there are also intangibles somewhere.
CONCLUSION
Both the Rays and the Phillies are good teams. The Rays are a little better. If you re-played the World Series a million times, roughly 55-60% of the time the Rays would be crowned as champions. This World Series will be played once. One of these teams will win four games. The other probably won't. The outcome will mean everything, and nothing.