Yes, America --- The Rays Are Headed to the World Series...

The Rays are in the World Series! If anyone picked them in March to play for it all -- you're lying. It seems like all of America -- aside from Red Sox fans -- were picking them to advance to the promised land, and finally, it looks the doormats of the AL East and the laughing stock of baseball for so many years has made it.

What can we say about David Price! This game was his coming out party, and did he literally save Tampa Bay from eminent disaster by pitching 1 1/3 innings -- striking out J.D. Drew with the bases juiced to the end the 8th -- and struck out two in the final frame to get the save.

Matt Garza pitched the game of his life, earning the win -- along with the second of the ALCS -- and making only one mistake -- Pedroia's first inning solo home run. Aside from that, Garza was a good as you could get. His counterpart on the mound, Lester was good -- going seven strong and giving up three runs -- but, it was not nearly enough.

The Rays were on, and it showed after two devastating losses in the ALCS.

Evan Longoria tied the game in the fourth inning to plate Carlos Pena, and they took the lead in the follow frame as Rocco Badelli plated Wily Aybar with a single. In the bottom the seventh, Aybar hit a solo home run -- an important insurance run -- to put them ahead for good.

Both bullpens kept their team in it, but Tampa held on and got the monkey off their back.

After ten years of futility, being made fun of, and being the doormats of baseball, the Rays have made it to the World Series, and it's just unbelievable.

You've got to give it to the Red Sox -- they took the Rays to the limit and nearly came back, but it was not enough this time around.

The Tampa team making it to the Series gives teams like the Baltimore Orioles and small market hope that if they manage and scout talent carefully, stick to a plan -- your finances and market size should not make being successful insurmountable.

Again, I can't believe I am saying this -- the Rays are the American League Champions and are headed to the World Series.


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Boston Takes Game Three, 10-5; One Win Away From It All...

Well, Game Three looked competitive for a while; however, it ended with a similar result – a resounding Red Sox win.

The Boston Red Sox whooped up on the Colorado Rockies, 10-5, thanks to big hits by rookie Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedoria. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a great game, and at least in the post-season has pitched fairly well (I’m not if it still justifies his contract), but he looked good in Game Three.

In spite of the Rockies making it a game during the sixth and seventh innings thanks to an ineffective bullpen, the two-headed combo of Okajima and Papelbon saved the day, and the Boston bats added more insult to injury with an eighth inning attack.

Josh Fogg was seemingly no match for the Boston offense, and it seems to be in this series that the NL is just much weaker than the AL, and Colorado’s performance in the World Series just flat out indicates that.

Overall, this World Series has been fairly boring and the games go on way too long, plus start too late.

The Rockies have great players; however, it seems the Red Sox are just beyond meticulous, know what to do break down teams and just simply execute.

Meanwhile, Colorado obviously must win four straight games and by the way they have looked, I don’t see it happening.

World Series Reflections; Game Two - Red Sox Beat the Rockies, 2-1

Last night, the Boston Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the 2007 World Series as they beat the Colorado Rockies in a tight pitching matchup, 2-1. Instead of a slug-fest, fans were treated to a pitcher’s duel, supplanted by both Boston’s and Colorado’s strong bullpens.

Curt Schilling, who is making a strong case as being one of the top post-season pitchers of all time, allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings last night and impressive outings by Hideki Okajima (who went 2 1/3 amazing innings with 4 K’s) along with stud closer Jonathan Papelbon, sealed the Rockies’ fate.

Ubaldo Jimenez held his own against the veteran Schilling, as he went a little more than 4 innings and gave up two runs, before being yanked by Clint Hurdle. If there was a bright side to the loss, the Colorado bullpen was excellent, but the offense could not produce anything at all.

It’s critical the Rockies win at home in the next few days, or their series is done. From the looks of it, Boston looks strong and the magic that Colorado had is gone.

Now, they’ll have to fight to win.

Say what you want about Schilling, who looks closer to Greg Maddux now than a fireballer, but his intelligence, grit and guile has got him through this post-season. If he is indeed done with the Red Sox, they’ll be missing an integral part of their championship runs. As long as he can get guys out, I don’t see why he cannot stay in the game longer.

Game three will feature Daisuke Matsuzaka, who came big in the final game of the ALCS versus Josh Fogg on Saturday night.

World Series Reflections; Game One - Red Sox Whoop the Rockies, 13-1

I watched some of the World Series last night, and I learned two things.

One, Josh Beckett is well on his way to becoming one of the best post-season pitchers of all time. Two, for what it is worth, the layoff may have affected the Rockies; however, the Red Sox were just so much better, it doesn’t matter.

Unless, you are just waking up, or didn’t know, the Boston Red Sox demolished the Colorado Rockies, the feel good story of October, 13-1. For now, it looks like the magic that Colorado had that enabled them to win 21 of their last 22 games fluttered away as Jeff Francis got lit up for six runs, and then the Rockies’ bullpen just imploded.

Boston scored seven in the fifth and that more than anything led them to victory. It looked like the Sox were getting all the key hits and every play going their way; in hindsight seemed to be the exact opposite Colorado was experiencing.

Folks, in the last four games, Boston has whooped up on any opponent their way, looking more like the Patriots than your run-of-the-mill baseball team.

Again, it goes without saying, Beckett was incredible. From at least portions of the game I saw, his fastball was amazing, and his breaking/curveball was unhittable. For most of the game, he made the Rockies batter look foolish, and they have one of the better offenses in the National League.

The Rockies will send young fireballer Ubaldo Jimenez against grizzled, battle-tested veteran Curt Schilling.

If Schilling looks like he did in Game 6 in the ALCS, as opposed to Game 2, Colorado may have seen their World Series aspirations go up in smoke unless they startle the Sox at home.

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If you love baseball and love Taco Bell, you might have a marriage made in food heaven.

Well, Taco Bell is offering a World Series promotion where, if there's a stolen base by either team in the World Series, you can get a free taco.

Ok, here are the details:

If the stolen base occurs in during games 1 or 2, you can get a free taco on Oct. 30.

If a stolen base happend during after games 3 and beyond, you can get a free taco on Nov. 6.

The hours of the giveaway are between 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

So, no - it's not during the lunch break, it's during the non-prime hours of the day -- obviously, when no one takes lunch.

Read the fine print here: http://www.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/

Could Rocktober Be Over Already?

The Red Sox are simply kicking the collective asses of the Colorado Rockies, 9-1, and it's only the fifth inning. Needless to say, they must win on Thursday, or the series for the most part will be over and they'll have a huge mountain to climb.

They look nothing like the team that America has seen in the last month or so.

(This is a photo I took earlier this season...)

The World Series Is Upon Us...

The World Series is upon us, and in a little less than 9 or so hours, the games will begin.

We all know the Boston Red Sox will be taking on the Colorado Rockies, and the consensus seems to be that the Red Sox will take the series and Colorado's amazing win streak will come to an end. By now, we know all the characters, and it will be a test for Colorado, with their young team and inexperience, contrasted against Boston's high payroll, superstars, and experience.

I am picking Boston in Six.

The Red Sox just have the edge in pitching, and they have home field advantage (Boston is sure formidable). Even though the Rockies have a lineup that I think may be comparable with Boston's, I am worried about the Rockies' pitching and how their youngsters will hold in such an environment. I think it's critical that Colorado win a game at Fenway and then move it back to Colorado. If they can't do that, they'll have a mountain to climb.

Much has been made of the time off that the Rockies have had; however, I don't think it's that big of a deal.

Then again, I have been completely wrong on my playoff predicitions, so anything can happen.

The Rockies Ticket Buying Experience; Futile...

Timestamps EST...

5:03pm - No tickets for me.

I'm in Maryland, but I really feel for anyone in Colorado or who is a die-hard Rockies fan who could not get lucky.

World Series tickets for all three games at Coors Field sold out in less than three hours today.
The Rockies announced about 2:45 that all 54,000 tickets were gone.

Some lucky fans emerged with tickets after a slow start at noon today, but most people walked away from their computers frustrated and empty-handed.

"We know many people will be disappointed, and we do feel for them," spokesman Jay Alves said in a news conference.

The Rockies blame an "external and malicious" attack for Monday's ticket sales crash. The club said its Web site dealt with more than 8.5 million hits in 90 minutes, and only 500 tickets were sold.

Denver police and FBI officials said today they have received no complaint or request for investigation regarding the alleged cyber hacking.

"No formal complaint has been filed," said Denver FBI Special Agent Rene Vonder Haar, adding that her agency had yet to receive any information regarding a cyber-attack.

The sale today was slow. But the tickets, which went on sale at noon, finally sold out before 3 p.m.

Anyone who was crazy like me and tried, let me know. If you were successful congrats!

***

3:55 - I'm about 1700 miles away from Denver, and things are looking bleak for those who want tickets to the World Series out there...

According to the Denver Post:

Tickets to the World Series games in Denver are close to selling out, the Colorado Rockies report.

The only seats left are for the possible Monday game, the third home game.

Rockies spokesman Jay Alves told reporters at Coors Field that sales had increased to about 1,500 per minute, and he anticipated a sell-out for all three games.

"Not everyone who wants to get a ticket is going to get a ticket today," he said. "It's just not possible."

The first attempt to sell tickets was stymied Monday by a "malicious, external attack" on the ticket sales system. The Rockies website took 8.5 million hits in a 90-minute period that began at 10 a.m. Monday and proved too much for the system to handle.

Sigh, it's been bad. I have heard of few people getting through. Were people better off just standing in line? If I were a consumer, I'd be upset; however, life is not fair.

I'm going to look online later and check out third-party, broker prices online...

For those who got tickets in Boston or Denver, congrats! Have an awesome time...

If it's any consolation -- since I have tried for Game 5 tickets, my computer has not lost the connection to the network....

***

2:30 -

Ok, I am at work and I’m on the Colorado Rockies site hoping to buy tickets to the World Series. Not to say that I’ll go, but if I do, I will.

Anyhow, this whole process is fruitless. I have been dropped from their website 3 times already due to network problems.

Anyone else trying? How is it going? Well, anyone have any luck so far?

This was a completely stupid idea on part of the Rockies organization....

Playoff Predictions - Who Will Win It?

Being that the regular season is over and we are waiting for the playoffs, let's all have fun a predict who will reign in October. We all have our favorites, and who we hate, but I honestly have no clue who will win the World Series because it has been so unpredictable.

That being said, let's go through who I think will win it all...

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The Mets' Collapse & Playoff Thoughts; An Ode to all the Teams In the Post-Season

Mets' fans, I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry. I covered the Nationals this season, and know they had a huge part in the chain of events that led New York in losing the NL East lead.

However, I still don't know what in words to say.

I give a lot of props to the Phillies for coming back, and fighting their way to the NL East title.

To the Red Sox team and Nation, congrats on taking the AL East from the Yankees. A job well done. For the love of God, I hope you make into the ALDS and then face New York because, I WILL be purchasing ALDS tickets, thanks to the online ticket opportunity and I need you two to make it so I live happy without my Orioles.

Yankees fans, I think some of you all are boorish, arrogant and a**holes, but overall I must your team props from coming back from oblivion. Torre did a masterful job rallying the troops, and by Brian Cashman doing nothing and keeping the kids in the organization, things changed. A-Rod had a year to remember, Jeter was Jeter, and Posada deserves every chant of hip-hop-Jorge for his work this season. I still don't get the Joba Rules, but Chamberlain seems cool and very likable.

The Rockies, please beat San Diego. You all would the story of the year, by far and I so love rooting for the underdog.

To the Padres, good luck to you all. Too bad about Milton.

To the Diamondbacks, I have no idea how the hell you won the West, but good job. Eric Byrnes reminds me of the frat boy who won't shut up & shows off for no good reason; however, he should have been given another chance in Baltimore.

To the Los Angeles, California, Orange County Angels of Anaheim and Disney World, you all have a scrappy team and Vladmir has the most outrageous swing I have ever seen. Good to see Garrett being the man again and I think you all are the dark horse in the AL Chase for the World Series.

Last, but not least -- Cleveland. You all have some great players, and a local radio talk show host is so in love with Grady here. I love Pronk and C.C., plus it is awesome that Fausto Carmona came from his troubles last year. I hope you all make the World Series.

*all pictures taken by yours truly...