PHILADELPHIA VS. TAMPA BAY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES

The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Red Sox 3-1 last night, taking the seventh and deciding game in the 2008 ALCS. The Rays now move on to face the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, starting Wednesday night.

Tampa certainly deserved to win this series. They hit much better than the Sox, and their pitching came up big. BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, and Evan Longoria, the 2-3-4 hitters in the Rays lineup were unstoppable, while the Red Sox biggest bat, David Ortiz, struggled against Tampa Bay's talented rotation. Matt Garza threw the game of his life on Sunday night, and propelled the young Rays into the Fall Classic.

What really strikes me heading into the World Series is the differences between the fans of Philadelphia and those in Tampa Bay. The City of Brotherly Love is championship starved. The Eagles seem to come close only to fail each year, highlighted by their three straight trips to the NFC Championship game and just the one Super Bowl appearance, a loss to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX. The Sixers have reached the NBA Finals only once since the 1982-83 season, in 2001, when they were crushed by a much better Lakers team in five games. The Flyers were always very talented throughout the 90's, but only reached one Stanley Cup and were swept by Detroit in 1996-97. And of course, the Phillies haven't won a World Series in nearly 30 years. Philadelphia deserves a championship for their fans, who have seen all of their teams (OK, not all) come up short for nearly three decades. Citizens Bank Park is packed night in and night out hoping to see Philadelphia recapture some glory.

Which brings us to St. Petersburg. In game 7 of the ALCS, by far the biggest game in franchise history, Rays fans didn't even show up. Despite ESPN's claim of Tampa having 40,473 fans on hand (115.5% full in case you were wondering), it was obvious to those who watched that there were in fact rows of empty seats in the outfield, and random open seats throughout the game. Maybe taking the tarp off some of those seats wasn't such a good idea after all.

I'm happy for the Tampa Bay Rays, they deserve this trip to baseball's biggest stage. If only they played in a place that actually supported them.

So when the World Series starts on Wednesday, I know who I'll be rooting for. The team who's fans want them to recapture some glory for their city, who would love nothing more than a World Series title for their beloved team. Hopefully, the City of Brotherly Love will prevail.