Thanks, Rays…

So… what the heck happened, Tampa? You were rolling along the highway of happiness and then the car crashed into the Liberty Bell that is Citizen’s Bank Park.

And, to make matters worse, you let the PHILLIES win the Series. That’s like the Patriots letting the Eagles win.

To be honest, this wasn’t the Series even die-hard Tampa fans (are there such things?) needed to get the underperforming, late bloomers to the pinacle of the baseball world. They needed a lot of offense, they got zip. They needed strong pitching from their supposedly strong bullpen, and they got zip.

Overall, this was about as much of a rollover scene as was the Rockies during the ‘07 Series.

I think there is huge potential. I think there is a great need for better competition in small markets. I think the Rays are finally getting the hang of this winning thing.

So! Regardless of this “lowest-ever rated World Series in the history of baseball” event, the Rays come into the ‘09 season with some great, young talent and an American League Pennant. Nice work. Let’s see you do that again…