Tag: baseball
Philadelphia and Tampa Bay: A Odd Rivalry
Could the 2008 World Series cement an already budding rivalry between the cities of Philadelphia and Tampa Bay? These places couldn’t be more different, but for some reason their paths have crossed. Granted, the Rays play in St Petersburg and the Buccaneer’s play in Tampa, but we’ll ignore that inconvenient fact.
Facts:
Philadelphia:? The City of Brotherly Love
Population: 5.8 Million
Latitude and Longitude: 39? 53′ N 75? 15′ W
Claim to Fame: Cheesesteaks, Rocky, original USA capital
Tampa Bay: An Actual Bay, not a City
Population: St Petersburg 248,098, Tampa 382,060
Latitude and Longitude: 27? 58′ N 82? 32′ W
Claim to Fame: Humidity, Phillies Spring training, Your grandparents live there
History:
The Eagles traded up in the 1995 to get Mike Mamula and the Bucs settled for 7 time pro bowler and future Dancing with the Stars star, Warren Sapp.
Sapp and the Bucs faced the Eagles three straight years in the playoffs (2000 – 2002) with the Eagles winning the first two, but the Bucs winning the 2002 NFC championship game and eventually beating Oakland in the Superbowl. Many in Philadelphia consider the 2002 NFC championship game to be the worst of all the recent playoff losses, especially since this was the last game ever played at Veterans Stadium.
If that wasn’t enough, the Bucs and the Eagles played the FIRST WEEK of 2003 and the Eagles lost the first regular season game at Lincoln Financial Field.
It’s not isolated to football though…
In 2004 the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals and went on to win the Stanley Cup.
I think the 2008 World Series could set off a new era of rivalry between the cities.
Update: Look what they’re writing!
A CHANCE TO REASSERT OUR DOMINATION OVER ALL THINGS PHILADELPHIA
Little did many know that the Rays ticket to the World Series was punched as soon as the Phillies won the NLCS. It was fate.
In 2002, after two straight playoff blowouts at the hands of the Eagles, the Bucs finally broke through with a win in Philadelphia in the NFC championship game. The Bucs went on to win their first Super Bowl.
In 2004, the Lightning beat the Flyers in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. The Bolts went on to win their first Stanley Cup championship.
Now, the only thing that stands between the Rays and their first World Series trophy is, of course, the Philadelphia Phillies. Nothing gives a Tampa Bay sports fan more pleasure than helping the City of Brotherly Love keep to their losing ways.
I didn’t even know that the Bucs beat the Eagles in their first ever playoff game.
in?their first-ever playoff appearance,? the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-17.? That was December 29, 1979.
Plus, the Phillies are the only American pro team to LOSE 10,000 games.? They blame it all on some?Curse of William Penn.??No?wonder?the Jan Brady of Northeast Cities has the least happy fans.
Anyway, in both hockey and football, Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia has become quite a fun rivalry.? And now a Tampa Bay team has the opportunity to beat a Philadelphia team in baseball, too.? It all starts Wednesday.
At least we have That One on our side.
Over a week ago, Barack Obama, a diehard White Sox fan, pledged his support in these MLB playoffs to the Phillies. His reasoning was this:
?I think that I?m going to have to root for Philly potentially because my campaign manager is a fanatical Phillies fan and I don?t want him mad at me for the next few weeks.?
Go Phillies
I still can’t believe the Phillies are in the World Series. ?
One thing that is kind of funny, my traffic spikes every time Cole pitches because of this article I wrote in 07. ?I guess there are a lot of Cole and Heidi Hamels fans out there.
Phillies Go Up 3-1
The Phillies are one game away from the World Series. ?Who is ready to tear down William Penn’s statue and put up Shane Victorino?
Kyle Kendrick gets punked
Amazingly, he seemed ok with getting traded!
Phils Can’t Get it Done
Well, looks like the Phillies are now down 0-2 in the playoffs against the Rockies. It’s hard to come back from that in a five game series, but it would be nice to see them take at least one of the games in Colorado.
In other news, this was a really nice gesture by the Rockies
The widow of Rockies minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who died after getting hit by a line drive this season, will be granted a full share of the team’s playoff winnings after a team vote.
Coolbaugh, who is 32 and pregnant, won’t attend Saturday’s Game 3 of the NLDS between the Phillies and Rockies at Coors Field. But her two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, will be in attendance and will throw out the first pitch.
Phillies Win the NL East
It’s been 14 long years since my freshman year of high school when the Phillies made the playoffs and eventually made it to the world series. I was a big baseball fan then, but the 1994 baseball strike and a string of absolutely horrendous records made yardwork look like a more exciting hobby. Baseball nearly died in this town.
Jimmy Rollins, thanking Jesus for 20 triples and hating the Mets
Walk around today, and you can’t go more than a few blocks without seeing an Utley, Howard, or Rollins shirt. Everyone knows by now the unlikely story of how the Mets totally blew it and the Phillies surged to victory, but people outside of the area have no idea how strange it is to hear people talking about baseball in October.
I know it’s been a while since our team was in the playoffs, but do they always have games at these RIDICULOUS times? 3:00PM Wednesday? 10:00PM Sunday night?
Phillies Win, Mets Continue to Lose
Wow. It must suck to be a Mets fan right now. The NL East is all tied up now.
Is This Thing On?
The Tease I mean. Ouch:
I shouldn’t be surprised the Phillies won’t be making the playoffs this year, but I always am. I’ve never seen a Phillies team hit this well, but it still won’t make up for bad pitching. The only starters I’d like to see back next year are Hamels and Kendrick. Myers isn’t bad, but I couldn’t care less if they unloaded that dirt bag.
Utley, Burrel, and Howard are all having good years, but everyone seems to be getting on the Rollins4MVP bandwagon. From philly.com:
Rollins entered yesterday on pace to have 210 hits, 141 runs, 40 doubles, 19 triples, 30 home runs, 93 RBIs and 33 stolen bases.
Just seven players in baseball history have hit .290 with 200 hits, 125 runs, 35 doubles, 15 triples, 25 home runs and 90 RBIs in a season: Earl Averill (1936), Joe DiMaggio (1936 and 1937), Lou Gehrig (1927 and 1930), Chuck Klein (1932), Stan Musial (1948), Babe Ruth (1921) and Al Simmons (1930).
Each of those seven resides in the Hall of Fame.
Phils Sweep Mets
The Phillies took the Mets down four games in a row! Pat Burrel with two home runs? As someone I work with said today, the tease is on.
You have to like Kevin Kernan’s article in the NY Daily News a few days ago. (found via 700 Level)
August 26, 2007 — MEMO to Jimmy Rollins: The best team won.
Yes, it’s still the dog days of August and the Mets have to travel to beautiful Philadelphia tomorrow, but the NL East race is over. Though the Yankees are fighting for their playoff souls, the Mets are merrily on their way to another October.
This really wasn’t much of a race.
Whoops!