Beloved Manuel makes Series special

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies' celebration was in full bloom as midnight ET approached Wednesday. Players and fans were giddy with excitement out on the cold Citizens Bank Park field, embracing each other, screaming and yelling, and celebrating the team's first World Series championship in 28 years.

The usual champagne squirting and dousing was picking up momentum in the players' sanctuary. In a more sane hallway leading to the clubhouse, Charlie Manuel was telling friends how happy he was to finally win a World Series. He hadn't yet walked into the clubhouse to join the party.

Just as a TV camera's light flashed on, virtually blinding the skipper for a second or two, closer Brad Lidge -- with a baseball in his hand and followed closely by catcher Carlos Ruiz -- pushed his way through a rapidly growing media mob to get at Manuel.

Lidge stuck his hand between me and a couple other reporters to reach the manager.

"It's for you," a hoarse Lidge said. "Carlos and I have been fighting over it. We decided you should have it."

There was a trace of tearing in Charlie's bright blue eyes as he took the ball.

"That's Mr. Perfect," Manuel said to me, referring to Lidge's 48-for-48 saves docket for the season.

"How about that?" he added, staring at the precious gift and visibly moved.

It was the ball Lidge threw past the Tampa Bay Rays' Eric Hinske, sealing the 4-3 victory and igniting a Philadelphia celebration that will continue until we're all knee-deep in snow. Lidge thought Ruiz, his catcher, should have it. Ruiz said Lidge, the relief ace, should keep it.

And it could be just as important to 64-year-old Manuel as the long-coveted World Series ring he'll soon wear -- or the $300,000 winning share that will be in the mail before Christmas.

There could never be a more obvious gesture that shows the respect and love the players have for "Chuck."

I watched the Phillies lose the 1950 World Series to the Yankees in four games. I lived through the Great Collapse of '64, which I thought was exorcised when the Phillies became champions in the '80 Series.

I chronicled their loss to Baltimore in 1983 and Joe Carter's devastating home run in '93 that gave the Toronto Blue Jays a second consecutive World Series trophy.

But of all the 44 World Series that I've covered as a reporter, 2008 is special. Charlie Manuel made it special.

The National League Manager of the Year Award will be announced on Nov. 12, and I doubt Manuel will get it -- which is the ultimate injustice.

The Phillies wouldn't be poised for Friday's parade down Broad Street if it weren't for Good Ole' Charlie.

"He was so important for us," said shortstop Jimmy Rollins. "No question, the players have great respect for him."

On the golf course one afternoon late in the season, Charlie seemed concerned his players weren't showing the same determination that carried them to the 2007 National League East title.

Maybe it was time to send them a not-so-subtle message.

"When I get mad, I have a tremendous temper," Manuel said. "People say they haven't seen it, and it's good they don't see it. I can get my message across. At the same time, I think my players see my love for the game and my passion -- how much I pull for them. I want to give them comfort to play and succeed."

Rollins is one of Charlie's favorite players because of how the shortstop approaches the game. But on two occasions during the season, Manuel benched the 2007 NL MVP. Charlie's dugout confrontation with an unhappy Brett Myers in front of TV cameras is legendary.

So, just when it looked like his Phillies were going to falter down the stretch, they played their best baseball of the season. They won 25 of their last 30 games, including 11 of 14 in the postseason.

Manuel has a knack for getting the most out of his players. He has an uncanny ability to make sometimes questionable moves that make him look like a genius.

When Game 5 was resumed Wednesday night after the 46-hour "rain delay," he chose slumping Geoff Jenkins to pinch-hit for pitcher Cole Hamels. Jenkins, hitless in the World Series, smashed a double to right field and eventually scored to give the Phillies a quick 3-2 lead.

"I had faith in Jenkins against Grant Balfour," Manuel said. "They both played for Milwaukee last year."

Charlie is especially adroit at handling his bullpen, which led the NL during the regular season with a 3.22 ERA and a .589 winning percentage. The bullpen hasn't lost a game since Sept. 3.

He'll never admit it, but I have a hunch Charlie had an inner feeling the Phillies were going to give him his first World Series championship after his 46 years in the baseball.

At dinner one night as the postseason was about to get under way, Manuel remarked about his confidence in the team.

"I think we're going to be OK," he said. "I'm not worried about this team."

On the eve of the NL Championship Series against Los Angeles, Manuel's 87-year-old mother, June, suffered a massive heart attack. She died three days later.

"I talked to her all the time on the phone," he said. "I'd be sitting in my office before a game and she would call. The day before she died, she called me. 'Pray for me,' she said. I told her, 'I will. And you pray for us.' She said, 'Don't worry, son.'"

When Manuel walked onto the field for Wednesday's postgame ceremony, fans waved red-and-white towels and chanted "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," a tribute to Philadelphia's newest folk hero.

"That really made me feel good," he said modestly. "It means everything to me."

When somebody asked what he thought his mother would have said after the greatest victory of his life, there was little hesitation.

"I think she'd be hollering and laughing," he said. "And I think she'd be telling us how good a team I had and all that stuff."

He rambled, as he can do, about when you wear a World Series ring "everybody always wants to see the ring." Once you win a World Series, you become a winner.

"And you know, when somebody asks me what I want to be known as, I want to be known as a winner," Manuel said. "That kind of tells the whole story."

Which is what Charlie Manuel is -- and was long before Wednesday night.

All that victory did was make more people aware.

Best 'pen will write ending to Game 5

PHILADELPHIA -- It's strange, it's weird, it's unprecedented. But it's also baseball.

Game 5 of the World Series was suspended by rain and has been postponed again by rain. We're in territory here that is both uncharted and extremely wet. But when Game 5 is resumed -- and it eventually will be resumed -- it will come down to something as basic as a battle of the bullpens.

When we last left the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays, they were very damp and tied at 2-2 after the top of the sixth inning on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. The suspension at that point meant that Phillies starter Cole Hamels, at 4-0 the best pitcher of this postseason, would be unavailable for the resumption of Game 5.

The people looking at that as a positive turn of events were the Rays.

"That's a pretty good feeling, obviously," Rays manager Joe Maddon said in a teleconference on Tuesday. "He has been so good, and to scratch out the runs that we've had has been very difficult. Of course, their bullpen has been magnificent, also. So it's not going to be an easy task by any means. But we have a lot of our bullpen fresh, now, too. So getting him out is important.

"I think us coming back like we did and sitting on it for a day or two possibly could weigh in our favor a little bit. I'm not sure yet. But I think the most important part of it is that both bullpens are rested. There's no telling what's going to happen at this point."

Hamels had given up two runs in six innings on Monday night. This was well above his postseason norm because he had a 1.55 ERA in the playoffs. But he was still working efficiently, with 75 pitches through six innings.

"I felt like he definitely was on course to go like at least seven innings, more like eight," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said in his own teleconference. "He was our best pitcher, and we were going to try to get the most out of him, of course."

GAME 5 SUSPENSIONCommissioner Selig cited rule 4.12(a)(6) in explaining the suspension of Game 5. According to the rule, enacted for the 2007 season, any official game halted with the score tied "shall become a suspended game that must be completed at a future date."

In this scenario, rule 4.12(c) for suspended games is enacted: "A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup."

Prior to 1980, a game called due to inclement weather would have reverted back to the beginning of the inning, with the Phillies leading, 2-1, since Philadelphia did not bat in the bottom of the inning. In 1980, the "reverting back" was discontinued and the game was henceforth declared a suspended game. Rule 4.12(a)(6) was added after the 2006 season so that any game suspended after becoming official would be declared a suspended game. Therefore, Game 5 will resume with the score tied at 2.

With Rays starter Scott Kazmir out of the game, the scene will shift to the two bullpens. With any luck, this will happen on Wednesday night, the date tentatively set for the resumption of Game 5.

This is where the Phillies have an edge on anybody. Setup man Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge have a combined postseason ERA of 1.33, and Lidge remains perfect in save opportunities for the calendar year, converting 47 of 47. Tampa Bay's bullpen has also been a strength, even more so now with the arrival of rookie David Price, but the Philadelphia bullpen has been peerless.

"I think the way it sets up right now is we've got a good bullpen," Manuel said. "And I feel like we feel like we're strong, and we can win and we're going to be ready to play the game. And I think it definitely looks like for us it's going to be a bullpen game."

Also in the Phillies' favor is the math, the very simple math, of a game suspended after 5 1/2 innings.

"We get to bat four times, they get to bat three," Manuel said. "We get 12 outs, they get nine."

On the Rays' side of the issue, two middle-of-the-order mainstays in their lineup seem to have awakened. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria were a combined 0-for-29 in the Series coming into this game, but Longoria had a hit and an RBI in Game 5 and Pena had two hits and the RBI that tied the score at 2. If these two are truly back at anything like their usual level, that's a huge lift for the Rays.

Everybody guesses about the effects that this first suspended World Series game will have. But nobody really knows. Will the players be rested and refreshed and at perfect competitive pitch when the series resumes? Or will they be out of sorts with the whole deal? Or will one team be rested and refreshed and the other team out of sorts? We just have to wait for the rain to stop so that we can see for sure.

The resumption of Game 5 will not be like any other World Series game you have seen, because no other World Series game you have seen has started in the bottom of the sixth inning. It should be one of the most dramatic chapters in World Series history. Now, if we can just get the rain to make some room for the drama.

"You know, it's kind of like overtime in a sense, I guess," Maddon said. "Or 'sudden victory,' as Curt Gowdy would say."

This will be a brand new October experience for baseball. But it will be the same as ever in another way. This Fall Classic outcome will depend on the pitching. But because it will begin in the bottom of the sixth, it will depend on the relievers, rather than the starters.

Gillick's method produced success

The success of the Philadelphia Phillies this season is a story that is being saluted by veteran baseball scouts in every Major League organization.

The reason is rather basic -- no general manager has been a bigger booster of scouting through the years than Phillies general manager Pat Gillick.

Through 51 years in professional baseball and 27 seasons as a general manager, Gillick has relied heavily on individual scouts and his scouting departments.

During a period when he is rightfully proclaimed as a Hall of Fame candidate, Gillick shuns the spotlight and praises his scouts and other baseball development people.

That's the reason why Pat Gillick has been one of the most successful and respected general managers in history.

If you were to use a Gillick method to get a scouting report on Gillick himself, you would turn to the people who know him best.

That's why I asked two long-time Gillick associates, Gordon Lakey and Don Welke, to give me a report on the man behind the success of this year's Phillies.

"When you are a part of an organization where Pat is the general manager, the first thing you realize is that it's not really about Pat, it's about the organization and the goals of the organization," said Lakey. "You never have the feeling of working for Pat; you work with Pat. He creates that type of environment."

Lakey was a trusted scout for Gillick with the Blue Jays from 1985 until 1996 and has been with the Phillies since 1998. You can be assured before Gillick took the GM job with the Phillies in November of 2005 he got a full rundown on the team and the organization from Lakey. Gillick simply doesn't do anything without having the best possible information at hand.

The first scout and one of the few that Gillick added to the Phillies' staff when he took the GM job was Welke. No surprise here. Welke was with Toronto during all of Gillick's 17 years with the Blue Jays from 1978-1994 and then spent three seasons with him in Baltimore from 1996-98.

After helping Gillick get under way with the Phillies in 2006, Welke moved on to the Texas Rangers.

"The interesting thing about Pat is that he has never taken a lot of people with him when he has moved from Toronto to Baltimore to Seattle and now to Philadelphia," said Welke.

"The thing he has done is to work well with the people who have already been in the organization. He understands there are good and hard-working people in every organization and he has the ability to bring them together with a common goal and focus," said Welke.

Welke's point is very well taken when one considers that a number of general managers come into a new situation and begin to make significant changes as opposed to tapping into the talent that already is present.

"Pat is a very humble man and he really relies on the people around him," said Welke. "Even though he is a great evaluator of talent he seldom makes a statement about a player in a meeting with his scouts. What he does do is to listen very well. He always is seeking information and asking for opinions."

The scouts who know Gillick best say there are three areas that are of great interest to the veteran general manager when he is considering acquiring a player -- how has the player been performing; what is the makeup of the player; and what is the health of the player.

If all of that seems rather basic, it really strikes to the philosophy of Gillick. He believes in his scouts and he believes in hard work and dedication. He believes in supporting his scouts and giving credit to his scouts while preferring to stand in the background.

In an era when some general managers are half the age of the 71-year-old Gillick and rely heavily on computers, the man leading the Phillies has struck a note in favor of experience and great scouting values.

It's about time we hear a cheer for the "old guys" who have dedicated their lives to the game they both understand and love.

Alvarez showcases talent for Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' now-storied first-round Draft pick, recently finished his introductory taste of professional baseball. And needless to say, he left encouraging signs behind.

"He is as advertised," said farm director Kyle Stark, who headed the organization's one-month instructional league workouts in Bradenton, Fla. "[Scouting director] Greg [Smith] always says you should be able to tell who the first-round Draft picks are, and when you see [Alvarez] play, that's the case. He has a very business-like approach. He wants to get after things."

After agreeing to a four-year Major League contract on Sept. 24, Alvarez joined other players from the June First-Year Player Draft to participate in supervised workouts and game play. His short time in Bradenton gave the organization its first opportunity to work hands-on with the former Vanderbilt third baseman.

Alvarez had been working out primarily on his own during the interim period between leaving college and signing with the club.

"It was his first taste of professional ball, so he had to adjust to it," Stark said. "He had to work to get back into playing shape, but the bat speed was there, quickness was there and the tools were there like we expected."

While relatively informal in structure, the instructional league offered Stark and other coaches the opportunity to assess Alvarez's physical conditioning following the layoff. Stark said that Alvarez did arrive in satisfactory playing shape, but that the focus this offseason will be for Alvarez to continue to improve on that conditioning.

"His goal now is to be ready to go for Spring Training," Stark said. "He's got a specific routine and specific strength and conditioning program until then."

Between now and February, Alvarez will spend most of the winter at Vanderbilt, where he will have the equipment and facilities necessary to conduct his conditioning program. While the Pirates had held onto an outside possibility of Alvarez playing organized winter ball somewhere, that is now out of the question.

The No. 2 overall pick will be invited to the Pirates' Major League camp in February, though he is expected to start the year at one of Pittsburgh's two Class A clubs. Alvarez's instructional league showing wasn't used to determine his exact placement, as that will come this spring.

"We haven't had enough time to spend with him to be able to identify areas that we need to specifically target yet," Stark said. "The focus with Pedro is physically that he is ready to go the start of next year. This was a crash course, and next spring is really when we'll delve into the evaluation process."

Weather leaves Series fit to be tied

PHILADELPHIA -- Like much of the rest of life, what happened at Game 5 of the 2008 World Series can be summed up by a Bob Dylan lyric:

You don't need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows.

For those of you keeping score at home, that was from "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Admittedly, "Rainin' in My Heart," as sung by Slim Harpo, would also have worked in this context, but in life, you have to make tough choices.

Major League Baseball employs three weather services. For what happened at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, the meteorologists went 0-for-3.

Relatively benign conditions were forecast: light rains, the kind of thing that would allow a potentially decisive Game 5 of the World Series to be played to its natural conclusion. Instead, heavier rains moved in and stayed in, eventually making the field unplayable.

With the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays tied at 2 after the top of the sixth, the game was suspended. It will be resumed, well, whenever the weather gets better. Much better.

The forecast for Tuesday and Tuesday night calls for equally crummy conditions: continuing rain accompanied by lower temperatures. Nice.

"We'll stay here if we have to celebrate Thanksgiving here," said Commissioner Bud Selig.

The game, he said, "will be resumed when I believe that the weather conditions are appropriate. We are not going to resume until we have decent weather conditions."

Taken literally, anyone familiar with the Philadelphia climate might believe that statement means that the game will be resumed next May. But that's not what the Commissioner meant. The short-term local forecasts are not at all good, but no one is calling for rainfall of Biblical proportions. We can get this game in before winter.

Nobody wanted it to end like this, or more precisely, be suspended like this. The World Series is supposed to be baseball's finest hour. What we had here was merely baseball's soggiest hour.

GAME 5 SUSPENSIONCommissioner Bud Selig cited rule 4.12a, section 6, in explaining the suspension of Game 5. According to the rule, "a game shall become a suspended game that must be completed at a future date" for a number of reasons, with section 6 specifying "a regulation game that is called with the score tied."

In this scenario, the rule (4.12c) for suspended games is enacted: "A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup."

Prior to the introduction of this rule following the 2006 season, the suspended game would have reverted back to the beginning of the inning, with the Phillies leading 2-1, since Philadelphia did not bat in the bottom of the inning. But that is no longer the case and therefore Game 5 will resume with the score tied at 2. You can blame the fates when something like this occurs. Or you can blame the meteorologists. The decision to play, Selig said, was based on a forecast for very light rain. "Had the forecast held, we would have been OK," he said.

"If I told you tonight what I think of meteorologists, and what they tell me may happen tomorrow -- " Selig said, choosing not to complete that thought in public.

Later, asked to name the three weather services used by Major League Baseball, the Commissioner declined. But even in his refusal to name names, Selig managed to work in another criticism.

"The interesting part is that they were all three optimistic tonight," he said. "I don't want to get into a discussion of weather services. I used to bang them enough when I ran the Brewers, so I'm not going to do that tonight."

Those of us who reported on Selig when he was president of the Milwaukee club, can testify that, yes, vehement complaints about incorrect weather forecasts were indeed a staple of Selig's presidency. It was subsequently no accident that Selig campaigned for more than a decade to get a retractable-roof ballpark for Milwaukee. What Selig wanted was a ballpark that was not only weather-proof, but weather-forecast-proof. Today, Miller Park stands in part as a tribute to Selig's distrust of weather forecasts.

As the evening wore on, it became apparent that the outcome of the World Series should not be decided in a quagmire. There were safety issues, and, as umpire Tim Tschida put it, "the game runs the risk of being comical. We never reached that point."

The best thing about Monday night, in retrospect, was that no one was seriously injured. The second best thing was that the 2-2 score meant that neither team had gained a substantial edge in the saturated conditions.

The Phillies got a bad break, because, unless we wait until Saturday for the Series to be resumed, their ace, Cole Hamels, will not be available. Hamels has been the best pitcher of this postseason, but he put in six innings on Monday night. Phillies general manager Pat Gillick was generous enough to point out that "one of the strengths of our club is the bullpen."

Game 5 paused as a tie, but the entire thing was sort of Mother Nature defeating the Phillies, the Rays, MLB and, of course, the weather persons.

As far as a Dylan reference wrapping up this whole thing, hardcore fans would suggest "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." True, that was the first Dylan song that came to mind. But I just didn't think that visions of civilization ending in nuclear fallout were needed for a game suspended by rain. True, it was a really big game suspended by rain, but this was not the end of the world. It was just another valid reminder of the thing about the weatherman and the wind.

Music video highlights: WS Game 4

The Phillies dominated the Rays in Game 4 of the 2008 World Series on Sunday night, winning 10-2 on the strength of big games from Joe Blanton on the mound and off (the first homer of his career) and Ryan Howard (two homers).

The Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the Fall Classic and can close out the Rays on Monday if Cole Hamels does what he did in Game 1. Meanwhile, the Rays will try to pull off a stunning comeback by winning the final game in Philly to take it back for two more at their home of Tropicana Field.

The Phillie-laden highlights from Sunday's rout are all right here for you to recall. Check them out while listening to the sounds of "I'm Amazed" by My Morning Jacket.

MLB.com/Entertainment is all over Rocktober, with daily videos featuring the best baseball highlights of October set to music by stars including Santana, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Wayne, and more. Keep checking back for your daily dose of Rocktober.

WORLD SERIES
• WS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Blanton, Howard dominate in 10-2 win
• WS Game 3, feat. Calendar for Preston
Back home Phillies outlast Rays
• WS Game 2, featuring Pillar
Rays sting Phillies, tie series
• WS Game 1, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Hamels helps Phils capture first Series win

WORLD SERIES PREVIEW
• Phillies vs. Rays, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Youth carries the day in 2008

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• ALCS Game 7, featuring Jet Black Stare
The Rays make it to the Fall Classic
• ALCS Game 6, featuring Santana
Boston rides veterans to victory
• ALCS Game 5, featuring Santana
BoSox strike back, series will go to Game 6
• NLCS Game 5, feat. Graham Colton
Hamels and friends head to World Series
• ALCS Game 4, feat. Calendar for Preston
Rays inch closer to Fall Classic
• NLCS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Phillies take control of series
• ALCS Game 3, feat. My Morning Jacket
Rays sting BoSox with crushing win
• NLCS Game 3, featuring Santana
Dodgers win their first game of the series
• ALCS Game 2, featuring Dave Barnes
Upton helps tie Rays, BoSox series
• ALCS Game 1, featuring Seguida
BoSox win kicks off another ACLS
• NLCS Game 2, featuring Seguida
Myers backs up Phillies A-list hitting
• NLCS Game 1, featuring Graham Colton
Burrell, Utley homer Phils to victory

For more postseason highlights, click here.

Music video highlights: WS Game 2

Game 2 of the 2008 World Series is in the books, and we've got a true Fall Classic in the making. The Tampa Bay Rays held serve at home and evened the Series at a game apiece after beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, on Thursday night. They now travel to Philly for Game 3 on Saturday.

In the meantime, we'll revisit the highlights of Game 3 to the sounds of Pillar's "For the Love of the Game," and there was plenty to love for Rays fans on Thursday. Tampa Bay starter "Big Game" James Shields threw over five innings of shutout ball, repeatedly killing Phillie rallies.

B.J. Upton, Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria drove in runs, and young David Price gave up a few runs but still slammed the door on Philadelphia when it counted.

MLB.com/Entertainment is all over Rocktober, with daily videos featuring the best baseball highlights of October set to music by stars including Santana, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Wayne, and more. Keep checking back for your daily dose of Rocktober.

WORLD SERIES
• WS Game 2, featuring Pillar
Rays sting Phillies, tie series
• WS Game 1, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Hamels helps Phils capture first Series win

WORLD SERIES PREVIEW
• Phillies vs. Rays, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Youth carries the day in 2008

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• ALCS Game 7, featuring Jet Black Stare
The Rays make it to the Fall Classic
• ALCS Game 6, featuring Santana
Boston rides veterans to victory
• ALCS Game 5, featuring Santana
BoSox strike back, series will go to Game 6
• NLCS Game 5, feat. Graham Colton
Hamels and friends head to World Series
• ALCS Game 4, feat. Calendar for Preston
Rays inch closer to Fall Classic
• NLCS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Phillies take control of series
• ALCS Game 3, feat. My Morning Jacket
Rays sting BoSox with crushing win
• NLCS Game 3, featuring Santana
Dodgers win their first game of the series
• ALCS Game 2, featuring Dave Barnes
Upton helps tie Rays, BoSox series
• ALCS Game 1, featuring Seguida
BoSox win kicks off another ACLS
• NLCS Game 2, featuring Seguida
Myers backs up Phillies A-list hitting
• NLCS Game 1, featuring Graham Colton
Burrell, Utley homer Phils to victory

For more postseason highlights, click here.

Culture shock just what Rays needed

PHILADELPHIA -- The numbers explain everything in baseball, except when they don't.

To understand the soaring, stratospheric rise of the Tampa Bay Rays, the numbers don't quite suffice. To go from 10 consecutive seasons that never rose much above the level of dismal, to losing 96 games in 2007 and winning 97 this year and to now be in Game 3 of the World Series with no worse than an even chance of winning it all, there is more going on than runs, hits, errors and on-base percentage.

The catchphrase for the fundamental alteration of a baseball team's intangibles is "changing the culture." This is a job as large as the phrase suggests.

The primary architect in the case of the Rays' culture change is manager Joe Maddon. He has already won some American League Manager of the Year Awards. He will win more. Other skippers will vote for him. Baseball writers will vote for him. Members of the American electorate at large might write him in for the presidential election if they don't like the major-party candidates. He doesn't seek out accolades, but they are finding him anyway. Three more victories for the Rays this week, and there should be a definitive biography, a movie, at least a miniseries, dealing with Maddon, a blend of working-class values and the tireless pursuit of better information.

Maddon knew when he took over the Rays that there had to be more at work than just the obvious physical improvements.

"First of all, for me to change the culture, again, it goes so much further than, 'Well, we played a good game last night, a nice defensive game, we caught the ball and threw to the right bases primarily and good at-bats,'" Maddon said. "But it comes down, when you've been so bad for so long, that if you just try to become better physically, I think, is absolutely insane.

"We needed to change the way we think, period. And for me, that is the accountability. That is about trust. Nothing, nothing, no group or organization works without trust. So I thought we totally were a low-trust organization. There was no accountability whatsoever. There was no consistency from what I can gather. So for me, if I wanted to create a mission statement, it would be about accountability, consistency, trust, and those are the factors that permit you in a relationship ... permit you to take something to turn it into something good.

"I kept talking about fundamentals, which I totally believe in, you know that. I really knew that to get it to change, you had to change people and the way people thought. So that was our biggest challenge, I thought."

His task was helped immeasurably, Maddon said, by the arrival this year of two veterans -- Troy Percival and Cliff Floyd -- who came on board practicing exactly what the manager was preaching. They had automatic standing, they had notable careers, and they were about the same kind of accountability and professionalism that the manager wanted.

"I didn't envision 2008. I'm not going to sit here and pretend. I knew we'd be better this year, but to be here today was not a part of my original thought of what we could do." -- Manager Joe Maddon, on Rays' quick success

"So all of a sudden you have these two guys with great pedigrees that walk into your clubhouse and validate most everything you're attempting to do," Maddon said.

For the players who were with the Rays last season, the change in attitude was already occurring in 2007, but it wasn't translating into results.

"Even though we were not doing so well in the standings, I saw that there were many good things going on as far as that was concerned," first baseman Carlos Pena said on Friday before the Rays' workout at Citizens Bank Park. "But it started last year, just the way we got along, the way we played together, how much fun we had and the young energy of this ballclub. And that's where it all started.

"And it's only a matter of time before it actually materializes on the field as wins. And this year is proof of that. So it's very satisfying to actually see it come into being."

After the culture of the Rays was changed, with accountability and trust replacing a built-in defeatism, the tangible improvements could make their presence felt. And they made their presence felt more rapidly and more completely than anybody could have anticipated.

"Honestly, I didn't think it was going to happen this quickly," Maddon said in his Citizens Bank Park session with the media on Friday. "I thought, maybe by 2009, you'd see some really significant changes, and hopefully by 2010, I'd be here, I'd be talking to you like this.

"It came a lot more quickly. The pitching really took off. I mean, the pitching really got a lot better, a lot sooner. The bullpen was phenomenal this year. You know about the athletes offensively and on defense, etc., but the pitching side of the game really came along a lot more quickly and effectively. And that's why we're sitting here today, because of the starting and the bullpen and, of course, the defense, which you saw the other day. We scored runs and we played good defense and pitched.

"I didn't envision 2008. I'm not going to sit here and pretend. I knew we'd be better this year, but to be here today was not a part of my original thought of what we could do."

And yet, this is what the 2008 Rays can do. There is no doubt that they are better in every tangible category than they used to be, particularly in the most important one, pitching.

But they are also three victories away from a World Series championship, because they changed the way they thought of themselves as a unit. They found the trust, the accountability, the collective will -- the characteristics that separate winners from wannabes, just as surely as pitching, hitting and defense.

Now, with all of this positive movement being generated, Maddon, with a transformed team on his hands, can, as he suggests, largely stay out of the way.

"It was a matter of identifying what needed to be changed, and going about attempting to change it, from our perspective -- manager, coaching staff, front office. But then you need the guys within the [locker] room," Maddon said. "I'm a big believer in letting that room function as it wants to in a positive direction. You've got to keep grounded as you're spinning the right way. But you need the right kind of people to make it happen.

"I truly try to stay out of their way as much as I possibly can. I don't want to impact the clubhouse when it's running this well. I attempted to impact it when it was running poorly, but when it's running well, it's because of the people in that group and the impact they have.

"And that's where we're at. It's no big secret. It's not brain surgery, brain science, rocket science. It's just about some good old-fashioned, I think, work ethic and values, and being cognizant of it and then getting the right people to make it turn."

It may sound simple, but this can be one of the most difficult aspects of any team undertaking. What puts the Rays on the doorstep of a World Series championship, what makes "Joe Maddon, Manager of the Year," is the shared understanding that having the right intangible qualities are as important to a baseball team as having the necessary tangible talent.

Maddon had great mentor in Mauch

ST. PETERSBURG -- Gene Mauch was a thinking man's manager -- bright, alert, tremendously schooled in baseball's most minute details. When Mauch spoke, you listened.

Joe Maddon first met Mauch in the 1980s during Gene's first tour as manager of the California Angels.

Mauch obviously saw something special in the young Maddon, a struggling Minor League catcher who would never make it to the Major Leagues. As a player.

Now, as Maddon manages the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series he often recalls many of the lessons Mauch, who died in August 2005, instilled in him.

You can't find a better mentor.

I was a young, green-as-could-be reporter in the 1960s, and it was Mauch who went out of his way to teach me the nuances of baseball, the sport I thought I knew a lot about but really didn't.

You never walked away from Mauch knowing less about baseball than you did before. He made certain of that because he was baseball 24 hours a day.

He taught me to appreciate the cerebral part of managing.

I see a lot of Gene Mauch in Joe Maddon -- sometimes the unorthodox moves which are difficult to explain, the demanding, almost coaxing ability to get the most out of the young, enormously talented Rays, and his ability to reduce the most complicated issue to simplistic terms.

An hour after the Rays lost their first World Series game to the Phillies, 3-2, on Wednesday, I sat alone with Maddon in his Tropicana Field office and talked about the influence Mauch had on him.

It was well after midnight and maybe this wasn't the best time to look back to the early years that molded Maddon as one of baseball's best managers, but after we were deep into the conversation, I believe it helped soothe the excruciating loss.

"In 1981, 1982, I'd go to Spring Training with the Angels as a grunt. I'd throw batting practice and catch pitchers," Maddon said. "Gene would always want me to throw to the better hitters and really took care of me."

Outside his office, the Rays were going through their post-mortems engulfed by the huge media contingent.

Maddon glanced out through the door, content the situation was in hand.

My guess is he wondered how Mauch, who endured huge setbacks and never guided any of his four teams (Phillies, Expos, Twins, Angels) to the World Series, would handle this.

Maddon, out of Hazleton, Pa., was signed as a free agent catcher by the Angels in 1975. He bounced around the Minors for nearly five years before refocusing his career on scouting and ultimately managing.

Between 1984-93, he was the Angels' coordinator of the Arizona Instructional League.

"On occasion, Gene would throw little thoughts at me that stuck," said Maddon. "For example, and this one really stands out and has probably helped me the most here, he told me I had created a great atmosphere in the Instructional League in 1984. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he made me stop and think about it. He was talking about relationship building, organizational skills -- all the other outside peripheral things I was doing but didn't realize how important they were."

Strategy was another subject.

"The way I describe him is that he was dripping with common sense," said Maddon. "He saw the most simple things that most people missed. He would haphazardly tell me different items."

Tapping on his head, Maddon adds, "I can't remember them all, but I know they're in here and part of what I do. Primarily, he was a guy who reduced complexities into simple matters."

Early in his career, Mauch had the bullpens switched at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium. Instead of having the Phillies bullpen down the foul line from their dugout, he wanted it down the other foul line.

"So I can look out from the dugout and see the pitchers warming up," he said.

It was Mauch who perfected the double-switch when he replaced a pitcher. If the pitcher was due up to bat in the next half-inning, he'd put a hitter in that spot so he could bat in the normal spot for the pitcher and not waste the pitcher if a pinch-hitter was needed.

"The thing that was misconstrued about Gene was that he had such a rough exterior," said Maddon. "People thought he was real gruff and not approachable. For me, he was just the opposite. He actually liked my sense of humor. He'd let me in his office all the time and we'd just talk about stuff."

Maddon spent 12 years in the Minor Leagues as a manager and instructor before he was promoted to the Angels as their bullpen coach in 1994. A year later, he became first-base coach, was interim manager three times, and was bench coach for 10 seasons before Tampa Bay hired him prior to the 2006 season.

He fine-tuned his skills under Angels skipper Mike Scioscia, another excellent mentor, the last six years there.

As this World Series picks up steam, I know before it's over I'll see moves that'll remind me of Gene Mauch.

Mauch would often become irritated if his pitchers threw strikes with an 0-2 count.

"Something else he loved was first-pitch breaking balls," remembered Maddon. "I've always liked that because it can pretty much set up an at-bat in favor of the pitcher.

"I just know the influence he had on me. The best way I can describe Gene Mauch for me is if he ever said anything I would never challenge the validity of it. You knew it was right."

Music video highlights: WS Preview

It's the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies, and it's beginning Wednesday night in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It's the World Series, and it's the ultimate Rocktober showdown.

After battling their way through two tense playoff rounds, the Rays and Phillies have won the American and National League pennants and earned tickets to the seven-game Fall Classic.

We've put together a video that captures the highlights of both LCS classics as a preview for the World Series, and we've set it to the sounds of "Where You're Going" by Jimmy Wayne.

MLB.com/Entertainment is all over Rocktober, with daily videos featuring the best baseball highlights of October set to music by stars including Santana, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Wayne, and more. Keep checking back for your daily dose of Rocktober

WORLD SERIES PREVIEW
• Phillies vs. Rays, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Youth carries the day in 2008

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• ALCS Game 7, featuring Jet Black Stare
The Rays make it to the Fall Classic
• ALCS Game 6, featuring Santana
Boston rides veterans to victory
• ALCS Game 5, featuring Santana
BoSox strike back, series will go to Game 6
• NLCS Game 5, feat. Graham Colton
Hamels and friends head to World Series
• ALCS Game 4, feat. Calendar for Preston
Rays inch closer to Fall Classic
• NLCS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Phillies take control of series
• ALCS Game 3, feat. My Morning Jacket
Rays sting BoSox with crushing win
• NLCS Game 3, featuring Santana
Dodgers win their first game of the series
• ALCS Game 2, featuring Dave Barnes
Upton helps tie Rays, BoSox series
• ALCS Game 1, featuring Seguida
BoSox win kicks off another ACLS
• NLCS Game 2, featuring Seguida
Myers backs up Phillies A-list hitting
• NLCS Game 1, featuring Graham Colton
Burrell, Utley homer Phils to victory

For more postseason highlights, click here.

Fresh matchup offers must-see baseball

ST. PETERSBURG -- This World Series may not be the best thing for the business of baseball. But it should be very good for the game of baseball.

This is not the World Series matchup that anyone anticipated? Good. It proves that the possibilities of the game are expanding.

What we have here are the two teams, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies, which played the best October baseball in the two leagues, American and National. They deserve to be here. That is all that matters. The rest is gibberish.

You hear a lot of talk about "ratings," as though the game is played primarily to provide successful television programming. This is also definitely not about that and it can be proven.

Ratings took a hit when the Yankees did not reach the postseason. The departure of the Cubs after three games of a Division Series did not help the ratings. The departure of the Dodgers after the NL Championship Series will not help the ratings. The departure of the Red Sox after the AL Championship Series will not help the ratings.

A pattern has emerged here. The biggest-market clubs are not winning. This is not a crisis. This is growing parity. This is increased competitive balance. This is baseball in the new millennium. It is better than it used to be.

For business purposes, nobody liked the 1991 Atlanta/Minnesota World Series at first blush, either. Then it turned out to be one of the most exciting Fall Classics in history, and its viewership grew in proportion to its quality.

The fact that the Phillies have not won a World Series for 28 years and the Rays never won anything, period, until this year, also does not detract one iota from the caliber of this matchup.

The fact that the Rays never won more than 70 games in a single season until this year makes them much more like astounding than suspect. They won 97 games in the regular season. Their home record of 57-25 was the best in the AL. And they are not about to weighed down by the shortcomings of a brief franchise history.

"You know what? The history is history," reliever Grant Balfour said on Tuesday before the Rays workout at Tropicana Field. "And that's the good thing about it. It's history. It's in the past. It's done with.

"We moved on. We even have new uniforms. We like the blue, obviously. We don't like the green so much, or the purple, I guess. Blue's our color, blue and white. And we changed the name, taking the 'Devil' out of there. Maybe it was the name. Who knows? Maybe they should have done it 10 years ago. Maybe we would have won the World Series then. I can't tell.

"There were a lot of people this year who said that if this team won more than 70 games it would be unbelievable. So that's fine, all the talk. We don't mind. We don't worry about anything else. We've got a tight-knit team in here, we know what each individual can do, and we're out to win ballgames."

This is a Tampa Bay team that, if it did not have anybody putting up Manny Ramirez offensive numbers in the regular season, was built around the surest baseball commodities, pitching and defense. As a bonus, the Rays led the AL in steals. They are a fundamentally strong group, period.

The Phillies won the NL East, and led the NL in home runs, but it could easily be argued that improved pitching has led them to their current lofty level. They went a combined 7-2 against Milwaukee and Los Angeles in the two postseason rounds. At this level of competition, that's basically a dominant performance. There is no reason for the Fightin' Phils to change now, particularly since manager Charlie Manuel has supplied them with rubber ducks. The ducks are a code for staying relaxed.

"Before they go out on the field, they look up in their lockers and they see a duck, it means for them to play like they always have," Manuel said on Tuesday. "And we play as hard as we possibly can, and we play for that moment and we take it one day at a time and we plan on coming out winners."

The Phillies can plan on winning in part because they have the single best starting pitcher of the postseason to date, NLCS MVP Cole Hamels. Hamels was 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in the first two rounds.

What Hamels sees, he said on Tuesday, is a very evenly matched World Series.

"I know it's all other people's speculations, but I guess when you look at matchups or just the way that we've played, I think we're very even," Hamels said. "I just think we're very equal. I can't say who to favor. I'm going to pick my side, no doubt. But I think it is going to bring a good, competitive level to this World Series.

It's also a human World Series. The figures here are not larger-than-life. Maybe some of them will become that way over the next week or 10 days, but for now, no, they're humans. And that's a plus, too. We're dealing with people rather than myths.

For instance, Rays manager Joe Maddon, asked on Tuesday about staying relaxed at this most stressful of times, said that "the most difficult part is all this," meaning the media sessions. Maddon figures he has an obligation to keep producing fresh answers to repetitive questions. What a concept. This man is going to be the AL Manager of the Year, that much is absolutely clear, but there ought to be a Nobel Prize in here for trying this hard.

"The other worst part is getting tickets and rooms for your kids in Philadelphia and making sure that your mom is OK," Maddon said. "Those are the tough parts."

This is no time to try to become somebody else, Maddon believes. "Everybody wanted me to make kind of a Knute Rockne speech prior to some of these games with the Red Sox, but that would have been a departure from what I do," Maddon said. "Routine is important to me, being able to have my same workout and staying on the same kind of diet and stuff like that matters. I've been trying to stick with the routine."

The Phillies and the Rays are not the routine World Series clubs. But that is the beauty of this Fall Classic. This is not about reputation, name recognition, familiarity or potential for commercial endorsements. This is about getting here on merit, which the Phillies and the Rays have clearly done.

Far from being some kind of weird historical twist, this is what contemporary baseball can and should be about.

Rollins brings devotion to grand stage

ST. PETERSBURG -- Jimmy Rollins dances to his right a few steps, scoops up the ball and rifles a throw to first base. He repeats the routine with effortless precision two, three, maybe four times.

"It's pretty bouncy," Rollins mutters, describing the artificial turf infield. "The ball never stops bouncing when its gets to the dirt. Hey, sometimes it doesn't bounce at all."

As the Phillies' shortstop goes through a workout ritual the other day at Tropicana Field, it's a mundane drill he's executed thousands and thousands of times. On all types of fields, good and bad.

This time, it's different. Rollins, defending National League MVP, is in the World Series against Tampa Bay, a lifelong dream, if not fantasy, that reaches reality Wednesday night.

Another ball bounces his way, he gloves it and throws a bullet. There's a trace of a smile on his face.

I'd be very surprised if Rollins, 29, isn't thinking back to his childhood in Oakland maybe 20-some years ago when he'd field hundreds of ground balls his dad hit him until he got it right. It was usually dark when father and son finally would call it quits and go home.

"Jimmy's always wanted to be the best at what he does," Gigi Rollins, his mom, says over the phone from the family home in Alameda, Calif., the other day. "He drives himself to be the best."

If the Phillies are going to stall favored Tampa Bay's unbelievable journey to a World Series championship, Rollins will have to be on his game.

As J-Roll goes, so go the Phillies. As their leadoff batter, if he's able to get on base, get key hits, steal a base, play flawless defense, teammates most often follow his lead.

He had just nine hits in 37 at-bats in the Division and League Championship Series, but in each of the deciding games he was instrumental in getting the Phillies off to a fast start. Against the Dodgers, in the clincher last Wednesday, he led off with a homer, setting the stage for a hard-fought victory.

James Rollins Sr. knew his talented son would never become a great fielder by taking ground balls on smooth, well-manicured fields.

So the father would go out of his way to find the roughest fields available in the Oakland area.

"We'd go to the roughest fields because it was a challenge," remembers Jimmy. "He'd always try to find a field that was beat up and let the ball jump around. You catch that ball, and you've got some good hands."

The elder Rollins says there was method to his madness.

"We'd go to places where there were roots in the ground and the ball would take crazy hops," he told me once. "Then, I'd take him to a smooth field to show him the difference. Then, we'd go back to the rough field, and I'd hit it to him pretty hard so he'd be able to take different spins."

Rollins won his first Gold Glove at shortstop during his MVP season. He also took home the coveted Silver Slugger Award.

It was Jimmy's father who also taught him to be a switch-hitter when he was 9.

"I had him hit from the left side only for a year. That's how I started him out," said James Rollins. "One day he came home crying. He said he couldn't hit from his natural [right] side anymore. He thought he'd lost it, but I told him not to worry. I told him he had just converted himself over to a switch-hitter."

But both father and son insist Jimmy's athletic ability comes from his mom, Gigi, who was an outstanding semi-pro softball player in the Oakland area. Like her son, she was an infielder and leadoff hitter.

"She had all the tools and taught him the right way and the wrong way to play the game," said the father.

Often, after he got to the Phillies, Gigi would watch Jimmy on TV, then call him to critique his performance.

Several years ago she kept telling him to take more pitches, be more selective at the plate. Jimmy would argue "that you cannot take away my aggressiveness."

Rollins says, laughing, "after I won the MVP, I think she gave me a pass. Although I'll get a text message now and then."

Mention this to Gigi and her only response over the phone is a long laugh. "Is that what he said?" she asks.

Composing herself, she relates an anecdote about her son, showing how proud she is of him.

"What's so wonderful is he hasn't changed at all," she says. "He's still the same ol' Jimmy, even with all the things that have come his way -- the MVP, the Silver Slugger, the Gold Glove and now he's going to the World Series.

"This is how wonderful he is, and I'm not saying it because he's my son: He has been in contact with a young man in Northern California who has cancer, but is in remission. Jimmy made a video for him, urging him to keep his courage.

"When my husband and I were out on the field [at Dodger Stadium] helping Jimmy celebrate the victory that put the Phillies in the World Series, he stopped right in the middle, turned around to his father and asked if he'd heard from the little boy. Right in the middle of the celebration! We were just blown away; he looked at his father and just asked that. That's an example of how humble he is."

Gigi adds: "This is a moment he's been waiting almost his entire life for, to get to the World Series. It's what he's dreamt of. But to take a moment out of his celebration ..."

Jimmy is one of three children. He has a sister and a younger brother, Antwon, who was in the Texas Rangers Minor League system, but never made it to the Majors.

Gigi once told me she knew early on Jimmy had a special talent.

"He was maybe only a year old when I first started rolling the ball to him," she said. "I'd sit on the stairs in front of the house, and I would roll it. He'd pick it up and roll it back to me."

The Rollins clan will be in the stands for the World Series.

And it goes without saying they'll have a hard time not remembering the skinny little boy who took ground balls by the hour so he'd be the best he could be.

Which for Jimmy Rollins is about as good as it gets.

Music video highlights: ALCS Game 7

The Tampa Bay Rays finally closed out the Boston Red Sox and are World Series-bound for the first time in their 10-year history. They got the job done in a tight, testy Game 7 to finish off the defending World Series champions and will now face the Philadelphia Phillies in the Fall Classic, which begins Wednesday night in St. Petersburg.

There were plenty of highlights in Sunday's Game 7, including Dustin Pedroia's third homer of the postseason, Boston starter Jon Lester and Tampa Bay righty Matt Garza trading dominant innings, the Rays' rally sparked by Evan Longoria, Rocco Baldelli and Willy Aybar, and the dominant relief work of David Price, who shut the Sox down in the eighth and ninth innings.

After their incredible efforts this postseason, the Rays are "Ready to Roll" to the World Series, as these highlights from Game 7, set to Jet Black Stare's song of the same name proves.

MLB.com/Entertainment is all over Rocktober, with daily videos featuring the best baseball highlights of October set to music by stars including Santana, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Wayne, and more. Keep checking back for your daily dose of Rocktober.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• ALCS Game 7, featuring Jet Black Stare
The Rays make it to the Fall Classic
• ALCS Game 6, featuring Santana
Boston rides veterans to victory
• ALCS Game 5, featuring Santana
BoSox strike back, series will go to Game 6
• NLCS Game 5, feat. Graham Colton
Hamels and friends head to World Series
• ALCS Game 4, feat. Calendar for Preston
Rays inch closer to Fall Classic
• NLCS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Phillies take control of series
• ALCS Game 3, feat. My Morning Jacket
Rays sting BoSox with crushing win
• NLCS Game 3, featuring Santana
Dodgers win their first game of the series
• ALCS Game 2, featuring Dave Barnes
Upton helps tie Rays, BoSox series
• ALCS Game 1, featuring Seguida
BoSox win kicks off another ACLS
• NLCS Game 2, featuring Seguida
Myers backs up Phillies A-list hitting
• NLCS Game 1, featuring Graham Colton
Burrell, Utley homer Phils to victory

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW
• Rocktober 9th, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Four teams vie for spots in the Fall Classic

DIVISION SERIES
• Rocktober 6th, featuring Dave Barnes
Rays and BoSox set up fierce ALCS contest
• Rocktober 5th, featuring Seguida
Phillies move on, White Sox and Angels hang on
• Rocktober 4th, featuring Tyga
Cubs eliminated, Brewers hang on
• Rocktober 3rd, featuring Pillar
Rays, BoSox can taste ALCS
• Rocktober 2nd, featuring Santana
Phillies, Dodgers dominate; Rays open hot
• Rocktober 1st, featuring Jet Black Stare
Phillies, Dodgers, BoSox win openers.

Sox's playoff run ends with loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG -- The battle back from the brink fell just short for the Red Sox this time around, as they were overmatched by the nasty offerings of Matt Garza in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Sunday night's Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

Just like that, the Red Sox saw their chances of becoming baseball's first repeat World Series champions since the Yankees -- who won three in a row from 1998-2000 -- come to an end.

Instead, it will be the Rays playing the Phillies in the World Series, beginning on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

Down two runs heading into the eighth, the Sox got a break when Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett booted Alex Cora's grounder to open the inning. That was all for Garza. Dan Wheeler came on and Coco Crisp delivered a single to right, putting runners on first and second with none out. Wheeler got a big out off the bat of Dustin Pedroia, a routine flyout to left.

Out came Rays manager Joe Maddon, who brought in lefty J.P. Howell to face David Ortiz, Boston's most imposing slugger. Howell did his job, getting Ortiz on a grounder to second, with the Rays getting the force at second. Maddon again went to the bullpen, this time calling for sidewinding righty Chad Bradford to face Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch, loading the bases. Maddon came out yet again, this time calling for 23-year-old rookie lefty David Price to face J.D. Drew. Price showed nerves of steel, striking out Drew on four pitches.

The Red Sox, trailing, 3-1, in the series and down, 7-0, with seven outs to play in Game 5, did well just to push this to a Game 7.

For a while, it seemed as if a familiar script was unfolding. The Red Sox made a historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees in the ALCS in 2004. And just last year, they rallied back from 3-1 against the Indians in the ALCS before going on to win the World Series for the second time in four seasons.

This time, however, the Red Sox couldn't complete the comeback task by winning Game 7 of the ALCS. They led early on a solo homer by Pedroia in the top of the first, but the Boston bats went quiet until the eighth. Garza was heroic in limiting Boston to two hits over seven-plus innings. The righty walked three and struck out nine, throwing 118 pitches.

The Red Sox sent their most consistent starter to the mound in Jon Lester, and he was dominant early, retiring the first nine batters he faced.

But the Rays chipped away for a run in the fourth to tie it. They got another one in the fifth on an RBI single by Rocco Baldelli to take their first lead. Perhaps the dagger was an insurance home run from Willy Aybar in the seventh to give them a two-run edge.

Lester (seven innings, six hits, three runs, eight strikeouts) came up with a solid performance. But it just wasn't quite enough to match Garza.

"I thought Jon was tremendous out of the chute," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He had power with all of his pitches. He threw enough really good breaking balls to kind of slow them down a little bit. [He also] had some power on his two-seamer and his cutter."

Magnificent 7: Rays amaze, top Sox

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are headed to the World Series.

Led by American League Championship Series MVP Matt Garza, the Rays defeated the Red Sox, 3-1, Sunday night in Game 7 at Tropicana Field.

The Rays will meet the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night here.

Garza, who also won Game 3 of the ALCS, allowed just two hits and one run in seven-plus innings, while striking out nine.

"I told myself from the beginning that I'm going to leave it all out there today, no matter what," Garza said. "I've gotta go hard, give my team the best chance to win, and that was for me to give everything I had.

"I didn't know if today was my last start of the year or what, so I just went out there and emptied my tank and said, 'Hey, here goes, we'll see what happens.'"

Garza's only blemish came in the first inning, when Dustin Pedroia homered with one out to put the Red Sox up, 1-0. Garza then added six zeroes to his line before leaving the game after shortstop Jason Bartlett booted Alex Cora's routine ground ball to start the eighth.

Surviving the eighth would be the key moment of the game for the Rays. Dan Wheeler took over for Garza and allowed a single to Coco Crisp before Pedroia flew out to left for the first out. J.P. Howell then entered the game and got David Ortiz to hit into a fielder's choice for the second out.

Rays manager Joe Maddon then called for Chad Bradford to pitch to Kevin Youkilis, who drew a walk to load the bases. David Price became the fifth and final Rays pitcher of the inning when the 23-year-old rookie left-hander was brought in to pitch to J.D. Drew, and he struck him out to end the inning.

In the ninth, Price issued a walk to Jason Bay, then struck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek, before getting pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie to ground into a forceout to end the game.

"I felt really good about David tonight," Maddon said. "David, when you talk about him prior to the game, this young man is composed beyond his years, he really is, and I think you've all had a chance to understand that if you've even had one conversation with him.

"So it was just important to get through that murderer's row that they have there, and then eventually turn it over to him. That was my thought. And again, it was just about throwing strikes, and he's been a strike-thrower his whole life."

Jon Lester started for the Red Sox and was perfect through three innings before Akinori Iwamura singled to lead off the fourth. After Carlos Pena hit into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, Evan Longoria doubled down the right-field line and Pena scored from first to tie the score at 1.

Willie Aybar led off the Rays' fifth with a double to left and Dioner Navarro followed with an infield single. Rocco Baldelli then singled home Aybar to put the Rays up, 2-1.

The Red Sox tried to answer in the sixth when Pedroia walked with one out. But Garza rose to the occasion by striking out Ortiz, and Navarro threw out Pedroia attempting to steal to complete the double play.

Aybar then homered off Lester to lead off the seventh to push the Rays' lead to 3-1.

No time to dwell on loss for Rays

ST. PETERSBURG -- Now it's down to Game 7.

The Red Sox beat the Rays, 4-2, on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series to force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday night with the winner advancing to the World Series.

By defeating the Rays for the second consecutive game, the Red Sox erased the Rays' 3-1 series advantage.

Winning three games in a row is not a strange thing to the defending World Series champions. Fifteen times during the regular season the Sox won at least three straight games. The Sox had one winning streak of seven, two streaks of five, three streaks of four, and nine streaks of three.

A sellout crowd of 40,947 watched as the Rays got off to a good start Saturday night thanks to postseason hero B.J. Upton.

Upton continued his torrid offensive spurt with a first-inning home run on a 3-2 pitch from Josh Beckett that put the Rays up, 1-0. Upton's blast hit the C-ring catwalk -- 125 feet above the field -- and gave him four home runs for the ALCS and seven for the postseason to tie Troy Glaus' American League postseason record. Upton also accrued his 11th RBI with the blast, tying him with David Ortiz (2004) for the LCS RBI record.

"We started out pretty well with B.J.'s homer, but we could not string anything together," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We had four hits, whatever it was, and they left 12 guys on base, and I was taking that as a good sign, but it just didn't want to come through for us.

"Overall, we pitched pretty well. We just did not get the offensive performance tonight that we had been getting."

Boston's Kevin Youkilis tied the game at 1 with a home run in the top of the second off Rays starter James Shields, and he drove in the Red Sox's second run when he grounded out to score Dustin Pedroia in the third.

Jason Bartlett hit a home run off Beckett with two outs in the fifth that hugged the foul pole in left field to tie the game at 2.

Jason Varitek answered for the Red Sox with two outs in the sixth, when he hit a 2-0 Shields pitch into the right-field stands. Coco Crisp added an infield single that deflected off Shields to Akinori Iwamura at second. J.P. Howell took over for Shields to face Pedroia, who grounded to shortstop, but Bartlett threw wild to first to allow Crisp to reach third. David Ortiz's bloop single scored Crisp to put the Red Sox up, 4-2.

Looking ahead to Sunday's Game 7, Maddon said, "It's all about how we react to the moment. It's a great learning experience. For us to win that game would be something special for us.

"So it's not about looking into the past. It's about looking into the future right now. We've got to get ready to play that game tomorrow. We've got [Matt] Garza ready to pitch and we're going to go out and play our game, and that's basically how I'm going to look at it. It has nothing to do with what happened over the last couple days."

Red Sox force decisive Game 7

ST. PETERSBURG -- Two days after pulling out that astounding and historic comeback that earned them this ticket to Tropicana Field for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox had no desire for such stress-inflicted heroics. They just needed a workmanlike win to push this riveting series with the Tampa Bay Rays to the limit, and that's precisely what they got.

In Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Rays, the big hits were spread throughout the contest instead of being saved for the tense final moments. Perhaps no hit was bigger than the solo homer by Jason Varitek, who snapped out of an 0-for-14 drought in the ALCS to break a 2-2 tie with two outs in the sixth. The Red Sox led for the rest of the night.

After falling behind, 3-1, in this ALCS, Boston has forced Game 7, just like it did in 2004 and '07. In the previous two occasions, the Red Sox were successful in moving on to the World Series. They hope the third attempt will be equally charmed.

Jon Lester, Mr. Consistency all year for the Sox, will take the ball Sunday night hoping to avenge a rare shaky outing in Game 3. Matt Garza, who beat Lester in that matchup, will be Tampa Bay's Game 7 starter.

To get to Lester, the Red Sox got a gritty performance by Josh Beckett, who seemed to be pitching at less than 100 percent. Beckett gave Boston five innings, allowing four hits and two runs, walking one and striking out three. The biggest clue that Beckett was hurting was the sight of Javier Lopez warming up in the bullpen throughout the fourth and Hideki Okajima following suit in the fifth.

In Beckett's final inning, he surrendered a game-tying homer to left by No. 9 hitter Jason Bartlett, who went deep just once in the regular season. Though Beckett's velocity was down to 88-90 mph for much of the inning, he was able to reach back for a 93-mph fastball to get Akinori Iwamura on a groundout to end the inning. That was all for Beckett, who threw 78 pitches.

Red Sox in Game 6sWith a win Saturday vs. the Rays, the Red Sox are 8-0 in Game 6s when they are trailing 3-2 in a best-of-seven or best-of-nine postseason series.YearSeriesFoeGame 6Series1903WSPittsburghWonWon in 81967WSSt. LouisWonLost in 71975WSCincinnatiWonLost in 71986ALCSCaliforniaWonWon in 72003ALCSNew YorkWonLost in 72004ALCSNew YorkWonWon in 72007ALCSClevelandWonWon in 72008ALCSRaysWon???

"I thought Josh did a very good job," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He got to the fifth and left a breaking ball out to Bartlett that at the time ties it, but we come right back and put two on the board. I don't think it was real easy for him at times, but he pitched with a lot of composure and a lot of guts."

The bullpen took it from there, setting up the much-anticipated showdown on Sunday night.

After Varitek's homer against Rays starter James Shields put Boston in front, the offense kept rallying in that sixth, aided a little by the Rays. Coco Crisp belted a single off of second baseman Iwamura and into short right. Dustin Pedroia hit a grounder to short that Bartlett made a poor throw to first on. The error set up runners at the corners for David Ortiz, and the big designated hitter lofted an RBI single into right-center to make it a 4-2 game.

For the fifth straight game, the Rays struck with some quick offense. It was delivered off the bat of B.J. Upton, who crushed a Beckett fastball off the C-ring catwalk for a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the first.

The Red Sox didn't take long to respond. Kevin Youkilis opened the second by hammering a 89-mph fastball by Shields for a solo shot to left to tie the game.

Pedroia got a rally started in the third by drawing a one-out walk. Ortiz followed by ripping a double down the line in right. Youkilis, Boston's best RBI man all year, did his job, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead with a fielder's-choice grounder to short.

As the Red Sox got set to bat in the fourth, the Rays came off the field. The reason? Home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins had to leave the game with chest pain, which likely resulted from a hard foul tip by Varitek in the second. After a 15-minute delay, crew chief Tim McClelland switched from first base to home plate.

Looking ahead to Sunday's Game 7, Francona said, "It's going to come down to who plays better. It's probably pretty appropriate. We come down to the last game, and whoever plays better gets to move on.

"We have a lot of respect for how good they've played, but we also really like our ballclub. Like I said, it's probably appropriate."

Economic state may affect spending

Manny Ramirez had an October most players fantasize about: In eight postseason games he batted .520 (13-for-25), homered four times and drove in 10 runs.

If you'd told me when the playoffs began Manny would make this kind of a mockery of opponents' pitching, I'd guarantee the Los Angeles Dodgers would be heading to their first World Series since 1988.

That, of course, won't happen. The Phillies are going to October's promised land.

The Dodgers are off to the golf course; Manny is headed to a mind-boggling payday.

Or is he?

Ramirez tops the list of free agents who swing bats for a living and it remains to be seen if the Dodgers will open their vaults to keep him. Considered a distraction, if not poison, the Boston Red Sox had enough of his antics and traded him to the Dodgers on July 31.

Not only was the enormously talented Ramirez born again in Hollywood, his new persona and bat led them to the National League West title, an upset of the favored Chicago Cubs in the Division Series and the loss to Philadelphia in the just-completed NLCS.

As a free agent he's probably looking for something that compares to the 10-year, $275 million deal the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez has. But at 36, he won't get that many years.

Even more important, though, is what effect the USA's financial meltdown will have.

Economic uncertainties facing virtually every professional sports team, every player and, of course, each and every fan undoubtedly will have a trickle-down effect during baseball's offseason.

And unless there's a dramatic reverse, the economic downturn will carry over well into the 2009 season.

Premier free agents such as Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez and Derek Lowe will obviously get lucrative contracts, but teams are expected to be more cautious, if not conservative, in locking up those not considered superstars.

"The majority of the teams should not be spending outside their means," says former New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles general manager Jim Duquette, now an MLB.com analyst. "Payrolls should be attached to revenues. Some teams must factor in potentially serious declines in revenues."

Scott Boras, who represents many of the game's top players, including Ramirez, Teixeira and Lowe, believes revenues of 2008 give owners "the ability to advance their businesses for 2009. Since those were record revenues, every team, whether it be clubs receiving revenue sharing, or clubs with extraordinary seasons at the gate, trickle-down effects of a recession have historically not dramatically affected baseball.

"Certainly, in the current circumstance there are no signs baseball will be affected," he says. "If so, it won't be something club owners will be able to approximate until after the 2009 season."

Commissioner Bud Selig refuses to hide behind adjectives and rhetoric when discussing the situation.

"Yes, I'm concerned," he says. "Gross revenue for the sport is at an all-time high. But, plenty of factors jeopardize that stability."

MLB's gross revenue for 2008 is over $6 billion.

With the credit crunch and other economic downturns in full bloom, attendance began to sag late in the season. The total of 78,614,880 fell short of 2007's record of 79,503,175.

Selig had hoped baseball would reach 80 million for the first time, but considers the 78.6 million "a tremendous accomplishment, given the uncertain economy" and weather problems teams had to endure during September.

"We need to protect our ticket prices," Selig adds. "This is family entertainment. I tell the clubs this all the time. I think a lot of clubs have; I think there are some clubs I'm obviously a little concerned about.

"It's something we have to concern ourselves with the future. We should be very careful not to get too cocky and overprice ourselves."

Players union chief Don Fehr says "we don't know how the economic problems will affect baseball. Historically, the sports industries have been resistant to most economic downturns, but we're in an atmosphere right now I haven't seen in my lifetime. We have to do our best and the future will take care of itself."

Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist, an authority on baseball economics who's written several books on the subject, believes the economic collapse will have broad impacts throughout the economy.

"In Major League Baseball," he says, "the effect will be seen in lower demand for tickets variously resulting in diminished attendance as well as lower price points, a reduction in advertising and sponsorship dollars, including naming rights for stadiums."

Zimbalist adds that financing will be more expensive for facility renovations and construction projects. He also believes "more parsimonious capital markets should dampen franchise prices."

That remark comes at a time when the Chicago Cubs' coveted franchise remains for sale, with estimates of the price approaching $1.3 billion.

"The good news is that MLB is in the middle of already-negotiated long-term media contracts and has a head of steam behind it that will help mute what will be devastating effects elsewhere in the economy," Zimbalist says.

During the Great Depression, baseball was a great soothing factor for the general public.

Radio was just coming in as a popular way to experience baseball during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and it was just about the cheapest way for people to be entertained. For obvious reasons, attendance at ballparks plummeted, with a few exceptions like when the Yankees were in town or when a handful of night games was staged. Radio was the key then and drew fans to the game during those tough times.

The internet may be the "radio" of this era.

Boras says "the great thing about baseball is when it comes to the entertainment dollar it is the least expensive professional sport. And even if the family does stay home the game may be watched on the internet and those dollars have dramatically increased the revenues of the game."

For selfish reasons Boras refuses to believe owners will back down on signing premier free agents.

"For most owners in baseball the success of their franchises and the dollars coming in allow them to operate certainly at the standards they're at," he says.

He's also quick to point out that the Los Angeles Dodgers have earned an additional $12 million in ticket sales, parking, concessions, etc., since Ramirez rejuvenated the team when he was obtained July 31 from the Boston Red Sox.

"It's truly good business to attract franchise players and to build their teams so they're in the hunt every year," he says.

Manny Ramirez fits that description.

Music video highlights: NLCS Game 4

With a couple of clutch late-game home runs, the Phillies took serious control of the National League Championship Series on Monday night, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, to take a 3-1 lead. For the first time since 1993, the Phillies are one game away from the World Series.

On Monday night, the heroes were Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs, who both hit two-run homers in the eighth inning to silence the Dodger Stadium crowd and turn a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 win. They'll try to wrap up the series in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Check out the following highlights of Game 4, set to the strains of "I'm Amazed" by My Morning Jacket.

MLB.com/Entertainment is all over Rocktober, with daily videos featuring the best baseball highlights of October set to music by stars including Santana, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Wayne, and more. Keep checking back for your daily dose of Rocktober.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• NLCS Game 4, feat. My Morning Jacket
Phillies take control of series
• ALCS Game 3, feat. My Morning Jacket
Rays sting BoSox with crushing win
• NLCS Game 3, featuring Santana
Dodgers win their first game of the series
• ALCS Game 2, featuring Dave Barnes
Upton helps tie Rays, BoSox series
• ALCS Game 1, featuring Seguida
BoSox win kicks off another ACLS
• NLCS Game 2, featuring Seguida
Myers backs up Phillies A-list hitting
• NLCS Game 1, featuring Graham Colton
Burrell, Utley homer Phils to victory

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW
• Rocktober 9th, featuring Jimmy Wayne
Four teams vie for spots in the Fall Classic

DIVISION SERIES
• Rocktober 6th, featuring Dave Barnes
Rays and BoSox set up fierce ALCS contest
• Rocktober 5th, featuring Seguida
Phillies move on, White Sox and Angels hang on
• Rocktober 4th, featuring Tyga
Cubs eliminated, Brewers hang on
• Rocktober 3rd, featuring Pillar
Rays, BoSox can taste ALCS
• Rocktober 2nd, featuring Santana
Phillies, Dodgers dominate; Rays open hot
• Rocktober 1st, featuring Jet Black Stare
Phillies, Dodgers, BoSox win openers.

One for all, all for one: Phils get it done

LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Rollins is hitting .118 in the National League Championship Series. Ryan Howard is hitting .188. And yet, the Philadelphia Phillies, without much production from two of their main men, are on the verge of advancing to the World Series. What's going on here?

The simple answer is often the best one: The rest of the Phillies are pretty good, too.

With Rollins, the catalyst of the Phillies offense, and Howard, one of the best run-producers in baseball, both off their form, you might fairly expect that the 3-1 edge would belong to the Dodgers. But no, it's the Fightin' Phils who are on the doorstep of the NL pennant.

They are at this point because they are getting contributions from all over the roster. The Game 4 comeback was a classic example; a tying two-run homer from center fielder Shane Victorino, who now has 11 RBIs in the postseason, and then a winning two-run homer from Matt Stairs, in just his third at-bat of the postseason. Given the circumstances, the Phillies' depth is both admirable and necessary.

"Without a doubt that shows that we are a team and that we've got the guys that sit on our bench and we've also got the guys that play regular that don't get a lot of recognition, that also shows that they can play and they can deliver," said manager Charlie Manuel on Tuesday, before the Phillies' workout at Dodger Stadium.

"But also when we talk about team, that's what makes up our team. And that's why everybody, the 25-man roster, that's why everybody plays a role. It's very important that they do their role. And sometimes when a star player on a field, especially when it comes to offense, if he's not hitting the ball good, well, then, one of those guys picks him up. That's what makes the team go."

This is still an explosive lineup. Two home runs turned the tide in Game 1 of the NLCS. Two more home runs made the difference in Game 4. When Dodgers manager Joe Torre was asked on Tuesday what factors went into the Phillies' success in this Series, that power was one factor for Torre and the Phillies' bullpen was the other.

"Their bullpen has done a great job," Torre said. "Their bullpen has done a great job and we've done a good job with the middle of their lineup. But they live by the home run. Again, batting average doesn't mean anything if all of a sudden, bang, you have a two-run homer, bang, you have a two-run homer.

"We knew going in that they were an explosive ballclub and they could jump back into the game at any time. But I think overall that our pitching is handling a good part of what they do. But look back to Game 1, the two home runs, we lose the ballgame.

3-1 edge significant in NLCSWith the Phillies' victory in Game 4, an NLCS stands at 3-1 for the 12th time since it became a best-of-seven series in 1985. Nine of the previous 11 teams went on to win its NLCS, with only the 2003 Marlins and 1996 Braves rallying from the 3-1 deficit to win three straight and take the series.YearTeam up 3-1OpponentFinal2005AstrosCardinals 4-22003CubsMarlins 4-32002GiantsCardinals 4-12001D-backsBraves 4-12000MetsCardinals 4-11999BravesMets 4-21998PadresBraves 4-21996CardinalsBraves 4-31992BravesPirates 4-31990RedsPirates 4-21989GiantsCubs 4-1NLCS winners in bold.

"[Game 4] was similar. So they're pretty much following what their personality is. But if you make a mistake with a lot of ballclubs, it's a single or a double. With this ballclub, it's a long ball."

The Phillies bullpen was the best in the NL by the numbers in the regular season. Nothing has changed here. Closer Brad Lidge continues to be spotless. After going 41-for-41 in regular-season save opportunities, he has gone 5-for-5 in the postseason and has saved every Philadelphia victory in the Championship Series.

But the cast between the starters has also been impressive, particularly the primary setup man, Ryan Madson. The Philadelphia bullpen has both quality and quantity, and it is one reason this club has a better postseason shot than last year's team. When Manuel was asked if the improved bullpen was the biggest difference from last year, he responded:

"I think basically it is, definitely our bullpen. And also, I think the second time around definitely has something to do with it. Each year is different, but I would say the big thing is our bullpen."

The other quality that sets this team apart is what makes them the Fightin' Phils. All three of their NLCS victories required them to come from behind. That's generally a very tough task in the postseason, but this club has made it a matter of routine.

You don't compile a record like that without character, both individual character, and collective character.

"I think from Day 1 we always talked about how we play 27 outs, "Victorino said. "With this team, it's the character, We pull for each other. Not every night is there going to be one guy carrying the team or a superstar. The team is full of them. You've got Chase [Utley], Ryan, you've got Jimmy. You've got guys that are MVPs, best at their positions. But it takes 25 guys collectively to win a ballgame.

"It's what it's all about. You play as a team and you go out there as a team and you win as a team."

This Phillies team, a true 25-man effort, has scrapped and clawed and fought, all the way through a division championship, a Division Series triumph, and now, three-fourths of the way through a Championship Series. They have earned their way here, and now they need to earn one more victory to become the Fightin' Phils in the World Series.

Dodgers strike back in Game 3 win

LOS ANGELES -- Playing soft put the Dodgers in an 0-2 hole, so Sunday they tried it the Phillies' way. With old-school hardball, they pounded out an emotion-charged 7-2 victory in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

Hiroki Kuroda won the game with six-plus innings and won his teammates' respect with one pitch, which sailed behind the ducking head of former Dodgers farmhand Shane Victorino, one game after he drove in four runs.

"It slipped out of my hand," said Kuroda, a quick study in the field of baseball political correctness, if not honesty.

Plate umpire Mike Everitt didn't buy it. He concluded it was retaliation for an inning earlier when Dodgers catcher Russell Martin was knocked down by a Clay Condrey pitch, the second time in as many games that Martin was brushed back, not to mention the two times he was hit by breaking balls in this game.

Kuroda's purpose pitch drew warnings to both benches from Everitt, while Victorino motioned to the Dodgers that the situation called for him to be drilled in the ribs, not the helmet. Moments later, a confrontation near first base between Kuroda and Victorino, who grounded out, emptied both benches and bullpens. Nobody was ejected, but everybody got the point.

"Kuroda's a ninja -- maybe more like a samurai," Martin said. "He gets fired up and he got us fired up.

"The last thing we're trying to do is hit somebody in the head. We were trying to make them uncomfortable. They've been swinging the bats pretty well. They throw up and tight on us and got us uncomfortable. We're just trying to make a statement. It's baseball. It's part of the game. I mean, we're not headhunters by any means. But when there's a statement to be made, you've got to get it done."

2-1 lead in LCS playWith the Dodgers' victory in Game 3, an NLCS stands at 2-1 for the 18th time since it became a best-of-seven series in 1985. Thirteen of the previous 17 teams went on to win its NLCS. YearTeam up 2-1OpponentFinal2006CardinalsMets 4-32005AstrosCardinals 4-32004CardinalsAstros 4-32003CubsMarlins 4-32002GiantsCardinals 4-12001D-backsBraves 4-12000MetsCardinals 4-11997MarlinsBraves 4-21996CardinalsBraves4-31993BravesPhillies4-21992BravesPirates4-31991BravesPirates4-31990RedsPirates4-21989GiantsCubs4-11988MetsDodgers4-31987CardinalsGiants4-31986MetsAstros4-2Winners of the NLCS listed in bold.

For the Dodgers, Kuroda's enforcement of baseball's unwritten rules got it done a game later than many teammates wanted, considering the successful Game 2 bullying tactics of Phillies starter Brett Myers, whose fastballs sailed under Martin's chin and behind the head of Manny Ramirez.

Dodgers veterans were hot when Chad Billingsley didn't respond in kind, and there had been critical chirping in the clubhouse ever since.

"What happened in Philly wasn't right," said Ramirez, who during Sunday's scrum had to be restrained from going after Phillies reliever and former Boston teammate J.C. Romero by Dodgers teammates fearful their meal ticket would be suspended for fighting.

"We had to send a message. I was mad at myself, about what happened in Philly. We should have taken care of that over there. We want to play the game right. We don't want to hurt nobody."

The Dodgers send Derek Lowe to the mound Monday for Game 4 on three days' rest with a chance to even the series. If they didn't swing momentum to their side with Sunday's win in front of a record Dodger Stadium crowd of 56,800, at least they removed the chance of being swept. They're 5-0 against the Phillies at home this year.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who urged his team to take the game to the Phillies, was asked if his club had seized the momentum of the series.

"I think for the moment we have," he said. "I mean, to me it's all about -- it's a short series. You win a game and you have that good feeling about yourself and maybe hopefully we've planted a seed of doubt."

Of course, to say that the Dodgers won the game because they stood up to the intimidating tactics of the Phillies would be ignoring a simple fact, like the score at the time, which was 6-2 Dodgers. In the six innings after the incident, the Dodgers scored only one run, on Nomar Garciaparra's RBI single.

The real story line in the final score, even before the beanballs started flying, was the difference in starting pitching. Swinging early in counts, the first four Dodgers batters against 45-year-old Jamie Moyer reached base and a five-run first inning was capped by rookie Blake DeWitt's bases-loaded triple, his first hit of the series.

Moyer was gone after 1 1/3 innings, his shortest start in 10 years. Rafael Furcal, 1-for-9 in the first two games of the series, led off the first with a single, and later homered and walked, scoring twice.

"Furcal, that gives you an indication what he means at the top of our batting order," Torre said. "And then the two-out base hit by Blake DeWitt, I think, was the back-breaker for them. Because he was down 0-2 and he really kept things together."

Kuroda followed up last weekend's masterpiece clinching of the NL Division Series against the Cubs with an even more clutch performance in a virtual must-win game. He not only played policeman in the head-games department, he retired 13 consecutive Phillies batters at one point, 10 straight after the pitch at Victorino, until he wavered in the seventh.

The Japanese import has allowed the Phillies only four earned runs in 19 innings this season. Including the postseason, he's 8-2 at Dodger Stadium. Since Aug. 29, he's 4-0 with three no-decisions.

Unsung rookie workhorse Cory Wade inherited a pair of runners from Kuroda with no out in the seventh, put down the inning without further damage and pitched a scoreless eighth, with Jonathan Broxton pitching a scoreless ninth.