Phillies Parade Plans May Be Premature

Two of the hottest searches online right now, according to Google, are for "Phillies Parade"and "Phillies World Series Parade." These searches currently only return articles discussing the fact that Philadelphia is one win away from winning the World Series. While no plans have been officially made, there are speculations over how a Phillies parade would happen. Most likely a Phillies parade would move through Broad Street in Philadelphia, starting at the sports complex. From there it would move towards Center City and then stop at the City Hall. Here speeches would be made, fans would applaud, cheer and riot and other jubilant celebration would occur. Philadelphia will need to win the World Series first before they can officially have a Phillies parade.

Right now, Philadelphia holds a 3-1 lead over Tampa Bay in the World Series. In Major League Baseball's most coveted series of the season, the momentum can still shift. If the Rays were to come back from being down 3-1, they would add their names to a short list of MLB teams to rebound and win the series after being down 3-1. According to Fox Sports on MSN, six teams have done so in MLB history. In fact, the other team from Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Pirates have done it twice (1925, 1979). The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals were the other teams able to come back from such deficits in the World Series.

Most recently in baseball history, the Kansas City Royals were able to rebound from being down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1985 World Series. According to the 1985 World Series entry on Wikipedia, this series was known as the "Show-Me Series" or the "I-70 Showdown Series" because it occurred between the two teams from Missouri, separated by Interstate 70. Game 3 finally saw the Royals win in the Series, as pitcher Bret Saberhagen helped them secure a 6-1 win.

In game 4, the Cardinals were able to shutout the Royals 3-0 to take the 3-1 series lead. Facing elimination, Kansas City bounced back in Game 5 with a 6-1 victory, but it was an umpire's call in Game 6 which many say helped keep the Royals alive in the series. A crucial call came in the bottom of the ninth as Jorge Orta of the Royals hit a ground ball to first base. Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark, tossed the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell who was covering first. The umpire called Orta safe, but a television replay later revealed he was out.

Due to the bad call, the bases eventually became loaded due to a Steve Balboni single, an intentional walk, and a passed ball by the Cardinals catcher. Dan Iorg then pinch hit for Dan Quisenberry, and was able to hit a single to left field which drove in two runs, giving Kansas City a 2-1 win. Game 7 showcased the great pitching talents of eventual Series MVP, Bret Saberhagen, who pitched an 11-0 shutout of the Cardinals, giving the Royals the World Series.

Even more recent in baseball comeback history was the famed ALCS series in 2004 between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Yankees had 1 close win and 2 very convincing wins in the first 3 games, to take a 3-0 series lead over Boston. According to the Wikipedia.org 2004 ALCS entry, In game 4, Boston fought their way back into the series, preventing elimination. With the game tied 4-4, it headed all the way to the bottom of the 12th innining. After a Manny Ramirez single to lead off, David Ortiz became the hero as he hit a two-run walk-off homerun to right field. A jubilant Red Sox squad took the game by a score of 6-4 and was back in the series.

Still facing elimination in Game 5, Boston's David "Big Papi" Ortiz was again the hero, and again in extra innings with the game tied 4-4. With two men on base, and two outs, Ortiz hit a single to center in the bottom of the 14th. Johnny Damon scored giving the Red Sox the 5-4 victory in a second consecutive extra innings affair. Game 6 of this series produced another controversial play, where Alex Rodriguez slapped a ball out of the pitcher Bronson Arroyo's hand as he tried to tag Rodriguez out.

Derek Jeter scored off this incident, but after the umpires conferred, Alex Rodriguez was called out for interference, Jeter came back to base, and the run was wiped out. Behind a decent pitching outing by Curt Schilling, Boston forced a Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. Game 7 saw the Red Sox have an explosion of offense, taking the game 10-3. Johnny Damon hit 2 homers while Mark Bellhorn and David Ortiz each hit one. Ortiz was named series MVP and the Red Sox moved on to the World Series which they eventually won.

As you can see from the above baseball examples, comebacks are possible and have happened when least expected. The difference in this series is that it was all tied up at 1-1, and then the Phillies won 2 consecutive games. Conceivably, the Rays could win 2 straight games as well. Tampa Bay received homefield advantage in the series due to the American League's All-Star game win, so this could possibly help with their comeback. Having the fans behind you in the final games is always a plus.

The Rays team may also need to find themselves a hero (like David Ortiz was for the Red Sox), display solid pitching, or have the luck of an umpire's call on their side. The Phillies had an extremely convincing win in Game 4 by the Score of 10-2, thanks to two home runs and 5 RBI's from star player Ryan Howard. There will be Rays of hope that Tampa Bay can get their offense going, keep Philadelphia's bats cool, and keep luck on their side. If they do, they could effectively cancel the city of Philadelphia's plans for a Phillies parade.

Resources used and sources cited:

Fox Sports on MSN - MLB - World Series 1-3 Comebacks

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8725402/World-Series-1-3-Comebacks

2004 American League Championship Series entry at Wikipeida.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_American_League_Championship_Series

Wikipedia.org

1985 World Series entry at Wikipedia.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_World_Series

wikipedia.org

MLB.com 2008 World Series coverage

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/ps/y2008/index.jsp?mode=ws