| 2008 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 22–29 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay) Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia) | |||||||||
| MVP | Cole Hamels (Philadelphia) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Tim Welke (crew chief), Kerwin Danley, Fieldin Culbreth, Tom Hallion, Jeff Kellogg, Tim Tschida[1] | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Phillies: Pat Gillick (GM) Rays: None | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | Fox (United States – English) Fox Deportes (United States – Spanish) MLB International (International) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Chris Myers and Ken Rosenthal (Fox) Ángel Torres, Miguel Morales and Cos Villa (Fox Deportes) Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International) | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN WPHT (PHI – English) WDAS (PHI – Spanish) WHNZ (TB – English) WGES (TB – Spanish) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (ESPN) Harry Kalas, Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen and Chris Wheeler (WPHT) Danny Martinez, Bill Kulik and Juan Ramos (WDAS) Dave Wills, Andy Freed, Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane (WHNZ) Ricardo Taveras and Enrique Oliu (WGES) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | Tampa Bay Rays over Boston Red Sox (4–3) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Philadelphia Phillies over Los Angeles Dodgers (4–1) | |||||||||
| World Series program | ||||||||||
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The 2008 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2008 season. The 104th edition of the World Series,[2] it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the American League (AL) champion Tampa Bay Rays; the Phillies won the series, four games to one. The 2008 World Series is notable because it is the only World Series to involve a mid-game postponement and resumption (two days later).
The Series began on Wednesday, October 22, and concluded (after weather delays had postponed the end of Game 5) the following Wednesday, October 29. The AL's 4–3 win in the 2008 All-Star Game gave the Rays home field advantage for the series, meaning no more than three games would be played at Citizens Bank Park (the Phillies' home ballpark).[3] The Phillies won their second championship in their 126-year history to bring the city of Philadelphia its first championship in 25 years (since the 1983 NBA Finals).[4][5] This was the first postseason series lost by an MLB team based in the state of Florida; previously, the Rays and Florida Marlins were 8–0 in postseason series.[6][7] Additionally, both the Phillies' World Series wins have come against a team making their World Series debut (in 1980, they beat the Kansas City Royals).
The Phillies advanced to the World Series after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL's Divisional Series and Championship Series, respectively. The team won its position in the playoffs after its second consecutive NL East division title. This was the Phillies' first World Series appearance in fifteen years. The Tampa Bay Rays advanced to the World Series after defeating the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox, the 2007 World Series champion, in the AL's Division Series and 2008 American League Championship Series.
Games 1 and 2 at Tropicana Field were the first World Series games played on artificial turf since the 1993 World Series matched two teams, the Toronto Blue Jays and Phillies, which each played their home games on artificial turf at the time. However, 2008 is the first World Series ever played on second generation artificial turf. Ironically, the Phillies were in both Series, but they no longer use artificial turf since the end of 2003.
- ^ Gilbert, Steve (October 21, 2008). "Umpires for World Series announced". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "2008 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ^ "Young caps marathon goodbye to Yankee Stadium with sac fly in 15th". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ Mandel, Ken (October 30, 2008). "Octoberphest! Phillies win World Series". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ^ Sheridan, Phil (October 30, 2008). "WORLD CHAMPS!—28 years later, Phillies again are baseball's best". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A1. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ "Playoff and World Series Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
- ^ Joyce, C. Alan (2008). The World Almanac and Book of Facts (2009 ed.; paperback ed.). New York. pp. 914–917. ISBN 978-1-60057-105-3.
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