Rays-Phillies World Series? No one can be right all the time

ST. PETERSBURG -- My friends, there are some outrageous charges being levied right now. Tampa Bay and Philadelphia are bringing change we all can believe in to the World Series beginning on Wednesday night, and yet there are those among you who insist on going negative.

Manny Ramirez did all he could to get the Dodgers to the World Series. (Getty Images)

My inbox is stuffed. My mind is blown. Everyone but Joe the Plumber has written to discuss a certain column that was authored nearly three weeks ago in which, apparently, some knucklehead from the lunatic fringe wrote under my byline that the trains already were rolling down the tracks and a Fall Classic clash between Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston was inevitable.

Ha! The closest thing to Manny in this World Series is Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who once periodically wrestled with him in the clubhouse when Manuel was Cleveland's hitting coach.

And the closest thing to Boston in this World Series is Tampa Bay's Matt Garza, who tamed the Red Sox in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday. Of course, Boston's Bay (Jason) is sort of represented here in Tampa, which has its own Bay.

So let me make this as clear as I can: There are profound differences between what I now believe, as new intelligence has come to light, and the nutjob who wrote, on Oct. 4, with the Dodgers thumping the Cubs and the Red Sox taking it to the Los Angeles Angels:

Maybe you've been a Tampa Bay fan your entire life (you're 11) and are just certain that after the Rays finish waxing the White Sox, they're going to ambush Boston. Your enthusiasm is impressive, but you'll learn pain and disappointment as you grow.

I did NOT write that ... did I?

I also have profound differences with the crackpot who wrote, in that same Oct. 4 column:

Is that you I hear chattering in Philadelphia about rendezvousing with the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993? Listen, Milwaukee's pitching is CC Sabathia and the Seven Dwarfs; wait until you see what's around the corner.

I love a good mystery.

What was around that corner?

If you think baseball gods have treated you wickedly during all those lost years in Veterans Stadium, just wait until Manny and his Mates settle into the Hitter's Wonderland that is Citizens Bank Park in the NLCS.

Oh.