A long time coming: Phillies win the World Series

PHILADELPHIA - Save the jokes, the taunts and all those insults about the losingest team in sports.

The Philadelphia Phillies just won themselves a World Series.

If that sounds strange, it was strange.

Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started but was stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night.

"It was a crazy way to win it with a suspended game, but we did and it's over," 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer said. "It has been a long wait, but it's worth it."

Left in limbo by a two-day storm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.

Cheesesteaks, on the house.

"Who's the world champion?" manager Charlie Manuel asked the gleeful crowd during a 90-minute postgame ceremony that lasted longer than Wednesday night's action.

Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.

"They could taste it just as much as we could," Series MVP Cole Hamels said.

It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3½ showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.

How bizarre? Hamels was a star in Game 5 - and the ace never stepped on the mound Wednesday night; Two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was a pinch-hitter before a single pitch; "God Bless America" was sung rather than the national anthem, and it was quickly followed by the seventh-inning stretch.

All because the game was suspended Monday night after rain made the field into a quagmire, washing out the foul lines, creating a puddle at home plate and turning every ball an adventure. Commissioner Bud Selig eventually called it - fans booed loudly when he presented the MVP trophy to Hamels.

For Philly, it was more than a World Series win. Got the whole city off the hook, actually.

Finally, long after Julius Erving led the Sixers to the 1983 NBA title, something to celebrate.

How much did Philly fans want a champion to call their own?

Well, the sports hero they point to with the most pride isn't even a real person - Rocky Balboa.

Yo, Adrian ... the Phillies did it!

"It's over," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "It's over, man."

Lidge went 48-for-48 on save chances this year, including two this week. He retired two batters with a runner on second, striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end it.

Lidge jumped in front of the mound, landing on his knees with arms outstretched. Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out to grab him, and teammates sprinted to the mound to join them as towel-waving fans let loose.

"At first, I couldn't believe it. And then the gravity of what happened hit me," Lidge said.

A generation ago, it was Tug McGraw who went wild when the Phillies won their first title. A few days after country singer Tim McGraw scattered his dad's ashes on the mound, it was Lidge's turn to throw the final pitch.

Popular broadcaster Harry Kalas, in his fourth decade of doing Phillies games, serenaded the festive fans with a chorus of "High Hopes."

Despite low TV ratings and minus the majors' most glamorous teams, fans will always remember how this one wrapped up. And for the first time in a long while, kids saw a World Series champion crowned before bedtime.

"I believe this firmly, our guys are not going to be satisfied without playing in October from now on," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "And that's a good thing. And that's all because of this group of people this year."

Reliever J.C. Romero got the win, his second of the Series.

Hamels went 4-0 in five postseason starts, beating the Rays in Game 1 and pitching six sharp innings in the rain during Game 5. He was set to be the first batter when the game resumed, and was immediately pulled for a pinch-hitter.

While former NL MVPs Ryan Howard and Rollins drive the Phillies, it was their less-heralded teammates who helped win it on this chilly night.

Tied at 3, Pat Burrell led off the seventh with a drive off the center-field wall against J.P. Howell. Chad Bradford relieved and one out later Feliz singled home pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.

Rocco Baldelli's solo home run off Ryan Madson made it 3-all in the top of the seventh. The Rays almost got more, but All-Star second baseman Chase Utley alertly bluffed a throw to first on a grounder over the bag and instead threw out Jason Bartlett at the plate.

Pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins, the first batter Wednesday night, doubled and later scored on Jayson Werth's bloop single.

In all, there were six new pitchers, three pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners when play restarted.

Manuel, whose NL East champions clinched a playoff spot in the final week, guided the Phillies' second overall championship in six World Series tries. The Phils helped themselves by going 7-0 at home this postseason, beating Milwaukee and the Dodgers in the NL playoffs and then defeating the Rays.

"I always thought we'd win the World Series. I knew we could beat anyone in the league," Manuel said.

Once known as a city of champions, Philadelphia saw its sports teams fall on hard times after Erving and Moses Malone led the Sixers to that 1983 title.

Since then, the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers made it to the championship game or round - seven times, in total - and lost all of them.

The city became so starved for a crown that it was ready to throw a parade down Broad Street for a horse. But local colt Smarty Jones lost, too, in his bid for the Triple Crown.

Now, all those people can gather for the celebration Friday - it's Halloween, and fans can dress up as champions for Halloween.

"People enjoy being associated with winning and a world championship is the ultimate," Mike Schmidt, MVP of the Phillies' other championship, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press this week. "It unites a town behind one team."

Tampa Bay did itself proud, too, until this final week. Baseball's best success story this season, the worst-to-first Rays played like the downtrodden Devil Rays from the past decade.

Even so, the gap between the Phils and Rays wasn't enormous. Had Evan Longoria's late, long drive off Moyer in Game 3 not been blown back by the wind, the teams might still be playing.

Notes: The World Series failed to make it to a Game 6 for the fifth straight year, the first time that's happened. ... Burrell went 1-for-14 in the five games. ... Howell put down the first sacrifice bunt of his career.

Almost perfect: Hamels wins World Series MVP award

PHILADELPHIA - Cole Hamels won a World Series MVP award Wednesday night without throwing a pitch.

Only fitting, because he owned October all the way.

Hamels made five postseason starts for the Philadelphia Phillies and went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, a dazzling display of pressure pitching that earned him two treasured trophies.

Already the Most Valuable Player of the NL championship series, the lanky lefty duplicated that feat with two terrific starts against Tampa Bay and joined Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt (1980) as the only World Series MVPs in Philadelphia history.

"I feel like a winner now," Hamels said after the Phillies wrapped up the Series with a 4-3 victory in Game 5.

Hamels outpitched Scott Kazmir for a 3-2 win in the opener, then tossed six effective innings Monday night before Game 5 was suspended by rain in the middle of the sixth with the score tied 2-all.

"That was the worst weather I've pitched in in my entire life," Hamels said. "I feel like I succeeded even with all the hard conditions that were thrown my way."

The storm ended Hamels' outing after 75 pitches, but he nearly wound up with a win anyway. When the game resumed Wednesday night, Philadelphia went ahead in the bottom of the sixth on Jayson Werth's bloop single.

That put Hamels in position for a record-breaking victory - on a night when he never took the mound. But the Rays tied it at 3 in the seventh against Philadelphia's bullpen, leaving the 24-year-old with a no-decision.

No matter. The Phillies pulled it out and Hamels was selected MVP, just as he was in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"This is something that you have to live for," Hamels said. "Going out there, I knew I had a job to do. I had the support of these fans, I had my teammates behind me and all I had to really do was just go throw a baseball as well I knew how."

Along with the MVP trophy, Hamels took home a new sports car that he planned to give to his wife, who celebrated her 30th birthday Wednesday.

"Definitely going to have to enjoy this moment because there's a lot of times you don't have everything go your way," Hamels said. "To come away with a World Series ring is more important to me than an MVP."

Hamels became the fifth player to win LCS and World Series MVPs in one postseason. The others were Florida pitcher Livan Hernandez (1997), Dodgers ace Orel Hershiser (1988), St. Louis catcher Darrell Porter (1982) and Hall of Fame slugger Willie Stargell (1979) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hamels was a dependable and durable No. 1 starter for the Phillies all season, his third in the major leagues. Philadelphia chose him 17th overall in the 2002 amateur draft - two spots after Kazmir was picked by the New York Mets.

Going 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 33 starts, Hamels threw a career-high 227 1-3 innings during the regular season. That was 44 innings more than his previous high set last year.

But he hardly looked tired in October. He only got better.

Hamels finished 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two World Series starts - almost perfect.

"This is a great situation. I'm even more excited for that guy who's holding the MVP," said 45-year-old teammate Jamie Moyer. "He deserves it. He's the ace."

No pitcher has won five starts in one postseason, though Hamels came close. Francisco Rodriguez won five times out of the bullpen for the 2002 Anaheim Angels, and Randy Johnson had five wins for the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks - but one came in relief against the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series.

-- Mike Fitzpatrick

Just like all season, Lidge nails it down

PHILADELPHIA - Mr. Perfect got the biggest save of his career.

Just like he did all season, Brad Lidge nailed down Philadelphia's 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Wednesday night's completion of a suspended Game 5, securing the Phillies' second World Series championship in the franchise's 126-year history.

"It's perfection shared with everybody else in here," Lidge said while being given a champagne shower in the clubhouse. "Without them, it couldn't happen."

Lidge, 41-for-41 in save chances during the regular season, earned his seventh save in as many tries in the postseason by pitching out of trouble in the ninth.

He retired Evan Longoria on a popup leading off the inning, but Dioner Navarro singled. Pinch-runner Fernando Perez stole second before Ben Zobrist lined out to right for the second out.

Lidge then struck out Eric Hinske swinging on a nasty slider to end it. Lidge dropped to his knees and raised his arms in the air, screaming "We did it!" Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out and jumped on Lidge and starting with a big tackle from Ryan Howard, everyone piled on.

"I've never been so happy to get hit so hard," Lidge said of taking Howard's charge.

A crowd of 44,000-plus fans who returned to Citizens Bank Park two days after this game started were biting their fingernails - or gloves in the bitter cold - with the tying run on second base.

Even general manager Pat Gillick thought maybe Lidge was due to finally blow one.

"I thought the law of averages would catch up with our closer tonight, but he hung in there and did a great job," Gillick said.

It was fitting that Lidge got the last out. The Phillies wouldn't have gotten this far without the closer who was exiled from Houston - and the rest of their stellar relievers.

"It's unbelievable, unheard of what he did this season," setup man Ryan Madson said. "If he's not perfect, we're in a predicament."

The bullpen led the NL in ERA (3.22) and winning percentage (.589) during the regular season, and was even better in the playoffs.

They were the biggest reason the Phillies were 89-0 this year when leading after eight innings - including 10 postseason wins.

Before coming to Philadelphia, Lidge was best remembered for allowing that mammoth homer to St. Louis' Albert Pujols in the 2005 NL championship series.

"That's behind him," Phillies starter Jamie Moyer said. "I think we can all put that away and talk about the good that he's done. He's had a perfect season. I don't think there's any reason to dwell on the past."

Lidge was rejuvenated with the Phillies. He was 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA and saved each of his 48 opportunities.

J.C. Romero, who got the win in Game 5, made sure Lidge had a chance to save this one, getting four outs. He allowed a leadoff single to Carl Crawford in the eighth, but got B.J. Upton to ground into a double play.

Madson, solid throughout the postseason, gave up Rocco Baldelli's tying homer with one out in the seventh after the Phillies had taken a 3-2 lead. But Romero and Lidge slammed the door and the party was on.

"It had to be won here," Lidge said. "The fans deserve it. It had to be here. You go through a lot to be in this position. I wouldn't change anything in my career. It got me all right here, right now. This is the best it'll ever be."

-- Rob Maaddi

Manuel sounds like a winner

PHILADELPHIA - "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!"

Each throaty chant bellowed by delirious Philly fans was louder than the last. The folksy Phillies manager smiled, grabbed that trophy and the fans screamed some more.

For once, Charlie Manuel was the man of the season in Philadelphia. He won't be so easy to poke fun at anymore.

Second-guessed and critiqued from the day he was hired, Manuel made all the right moves this season as Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay 4-3 Wednesday night to win the World Series four games to one.

He shut ‘em all up and proved ‘em all wrong.

"When someone 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."

The 64-year-old Manuel and Dallas Green (1980) are now the only Phillies managers with World Series rings. Green is a special adviser to general manager Pat Gillick.

"Charlie's done outstanding," Gillick said. "He never has a bad day. He keeps the players in the right frame of mind that is so important these days."

Manuel's greatest professional triumph came with a dose of sadness. His mother died during the NL championship series, and he left a workout day to attend her funeral in Buena Vista, Va., where Manuel placed a Phillies cap in his mother's casket.

June Manuel was her son's thoughts as he celebrated the World Series title.

"I think she'd be hollering and laughing," Manuel said. "And I think she'd be telling us how good a team I had and all that stuff, really. And she would be saying that she's going to walk around in Buena Vista and talk to everybody tomorrow. That's what she would be saying."

People there certainly haven't forgot him. A banner hung on the concourse near section 113 Wednesday that read "Good luck Charlie and Phillies. Buena Vista, Va."

Manuel wasn't an instant hit in fickle Philly. He sounded funny to the locals and didn't bring the outgoing, fiery attitude of his predecessor, Larry Bowa.

Although fans needed time to warm to Manuel, the players loved him almost immediately. He had the support of former Phillies first baseman Jim Thome, and his easygoing style was a welcome change from the contentious Bowa era.

"He has a lot to do with keeping us all confident and calm at the same time," closer Brad Lidge said. "He's made us feel great the entire year."

Phillies pitcher Brett Myers said Manuel was a father figure in the clubhouse.

"We always look up to him and respect him for whatever he has to say," Myers said. "He keeps us up in the clubhouse and lets us be individuals, and that's a pretty good guy to play for."

Manuel's no pushover, though. He pulled NL MVP Jimmy Rollins from a game in June for failing to run hard on a popup, then later benched him for arriving late to the ballpark for a game against the division rival Mets.

Rollins credited former GM Ed Wade for hiring Manuel, and Gillick for sticking with him when it might have been easier to bring in his own guy.

"Him bringing in Charlie and changing the attitude of this team and getting players that wanted to win and knew how to win, this is what happens when all those things come together," Rollins said.

Manuel has made more of his managerial career than he did as a player. He batted .198 in 242 career games with the Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, then became a star slugger in Japan.

He had a 220-190 record in his first big league managerial stop with the Cleveland Indians, leading them to the AL Central championship in 2001.

That's now just a footnote in a career forever stamped with a World Series championship.

-- Dan Gelston

Fans celebrate first Phillies title in 28 years

PHILADELPHIA - Tens of thousands of Phillies fans clogged the streets Wednesday night after Philadelphia won the World Series, celebrating the championship by climbing light poles and bus shelters and spraying beer and shooting off fireworks.

Fans on foot and in cars streamed through downtown on their way to Broad Street, the city's main thoroughfare, honking horns and cheering through sunroofs and the back of pickups.

"This is the biggest party I've ever seen in my life!" said David Wahl, of Burlington, N.J., screaming into his cell phone as he described the scene to his father back home in New Jersey.

"I'm 23 years old and never had a chance to see a championship!" he said, still yelling to be heard over the din.

The victory over Tampa Bay ended a 25-year championship drought by the city's four major sports teams.

The city will get its long-awaited championship parade on Friday, the mayor announced.

"We did it!" Mayor Michael Nutter said.

Police had Broad Street cordoned off for more than a mile in South Philadelphia, turning the area into a giant street festival. Fans waved flags and towels, crowd-surfed and climbed on each other's shoulders.

Vince Iezzi, 72, sporting a Phillies jacket, soaked up the excitement as younger revelers jumped up and down, screaming and cheering.

"I think we are all hurting and it's good to have a good feeling again," he said. "Philly needed this."

Theresa Thompson, 47, of South Philadelphia, missed the only other Phillies World Series celebration in 1980 because she was pregnant. She wasn't about to miss this one.

Wearing a Phillies sweatshirt and cap, and with a "P" painted on her cheek, she got swept up with the rest of the crowd walking down Broad Street.

"I got all geared up, got my signs and came out. This brings tears to my eyes," she said.

Philly resident Mike Orlando, 46, drank from a bottle of champagne as he joined the celebration.

"There has been an awful lot of heartache with all the teams here," Orlando said. "The city needed this, big-time."

An hour after the victory, police said they had received reports of only minor property damage, including one arrest for vandalism in the city's northeast section, where thousands gathered at a major intersection that for years has been a rallying point for fans.

But at one Broad Street intersection, a group of young men rocked a street light until it tipped over. Police moved in and chased them away.

Fans also set small fires and smashed beer bottles, leaving a trail of glass and empty cans along the curbs.

Police said they had no plans to try to break up the huge crowds.

"Right now, we're just going to let themselves tire themselves out," said Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

Helen DiRienzi, 72, of Drexel Hill, sang along to "We are the Champions" as the Phillies circled the field.

A 25-year season ticket-holder, DiRienzi wished her husband had lived to see the team win another World Series. Wednesday would have been her husband's 73rd birthday.

"I know he's here with me in spirit," she said.

-- Bob Lentz

Tampa Bay Rays struggle in World Series

PHILADELPHIA - The worst-to-first Tampa Bay Rays didn't bedevil Philadelphia for long.

After a late rally to tie Game 5, Part I at 2-all before it was suspended for rain Monday night, the Rays couldn't sustain the momentum over the final three innings, losing 4-3 Wednesday.

They bowed out graciously, saying the disappointing ending is the start of a promising future.

"We won't be a joke to everybody any more," leftfielder Carl Crawford said. "We established ourselves as a real franchise."

Resilient all season during an improbable run to the AL pennant, the young Rays came up short in every possible way in losing on baseball's biggest stage to the Phillies four games to one.

Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting were the recipe for success during the regular season. The Rays didn't get any of those ingredients against the Phillies, especially during the three memorable away games.

Game 3 started after 10 p.m. because of a rain delay, shoddy defense led to a loss in Game 4 and Game 5 came down to what manager Joe Maddon a "3 1-2-inning sprint" that the speedy Rays were unable to win.

"It's reality TV at its best. Forget all those other (shows)," Maddon joked about resuming Game 5 two days later. "If you want to keep fans interested, just start games right there in the sixth inning."

Throughout the Series, Tampa made uncharacteristic mistakes on defense and was impatient at the plate, with Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena going 0-for-31 with 15 strikeouts before finally pulling out of their slides early in Game 5.

"Regardless of the outcome, I don't feel we have anything to be ashamed of," Longoria said. "Somebody's got to win, and somebody's got to lose. ... We were one of the last two teams playing. You can't ask for more than that."

He finished 1-for-20 with two RBIs and nine strikeouts. Pena was 2-for-17 with two RBIs and six strikeouts. Without the sluggers delivering their usual production, the Rays hit four homers after clubbing a record 16 against the Red Sox in the ALCS.

"We thought we would make it a better series," Crawford said.

"There's so much going on emotionally right now that all we want to do is just get out of here," added Cliff Floyd, one of the veterans signed last winter to bring leadership and stability to a young clubhouse.

Maddon and his players felt like they gained momentum by erasing a 2-0 deficit before play was stopped Monday and liked their chances of taking the series back to Tropicana Field, where they compiled the best home record in baseball this year.

Longoria and Pena both delivered their first World Series hits and drove in runs spawning hope before the suspension. Rocco Baldelli took up where they left off, delivering his first hit of the series - a solo homer Wednesday night - to make it 3-3 in the seventh.

The Rays, who had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year, held off Boston for the AL East title and rebuffed another challenge from the Red Sox when they took the AL championship series in seven games.

"It's tough to realize our season is over, but we feel like we're going to be back in this situation again," Pena said. "With the rain, the cold, the delays and everything else, this certainly was an unusual experience. But at least we were part of it."

-- Fred Gooodall

Philly fans showing merchandise vendors the money

What does it sound like when Philadelphia Phillies fans let loose after nearly 30 years of frustration?

Cha-ching.

Thrilled to have their hard-luck team in the World Series, Phillies fans have been buying up team hats, T-shirts, jackets and just about everything else you can imagine.

"This has blown away everyone's expectations, including the team, including our vendors," Howard Smith, Major League Baseball's senior vice president of licensing, said Wednesday.

"The greatest hot market in the history of sports was the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Whatever category you wanted to look at, it was just off the charts," Smith said, referring to the short sales period for licensed merchandise tied to a team's success.

"This year, there's something going on," he said. "Right now, the way the Phillies are trending, it will be the second-greatest hot market. Depending on how long it lasts, it could rival the Red Sox hot market of 2004."

Game 5 will resume Wednesday night with the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays tied 2-2 in the sixth inning. If the Phillies win, they'll claim their first World Series title since 1980 and just their second overall.

MLB doesn't give out sales numbers, Smith said. But one credit card company, Chase Card Services, said purchases of Phillies merchandise made with its cards doubled, from $80,000 to $160,000, on the day Philadelphia made the playoffs. When the Phillies won the NL pennant, the figure jumped from $108,000 to $271,000.

"As soon as they win the division, I'm online ordering T-shirts and everything," said Hal Lublin, who spent another $350 on a jacket, authentic Ryan Howard jersey and shirt for his wife after flying in from Los Angeles for Game 5.

One retailer, Modell's Sporting Goods, had matched its sales figures from the entire 2007 postseason before the first pitch was thrown for Game 5, Smith said. No surprise when you look around Philadelphia.

People everywhere are decked out in Phillies hats, jerseys, sweat shirts, T-shirts. There were so many fans wearing Phillies gear at last Sunday's Eagles game it looked as if they'd taken a wrong turn in the parking lot that sits between Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field.

Even Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was sporting a Phillies cap after the game.

"It's been, since, what, 1980 since we won it? That's when I was 14 years old. It may only come around once, so take it while you can," said Kevin Dolan, of Broomall, Pa., who shelled out $250 before Game 5 for matching blue World Series pullovers for himself and his 11-year-old son.

Lublin's father, Bill, estimates he's spent $600 on Phillies merchandise in the last few weeks, including the powder blue Mike Schmidt jersey he picked up a few days ago and the World Series pullover he bought before Game 5.

So much for the struggling economy.

"There's nothing like demand that's been put away for 30 years," Smith said.

Rays fans may be new to this whole thing - not only is this the Rays' first trip to the postseason in their 11 years, it's their first season with a winning record - but they're no slouches when it comes to spending.

Sales of Rays merchandise tripled this season, Smith said, and that number should continue to rise with young players like Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and David Price getting national exposure during the playoffs.

"It's remarkable to sit in the stands and see 99 out of 100 people are wearing something (that says) Tampa Bay," Smith said. "We just changed uniforms this year. That means they had to buy something in the last six months.

"It wasn't like a bandwagon jumping on," he added. "They hadn't done anything yet but make the playoffs, and everybody was already wearing the stuff."

And there is still more to come.

Once the World Series ends, MLB will roll out even more merchandise, this batch proclaiming the Phillies - or Rays, if they'd rally - as world champions.

"Don't wait," Smith cautioned, "because it won't be there long."

-- Nancy Armour

Let's play 3 1/2! Preparing for this game tricky

PHILADELPHIA - The beer taps were open and the suds flowed. The hot dogs sizzled, cheesesteaks were served and every other gluttonous goodie was ready to eat.

About the only shortage for Game 5 of the World Series were the innings.

Let's play 3½! No wonder fans were in a rush to stuff their bellies.

Two days after Philadelphia and Tampa Bay were suspended after 5½ innings because of rain with the score 2-2, the cliffhanger resumed Wednesday. Game 5, Take II was no ordinary World Series night.

The national anthem was benched for the seventh-inning staple "God Bless America." If those legs got uncomfortably cramped after only six outs, no worries. Fans wouldn't have to wait long to stretch and belt out "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Parking and admission was free, well, as long fans held on to their stubs and receipts.

If too many fans lost their stubs on the subway or couldn't make it back, it sure didn't look like it at Citizens Bank Park. The stadium was stuffed to the very last row and fans wildly waved their rally towels.

The delay was officially 46 hours.

The Phillies and their concessions provider, Aramark, treated the final 3½ innings at the shortened World Series night as business as usual.

As long as there's a Game 5 of the World Series, the beer vendors will be pouring. Oh, and 16,000 hot dogs, 5,500 cheesesteaks and all the other ballpark food favorites were piping hot and available at full quantity.

The concession stands were fully stocked Wednesday and ready to serve the 45,000 fans expected at Game 5.

"We're treating this as a regular game day," said David Freireich, an Aramark spokesman.

The game time temperature was forecast to be about 40 degrees - with a wind chill about 10 degrees colder.

Forget those peanuts and Cracker Jack. Buy me some cocoa and chicken soup!

Those famous Philly water ice stands were converted into hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup hot spots. The ice stands that were open out in Ashburn Alley, the outfield entertainment area, were empty.

Aramark and the Phillies set up an "Autumn Grille" stand just for the World Series, serving fall classics like hand carved turkey sandwiches, apple turnovers and hot apple cider.

The freezing fans can use those hot chocolate cups as hand warmers. They still need to stay sharp for the foul balls.

The Phillies had 3½ dozen balls rubbed up in South Jersey mud for the final innings and another six dozen slathered and ready to go in case the game goes into extra innings. Ten dozen balls are normally prepared for a regular-season game, and Phillies equipment manager Dan O'Rourke gave mud massages to 12 dozen baseballs for each World Series game.

The first pitch of the night was actually the 188th pitch of Game 5. The starting lineups were not introduced.

Maybe Cole Hamels can't come back to Game 5 on short rest, but the Phillies fans sure could - as long as they had their ticket stubs. Instead of sticking their stubs in a scrap book or souvenir lanyard, fans needed to protect them like a family heirloom if they wanted re-entry on Wednesday. Parking passes or receipts got them into parking lots. If they were lost, the cost was another $12.

Ushers said there was no early trouble at the gates or signs of counterfeit stubs.

Lifelong Phillies fan Dan Norman drove from Toronto and spent two extra nights in Philly because of the suspended game. Wearing a Phillies cap, jersey and blanket, he was ready to add the stub to his souvenir list.

"We were going to save it anyway, as long as it wasn't too wet," he said. "I'm holding on to this no matter what."

Kids who are usually sent to bed not long after the first pitch, and their parents who might doze off in the easy chair while the game flickers on, might actually be able to watch the end of this game. No learning the results over breakfast or waking up startled in the middle of the night and surfing the Web for a score.

That appealed to Andy Klein, who returned two days later with his 11-year-old nephew.

"It's supposed to be about family," Klein said. "I think this is great. It's ridiculous how late these games start. The ratings are down. This one should get over at a normal hour."

That might be the only thing normal about wacky Game 5.

-- Dan Gelston

Brrr-ball title: Series frozen by weather

PHILADELPHIA - Hey baseball fans, grab your ski caps, gloves, parkas and boots. It's time for the World Series!

Next year, the Series doesn't start until Oct. 28 and Game 7 would be Nov. 5.

If the resumption of Game 5 Wednesday night was any indication - 44 degrees at the start and forecast calling for temperatures to dip into the mid 30s - the 2009 season could end on a ch-ch-chilly note.

"I don't like the cold weather. I grew up in it but I'm not digging it at all," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It would better if the Eagles and the Bucs would take the field today. It would be much more appropriate."

With each additional week, the risk of cold or wet weather gets greater in the Northeast and Midwest.

"You typically would expect the conditions to deteriorate as you go toward winter, but it does vary," National Weather Service meteorologist Valerie Meola said. "Some years are colder than others."

Next year's postseason has been pushed back because of the World Baseball Classic, delaying opening day until April 5. Teams would rather risk bad weather the first two weeks of the season than when playing for a title.

"It's better to start late March and not play so much into November," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "I don't think baseball wished to be playing into November."

No one in baseball's hierarchy wants to address shortening the regular season. And no one will even consider a warm-weather, fixed site for the World Series.

"I think each town should be rewarded, the fan base, the home-team fan base," Maddon said, used to the 72-degree, precipitation-free Trop. "I just think each ballpark is unique. Look at our place, we would be at a great disadvantage playing in a neutral spot."

Looking on the bright side, a November World Series could mean new marketing opportunities for enterprising owners - lined caps with ear flaps; parkas with team logos; special no-drop gloves.

"Sometimes it's real cold, the ball is kind of hard to grip and it's kind of slippery," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "If you don't hit the ball on the fat part of the bat, you get a sting from it. It can be uncomfortable hitting in cold weather, but at the same time it can be uncomfortable throwing a ball, too."

Before Game 4 of the 1997 World Series, there was snow during batting practice in Cleveland. The game-time temperature was 38 degrees, more suitable for ski jumps than sliders. That was the coldest night at the Series in recent memory, and it was thought to be the first time snow fell at a Series game since the first two games of the all-Chicago matchup in 1906.

Last year, a snowstorm forced the Colorado Rockies off the field and into the batting cages at Coors Field for their last pre-World Series workout at home - on Oct. 21. Players chose to focus on the fickleness of the Denver weather rather than the cold.

But with three rounds of playoffs, cold is en vogue.

In 2001, there was a 38-degree wind chill for Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 30 - the Series was pushed back a week that year because of 9/11 and didn't end until Nov. 4. In 2006, the game-time temperature was 44 degrees for Game 2 in Detroit and 43 degrees for Game 3 in St. Louis, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Even in Atlanta, the wind chill was 34 for the 1999 opener.

"As an amateur meteorologist, let me assure you it rains in November and it rains in mid-October. You can get warmer weather as the fall goes on," commissioner Bud Selig said. "It's warming this weekend after the intense cold in the Midwest, which is now coming here. And if the World Series was played next week, we would have been better off."

-- Ronald Blum

Baseball might consider amending postseason rules

PHILADELPHIA - Following this wet and wacky World Series, Major League Baseball might consider amending the rules so that all postseason games must be played to full length.

"Worth looking at," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Game 5 between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies resumed Wednesday night after it was suspended because of rain Monday with the score tied 2-all in the middle of the sixth inning.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Monday night that even if the Rays had not tied it in the top of the sixth, there was no way he would allow a World Series game to be shortened to less than nine innings.

Thus, if the Phillies had led an official game when it was stopped, the game would not be over. In effect, the rain delay could have lasted for days.

"I expect that we will be discussing that with them," union head Donald Fehr said.

A game becomes official when the team that is losing has made at least 15 outs, and regular-season games occasionally are cut short because of bad weather.

No postseason game has ever been shortened, but as of now there is no rule that states it couldn't happen.

"I don't have any problem with the program as it exists," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday. "Playing it over from the beginning, again, if that's what had been chosen to do, I would have been fine with that. If this is the format, I'm good with this. I'm the manager of the Rays. I'm not about creating all of this doctrine right now. I'm just going by what we're told we're supposed to do."

HARRASSING THE RAYS

A group of Phillies fans showed up Wednesday morning at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Del., to make sure the Tampa Bay Rays got a true Philly send-off to the ballpark.

The red-clad fans chanted "Let's Go Phillies!" and did their best to try to annoy the Rays, who moved into the posh hotel in downtown Wilmington after Game 5 was suspended because of rain Monday night.

The Rays had already checked out of their hotel in Philadelphia and couldn't find any in the city to accommodate them, so traveling secretary Jeff Ziegler scrambled to get them into the du Pont.

If the Rays thought being 25 miles south of Philly would keep them far enough from the passionate Phillies fans, they were wrong. By lunchtime, 40 fans had gathered.

STAYING PUT

James Shields wasn't worried about getting enough sleep.

Shields was scheduled to start Game 6 for the Rays on Thursday night - if they avoided elimination by beating Philadelphia on Wednesday night. But the right-hander had no interest in flying ahead to Tampa Bay to rest for his potential outing, a common big league practice during the regular season.

"I can't do that, man. I can't leave my team right now," Shields said. "I remember during the season we were in Boston, I think we played a game like at 11 o'clock at night. I was pitching a day game the next day, and I ended up going back to the hotel. It was 0-0, and the next thing I know, by the time I got to the hotel it was 6-0 Red Sox. And from then on out I told myself I'd never leave a game, no matter what time it is."

Game 5 was suspended after 5½ innings because of rain Monday night and resumed Wednesday night with the score tied 2-all. Because of the suspension, baseball eliminated the travel day that had been scheduled between Games 5 and 6.

"I can't leave my team," said Shields, the winning pitcher in Game 2. "I want to support them on the bench. I want to root them on. And hopefully, I get to pitch the next game."

The scenario Wednesday also left Brett Myers in a strange situation because he was slated to start Game 6 for Philadelphia, if necessary.

He wanted to pitch - but hoped he wouldn't have to. The Phillies had a chance to wrap up their second World Series championship with a win in Game 5 at home.

"Everybody wants to pitch again and wants to play again, but I'm not going to be selfish," Myers said. "I want to do it here for this city and for the team."

DESTINY'S DARLINGS

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel thought his team had the edge Wednesday night, even though Tampa Bay rallied to tie Game 5 before it was suspended by rain in the middle of the sixth inning.

"I wouldn't trade positions. So I guess I feel like I have an advantage," Manuel said. "That's kind of how I look at it. Destiny is one thing, but if they're destined, we want to definitely fight through destiny. That's about all I can tell you."

RAINY MATTERS

One last thing about the condition of the field in the top of the sixth inning Monday night when the Rays scored off Cole Hamels to tie it at 2.

B.J. Upton's two-out single up the middle off shortstop Jimmy Rollins' glove might have been a groundout on a dry field. The slick-fielding Rollins, a Gold Glove winner last season, routinely makes that play.

"He makes that play quite a bit," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Upton stole second and scored on Carlos Pena's single to left. The play at the plate was close and might have been closer if left fielder Pat Burrell could have charged the ball instead of trudging through the mud.

Then again, Upton had to run on the same sloppy field.

CHEERING ON THE PHILS

The 76ers moved up the start of their NBA season opener against Toronto to 6 p.m. and invited fans holding tickets to the Phillies game to come in for half-price.

The Wachovia Center planned to stay open and show the Phillies-Rays game on all of its televisions in the arena. Sixers president Ed Stefanski, who grew up in the area, is a huge Phillies fans.

-- Mike Fitzpatrick

Bettors mad after books declare Philly Game 5 win

LAS VEGAS - Some sports books in Nevada have declared the Philadelphia Phillies the winner of Game 5 of the World Series even though the game was suspended with the score 2-2 in the middle of the sixth inning.

A top gambling regulator says a handful of Tampa Bay Rays bettors have complained. Nevada Gaming Commission enforcement chief Jerry Markling told The Associated Press on Wednesday that different sports books have different rules about baseball betting.

Some have rules stating that rain-delayed games are over after a certain period of time. The books use the score from the last completed inning to determine a winner.

That would make the Phillies the winner. They led 2-1 after five innings.

-- Oskar Garcia