On Tuesday night in a sparkling new ballpark that will be minus its home team, the 116th World Series in baseball history will begin. It is a marvel not just that it will be played, but that the focus will be entirely on baseball — and that the ultimate champion will feel duly crowned.
A pair of Game 7 victories in the league championship series set up a matchup that seems glaring and stark on its surface: the upstart Tampa Bay Rays will face the gargantuan Los Angeles Dodgers. That is, the small-market, cash-strapped Rays vs. the big-city, high-payroll Dodgers.