Phillies get early look at Tropicana Field; World Series begins Wednesday night

The Philadelphia Phillies got an early look at Tropicana Field, site of Wednesday night's World Series opener.
Instead of waiting until the day before, they worked out Monday evening at the quirky ballpark. By the time the first pitch is thrown, they will have been off for six days since winning the NL pennant.
"Once we kind of get back to that flow, it starts to come naturally," Ryan Howard said.
It will be a World Series of contrasts: North vs. South. Old vs. New. Rest vs. rust. Beloved vs. belittled.
Well, both have disparaged over the years.
The frustrated Phillies have been around since 1883 but the losingest team in the history of U.S. major leagues has had just one title to celebrate, back in 1980. The Rays? The franchise didn't start play until 1998, didn't have a winning season until this year and didn't even shed the Devil from its nickname until after completing play in 2007.
"People were happy when we got our 71st win. People were excited when we got our 81st win, saying you guys have cleared the .500 mark. We still kept going," said Rays pitcher Matt Garza, the AL championship series MVP. "We've proved doubters wrong this entire time."
Philadelphia is famous for the Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks and booing Santa Claus. Tampa/St. Pete is known for the Gasparilla Festival and strip clubs. Until now, its most noted baseball team was the Yankees, who have held spring training there since 1996.
But baseball's glamourpusses have all gone home, with the Yankees and Mets failing to make the postseason, and the Cubs, Dodgers and defending champion Red Sox all getting bounced out of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay was a 200-1 shot to win the Series when betting opened, ahead of only Kansas City and Washington (both 250-1). Philadelphia was 18-1.