2008 MLB National League Championship Series (NLCS) kicks off Thursday between NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies in a best-of-seven series match.
Philadelphia will have home field advantage for this series due to their better regular-season record.
This series marks the first postseason meeting for the Phillies and Dodgers since the 1983 NLCS, which Philadelphia won 3-1 en route to a loss to Baltimore in the World Series. It also marks the first NLCS for both teams since the Division Series was instituted in 1994. Overall, this is the fourth time these two teams have met in the postseason. In addition to the 1983 NLCS, the Dodgers defeated the Phillies 3-1 in the NLCS in both 1977 and 1978.
Going on to the 2008 MLB American League Championship Series (ALCS) features the match up of Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL championship series Friday night.
Tampa Bay was worst in the majors last year, but they have turned things around and will play for a spot in the World Series.
Tampa Bay, which never won more than 70 games during its 10 previous seasons, went from 96 losses last year to 97 wins and passed the big-spending Red Sox and New York Yankees in the AL East.
No longer bedeviled, the Rays won all year with young talent and improved pitching. Andy Sonnanstine, who pitched a three-hit shutout against the White Sox at Tropicana Field in April, reversed a late-season slide that saw him go winless in his final seven starts.
Tampa Bay will have home field advantage, since by rule a wild card qualifier cannot have home field advantage in an LDS or LCS.
Philadelphia will have home field advantage for this series due to their better regular-season record.
This series marks the first postseason meeting for the Phillies and Dodgers since the 1983 NLCS, which Philadelphia won 3-1 en route to a loss to Baltimore in the World Series. It also marks the first NLCS for both teams since the Division Series was instituted in 1994. Overall, this is the fourth time these two teams have met in the postseason. In addition to the 1983 NLCS, the Dodgers defeated the Phillies 3-1 in the NLCS in both 1977 and 1978.
Going on to the 2008 MLB American League Championship Series (ALCS) features the match up of Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL championship series Friday night.
Tampa Bay was worst in the majors last year, but they have turned things around and will play for a spot in the World Series.
Tampa Bay, which never won more than 70 games during its 10 previous seasons, went from 96 losses last year to 97 wins and passed the big-spending Red Sox and New York Yankees in the AL East.
No longer bedeviled, the Rays won all year with young talent and improved pitching. Andy Sonnanstine, who pitched a three-hit shutout against the White Sox at Tropicana Field in April, reversed a late-season slide that saw him go winless in his final seven starts.
Tampa Bay will have home field advantage, since by rule a wild card qualifier cannot have home field advantage in an LDS or LCS.