Major League Baseball

Shift to Philly will give Series a needed jolt

Published Oct. 30, 2009 4:30 p.m. ET

Ken Rosenthal

As a native New Yorker, I never thought I'd say this, but here goes:

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Thank goodness the World Series is leaving New York so we can get a little atmosphere.

"Our ballpark is so loud and rowdy, I was really expecting some of that here," Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "It was very tame and civil."

Rollins flashed that devilish smile of his, the one that all but says, "Put it on the back page."

From mystique and aura to tame and civil.

What has the Bronx come to?

"Expensive tickets running loud people out," Rollins said, referring to the high prices at the new Yankee Stadium.

OK, Jimmy, but does it feel like more of a World Series than last year, when the Phillies faced the Rays?

"When we get to Philly it will," Rollins said, flashing that smile again.

Normally I do not write about fans, or buy into the notion that one city's are better than another's. Passion is passion, and passion is what makes sports so much fun.

Still, we are headed toward perhaps the best World Series since 2002, raising the question of whether the new Yankee Stadium will be awake for Games 6 and 7. At least one of those games figures to be necessary, for neither team is likely to sweep the three in Philly.