Starting off a home game with a lead in the early innings is never a bad thing. If the first two games of the World Series are any indication, the 2008 contest is going to be low-scoring, and it's going to be close. After Wednesday's 3-2 Phillies victory, the Rays matched their 9-inning output in the first frame of tonight's contest, adding on a third run in the second, to push ahead to a 3-0 lead, which proved to be enough to take the game, as the Phillies have shown no signs of learning how to hit with men on, eventually falling 4-2.

As with the ALCS, the Rays leave Tropicana with a 1-1 split, having lost the first game and taken the second. And while they scored enough to win, James Shields didn't give up a run into the sixth inning, making the Rays' early-inning runs stand up, despite many opportunities. The Phillies left 11 men on base, due in no small part to their batting 1-13 with men in scoring position, having gone 0-9 the night before.

This 1-22 stat is one we'll no doubt hear time and again from Joe Morgan and crew on their nightly broadcasts, just like we were treated to their comments about how the Rays "don't like to bunt with the lead" and the usual nonsense, as I heard yet again on the radio this evening. Of course, it was the Rays in the 4th using the bunt to squeeze in a run to go up 4-zip, rendering their "analysis" moot. It's all part of trying to fill the hours of airtime, which resumes Saturday at 5:35 Pacific time.

After six full, the Rays lead the Phillies 4-0, in an attempt to even up the series. Despite keeping Philadelphia scoreless, starting pitcher Shields has departed, having thrown more than 100 pitches. Meanwhile, Myers continues to do battle in hopes his offense will come through and give him a chance for the W.

In the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped game 1 to the Red Sox, 2-0. In the second contest, the team's offense woke up, winning 9-8 in the first volley of what was eventually a 7-game series victory. After last night's close contest that saw the Rays vanquished 3-2 by the Phillies, they are looking again for the same Game Two magic. Taking the mound for the Rays will be James Shields, who sported a 14-8 record and 3.56 ERA, as well as a 4:1 strikeout/walk ratio in the regular season. He will be opposed by the Phils' Brett Myers, who was inconsistent in the 2008 campaign, muddling through to a 10-13 record and 4.55 ERA.

Game time is 5:29 Pacific Time. Try not to fill up the thread before first pitch.

I hate to say this, but I still haven't forgiven the LA Dodgers for the 1988 World Series, and I probably never will. Even with the amusements of Manny Ramirez and the "what might have beens" of Andre Ethier, I'm not exactly throwing on the powder blues and planning for a night out at Chavez Ravine. But the Dodgers went from being a forgotten team in a horrible division prior to the All-Star Break to a high-octane contender, powered by Manny and his amazing dreadlocks. Now, they're assumed to have the momentum, despite having finished the '08 regular season with a record eight games worse than the Phillies.

As for the Phils, they come from a franchise that had a great 1980, and ... well, that's almost it. A Joe Carter home run doomed their last memorable playoff appearance, and you better believe Bud Selig is praying they don't make it to the Big Show this year, eliminating LA as a media market. But not us. We're hoping Joe Blanton and company get their shot (against the Rays, of course). Game 1 is in the hands of Cole Hamels, who will be facing off against Derek Lowe, who I don't recall being all that fond of during his time at Fenway. Game time is 5:22 Pacific.

Every year, members of the Baseball Writers Association submit their ballots to cast votes for new inductees into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. And so far, after decades of voting, no player has entered the hall with unanimous support.

It takes 75% approval to make it in, and so far, the record is Tom Seaver, who was named on 425 of 430 ballots, for a 98.84% vote. In 2007, Cal Ripken came close, with 98.5%, and Tony Gwynn nearly matched him, gathering 97.6% of the vote.

But let me make myself clear. Whatever the reasons are for these so-called baseball experts to not vote in some of the legends of the game should be thrown away when it comes to Rickey Henderson, who deserves to go into the hall with 100% of the votes. Any writer who knowingly casts a ballot that does not include Rickey should be banned from ever voting again in the future, and they should be openly mocked, for they do not know this game.

Writers typically vote for a player based on multiple attributes, including: Statistics, Longevity, Awards and All-Star appearances, and Post-Season play. Rickey Henderson has each of these in spades, as I'll explain.

Rickey Henderson is no marginal, arguable, Hall of Famer. The man is a living legend who didn't just set records with his craft - he destroyed them and rewrote the record books. His 1,406 stolen bases, 468 more than Lou Brock's 938, the second-place mark are so far ahead, it's the equivalent of having 1,142 home runs (versus Barry Bonds' 762 mark), pitching 766 wins (versus Cy Young's 511), or striking out 8,565 batters (versus Nolan Ryan's 5,714).

In addition to his steals mark, RIckey Henderson scored more runs than any baseball player ever, with 2,295. He also led off 81 games with a home run, and holds the all-time mark for steals in a regular season, notching 130 in 1982, beating Lou Brock's 118 from the 1974 campaign. Again, put in Barry Bonds home run terms, that would be more than 80 dingers in a season.

Henderson led the league in stolen bases 12 times, and led the major leagues in runs scored five times. He was the AL MVP in 1990, and a ten time All-Star.

Rickey was no single-dimensional player. He hit more than 20 home runs in four separate years, accumulating 297 over his 25-season career. He hit .300 or better in seven seasons, as late as 1999, when he hit .315 for the New York Mets at the age of 40. He hit more than 500 doubles, and walked 2,190 times, second only to Bonds, and first overall at the time he stopped playing.

Lest it be said he was a man focused on statistics first and team second, Rickey won a pair of World Series titles, including in 1989 with the A's against the Giants, and in 1993 for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Phillies. In his 14 World Series games, Rickey batted a robust .339, and slugged .607, with 7 swiped bags against two caught stealing.

Yet, somehow, I bet some ink stained wretch is going to find a reason to not vote for Rickey. They'll make some question of his character. They might call him selfish, or remember the time when, while on the Mets, he was playing cards in the clubhouse. But in an era when players turned to drugs and steroids, Rickey supplied his own speed - at a level never seen before or since.

We may never see another player like Rickey, unless he comes out of his non-playing state and picks up the batting gloves. While everyone believes Rickey will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and discussions are already going on, saying he'll wear the A's cap into the hall, I want to make it very clear - this man deserves to go in unanimously, period.

100% voting is all I will accept, and as fans, we should start making noise about it now. I can think of nobody else more deserving.

After five innings, we have a real game on our hands. The A's are up 1-0 on the back of strong pitching by Greg Smith (only 1 walk, BTW) and an opportunistic double by Aaron Cunningham that plated Bobby Crosby in the fifth. The A's opted not to add on with the bases loaded and one out, so we're keeping this thing close. On to the sixth inning, A's!