The Rays are an early favorite to win the Word Series, but that doesn't bother the Phillies.
"How they figure that out is completely independent of our train of thought," said Phillies closer Brad Lidge. "We feel like we're going to go out and win."
"I don't think we were favorites in the regular season, either," said third baseman Pedro Feliz. "We're here, so let's see who's going to finish first."
At the beginning of the year, the Phillies were given a shot to get here. The Rays were not. Either way, it's time to see who has the most juice.
"That's okay. If you walked around and asked all of our guys, that's okay with us. The outcome tells the story. We said we can control our destiny, we can still do that," Manuel said. "May the better team win. And we think we're the better team."
Earlier in the day, the team gathered at Citizens Bank Park and then a bus convoy carried the team to the airport shortly before noon.
They boarded a chartered airliner that took off bound for Florida just before 12:30 p.m., and only Chopper 6 and 6abc.com brought you LIVE coverage of the team as it departed.
The Phillies, the professional sports team with the most losses ever, will face one of Major League Baseball's newest teams, the Tampa Bay Rays.
The World Series starts Wednesday night in Florida.
