ST. PETERSBURG, FL - In a stunning move, the Commissioner's office today announced that the World Series has been canceled at the request of the two participants. At a hastily-called press conference, Commissioner Bud Selig said that he made the move after receiving late-night phone calls from representatives of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies on the eve of Game 1.
"Both teams made it clear that they after all the excitement of reaching the World Series, losing would be heartbreaking," said Bud Selig. "They asked if we could just skip the World Series, and to my surprise, our broadcast partner Fox agreed immediately."
Rays manager Joe Maddon said that his team was so happy to be there that they really didn't want to play the game.
"Really, nothing could top Game 7 against the Red Sox," Maddon said, referring to his team's dramatic win over the defending World Series champs in the ALCS. "So why bother? If we beat the Phillies, it's not like we beat the Red Sox again. And if we lose, that's just going to hurt the psyche of our young team as we get ready to do what's most important next season - defend our AL East crown."
For his part, Phillies GM Pat Gillick said that the "unique nature" of his hometown team's fans was the No. 1 reason that his team chose to opt out of the World Series. Philadelphia sports fans have not seen their pro teams win a championship in 25 years.
"You know how brutal Philly fans are, and we didn't want to risk getting this close and losing," Gillick said. "Honestly, some of the guys were getting pretty fearful for their safety if he had lost. So we decided it was better to not try at all instead of trying, failing, and getting killed by our fans."
Selig said that the pregame festivities ahead of Game 1 will still take place, including a Navy jet flyover, fireworks show and the National Anthem as sung by the Backstreet Boys. However, after player introductions, both teams will be giving their League Championship rings, and each allowed a turn running around the field with the World Series trophy before leaving the stadium.
"Hey, I feel just sick about having to cancel the World Series," Selig said. "But it's not like we haven't done it before."
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