In just a few hours, the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays will square off in Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field.

Can you feel the excitement?

When the eight-team playoff field became official at the end of the regular season, many pundits theorized that a Tampa Bay vs. Milwaukee World Series would be Fox's worst nightmare in terms of ratings. That didn't happen, thanks to the Phillies and their treatment of Jeff Suppan in Game 4 of the Division Series at Miller Park.

This matchup, however, is close.

Baseball purists will love watching the upstart Rays and the talented Phillies. The pitching matchup tonight -- Phillies lefty Cole Hamels vs. Rays southpaw Scott Kazmir -- is about as good as it gets.

And still, most of the nation will unleash a collective yawn when the series starts. Without the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers or Cubs involved, the ratings will be brutal for the first few games.

If the series progresses, however, the interest will increase. If the teams produce some late-inning highlights and head into Game 6 next week, the ratings will climb and the general public will be reminded what baseball junkies -- "seamheads" -- already know:

Few things in sports can match the pitch-to-pitch drama of post-season baseball.

This could be a very exciting series. Don't miss it.