World Series has a fresh look

When Evan Longoria homered off Cole Hamels under a sunny sky in spring training, hardly anyone could’ve imagined they’d meet up again this fall.

In the World Series, of all places.

Yet now they’re set: Longoria, B.J. Upton and the upstart Tampa Bay Rays against Hamels, Shane Victorino and the eager Philadelphia Phillies, beginning Wednesday night with Game 1 at Tropicana Field.

Who would’ve guessed it? One of the oldest franchises in baseball versus one of the newest, linked by a single thread — a history of failure.

The Phillies, the losingest team in pro sports history, with only one championship to their name. The Rays, sad sacks since joining the majors with Arizona in 1998, with the worst record in baseball last year.

The Rays turned it around this season, capped when they dethroned the Boston Red Sox 3-1 Sunday night in Game 7 of the A.L. Championship Series.

And while Fox TV executives might’ve hoped for something seemingly more attractive — say, Cubs-Red Sox — the likes of former N.L. MVPs Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, along with Carl Crawford, Chase Utley and Matt Garza certainly give fans a fresh look.

While Rays manager Joe Maddon was a coach with the 2002 Angels when they won the World Series, this matchup is full of newcomers. Of all the players involved, the only one with a hit in any previous World Series is Phillies backup outfielder So Taguchi.

Tampa Bay dropped the “Devil” from its nickname this year and played like a different team, led by a rotation of James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Andy Sonnanstine and Garza.

The Rays went 97-65 to win the A.L. East, breezed past the Chicago White Sox in their first playoff series and held off Boston. Quite a feat for a team that had never won more than 70 games, and had finished last in every season except one, before this remarkable run.

After starting out the season as 200-1 long shots to win the World Series, the Rays have a chance to become the first club to go from worst in the majors to champs in a single year. To keep winning, Tampa Bay will have to tame manager Charlie Manuel’s well-balanced bunch. Behind Howard, the Phillies led the N.L. with 214 home runs. Hamels, Brett Myers, 45-year-old Jamie Moyer and midseason addition Joe Blanton are backed by Brad Lidge, the closer who’s perfect in 46 save chances this year.

Philadelphia went 92-70 to win the N.L. East, then bopped past Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Dodgers to reach its first World Series since 1993. Next up, a chance to add to the title the Phils won in 1980 with Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton at Veterans Stadium.