Injured and low on enthusiasm after playing parts of seven major league seasons, Fernando Tatis walked away from baseball in 2003 at age 28. Tatis was content with retirement until his family found a project that needed more money than it had saved.

Tatis, who once hit two grand slams in an inning — the only such feat in major league history — decided his greatest asset still was his swing. After two seasons of dues-paying in the minors, Tatis, at 33, became a catalyst to the New York Mets playoff drive before he separated his shoulder and they fizzled again down the stretch.

Tatis was just named the MLBPA's Comeback Player of the Year, winning the award over Jorge Cantu of the Marlins and Kerry Wood of the Cubs.

Q: How does it feel to even be considered for Comeback Player of the Year?

Fernando Tatis: That's amazing. It's a great feeling that I have right now. I'm just enjoying the moment. It's like a dream come true, to see all the hard work from down in the minor leagues, and in the

You can barely make out the tats on The Cowbell Kid. We're talkin' hard-core, cowbell-ringin', blue-headed fanaticism here. This is the challenge for Game 3 tonight.

Are the Phaithful at Citizens Bank Park up to it? This other guy was not.

When appropriate, we review key decisions to see if the right one was made. This is the Second-Guess.

The Turning Point: In 1996, Fox bought broadcast rights to Major League Baseball games, including the World Series, and tapped Joe Buck and Tim McCarver to announce. Ever since, when Buck is not covering the NFL, he and McCarver have led Fox's coverage, including the current World Series.

The Question: An inordinate amount of viewers, seemingly, strongly dislike Buck and McCarver. How often have you heard praise, as opposed to scorn, for both or either? So should Fox ditch them for another duo as soon as now so those pained folks can fully enjoy the rest of the Phillies-Rays series?

Off with their talking heads!: If you want to polarize an audience, talk John McCain and Barack Obama. If you want to put an audience on the same page, talk Buck and McCarver and how awful everyone thinks they are.

Fox annually ejects Buck from Saturday baseball during the pennant race so he can work

The Tampa Bay Rays don't get mad.

They do, however, get even.

Facing a possible two-game deficit, the Rays got some timely hitting, or at least some productive outs, in a 4-2 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night.

James "Big 17 Outs" Shields (you can't be "Big Game" James if you don't go at least six innings) got to tip his cap and David "The Right Is" Price finished off the Phils with 2 1/3 rocky-ish innings for a non-save save. Let's call it, a game finished, or, "GF."

The Series continues in Philadelphia, the city where all are beloved by their brother, on Saturday night.

Here are a few more thoughts on Game 2, which might include another mysterious call by umpire Kerwin Danley and the Phillies kicking themselves for not hitting with runners in scoring position:

That won't cut meat: The Phils went 0-for-13 in Game 1 and 1-for-15 in Game 2 with runners in scoring position, or as the SABREtooths call it, RISP. Yikes. Zoinkees, even.

When appropriate, Big League Stew reviews key decisions to see if the right one was made.

The Turning Point: His team was trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning when Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena reached first on an error. But Pena was caught stealing second after left-hander Cole Hamels used a pickoff move to start a 1-3-6 putout. The Rays dugout immediately argued that Hamels balked which, if called, would have put Pena at second with no outs and Evan Longoria at the plate.

The Question: Did first-base umpire Kerwin Danley miss the balk call on Hamels, who has never been called for a balk in 89 career appearances — regular and postseason?

Come on, Blue! (Yes): Major League Baseball Rule 8.05 (c) says: [If] the pitcher, while touching [the rubber], fails to step directly toward a base before throwing to that base... it is a balk.

Nice move, Cole (No): As crew chief Tim Welke pointed out to Maddon in a discussion between innings, the view from home plate was unclear, with Welke adding that he saw

The Philadelphia Phillies shook off whatever rust built up in the week since the NLCS ended and bolted to a lead in the World Series thanks to a 3-2 victory in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Chase Utley hit a two-run homer in the first, Cole Hamels continued pitching like UltraMan and the back end of the Phillies bullpen continued to be lights-out.

So much for the suckers who picked the Rays to sweep.

(Rays in five?)

Here are a few more thoughts on Game 1, which includes ruminations on a free taco:

Human Ditto Machine: Cole's hair pitched amazingly again, going seven innings (doesn't he always go seven?), allowing two runs and five hits. Doesn't he always allow two runs and five hits? He's the most consistent pitcher in the history of consistency. You can set your Blackberry to him. Give him a hug 'cause he's the fourth pitcher in postseason history to win four games in four starts, joining Josh Beckett ('07), David Wells ('98) and Dave Stewart ('89).

Chase, you just

Oh my God, they're back again.

Perhaps because the Tampa Bay Rays meteoric rise stunned it, Major League Baseball has scheduled the Backstreet Boys — or at least what's left of 'em — to perform the "Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 1 of the World Series tonight. The guys are going to party like it's 1999, because that's about the last time they were relevant. (The above photo, from 2001, includes Red Sox manager Jimy Williams, who was widely considered the "sixth BSB.")

An act doesn't need a current Top 40 hit to open a Series, but it helps. That, or a legacy of success, plus some ties to the home team, is how best to judge a Game 1 anthem singer.

How does Backstreet (minus Kevin Richardson, who retired) measure up? Can they bring the flava' and show us how? Big League Stew's got some questions and the Boys better answer now.

Are they original?

Yeah. Nick Carter, the blondest one, hails from Tampa, and the group formed in nearby Orlando.

Are they the only ones?

Nah. Not even close.

1. Trever Miller — Far and away the best head of hair in the World Series this side of Cole Hamels. Spectacular, layered and feathery in the way that a peacock announces its presence. He looks like one of the guys who hangs out with Lord Humungus (the Warrior of the Wasteland, the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla) in the "Road Warrior."

2. Jonny Gomes — Definitely influenced by Mr. T's famous coiffure. Gomes' tattoos and attitude shouldn't influence, necessarily, how one feels about the hair, but he cultivates whatever look he's going for quite well. Was he born with a Mohawk? Was he voted most likely to get a Mohawk during high school?

3. Akinori Iwamura — Possibly overlooked on some "best Rayhawks" lists, but his Mohawk is quite sharp, from its well-defined back, right down to what I swear are kanji characters (from the Japanese alphabet) on the sides. It's not the easiest thing for a "gaijin" to do, get a mohawk, but Iwamura seemed to be cool with crossing social, cultural and follicle