Tampa Bay's improbable season has some people comparing the AL East champions to the 1969 World Series champion New York Mets.

Rays manager Joe Maddon was a 15-year-old growing up in Hazleton, Pa., at the time and watched the ascension of the "Miracle Mets."

"I followed it very closely," Maddon said. "The pitching staff was incredible. They had all those power arms and they had the great bullpen."

The Mets, a doormat since joining the NL in 1962, overcame a double-digit deficit to pull ahead of the Chicago Cubs for the first-ever NL East title.

"I remember primarily the fact that they played with a lot of heart," Maddon said. "They always seemed to rise to an occasion, and comeback and win big games. Different guys, just like us, would play a big role. I remember it very well."

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and outfielder Shane Victorino are not expected to miss any games, even though Manuel's 87-year-old mother and Victorino's 82-year-old grandmother died on Friday. If the series extends to Game 5 Wednesday night, general manager Pat Gillick said the team would provide Manuel with a private plane for an overnight flight to Virginia.

Victorino said his family in Hawaii is "hoping we can get the funeral arrangements to where I won't miss any games. Like my dad said, 'My grandma would probably want me to be here.'

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp walked into the clubhouse wearing an Oscar the Grouch T-shirt that read "I (heart) haters." Clearly, Kemp had dressed for the occasion, knowing his home state No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners had been upset by fifth-ranked Texas, 45-35, earlier in the day. "Is that your loser outfit?" teased Delwyn Young, who circled around Kemp with his fingers forming Texas' "Hook 'em Horns" sign.

Gillick learns by listening. In his first dinner with his staff in Philadelphia, in 2005, Gillick took the time to hear a trade proposal from the waiter. As the new general manager, and perhaps the best-connected man in baseball, Gillick had better sources of information. But he considered the waiter's suggestion and said, "You know, that's not a bad idea."