Oct. 21 -- SPRING CLASSIC?

BY SCOTT LAUBER

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Flew into Orlando yesterday, picked up my rental car and drove 70 or so miles along I-4 West, passing towns like Kissimmee, Lakeland and Plant City.

It felt like spring training.

Throughout the drive, and the Phillies' two-hour workout yesterday evening at the positively bizarre Tropicana Field, the same word kept coming to mind.

Weird.

It's weird to be in Florida -- Clearwater, no less -- in October. The Phillies train here for six weeks each year, but when they leave at the end of March, you never imagine you're going to come back here until the following February. But, here we are, staying at a hotel off Ulmerton Road, miles from Lenny's and Frenchy's and Smokey Bokes and Bright House Networks Field and everything that makes me think of spring training. And it's weird to be writing about the Fall Classic, a typically cold weather event, inside a domed stadium with the temperature reaching 85 degrees outside.

Come to think of it, there's nothing about this World Series that feels normal.

***
OK, here's the schedule today. At noon, the Rays clubhouse will be open to the media. They will work out here at the Trop Dome at 1 p.m. Cole Hamels will speak to the media at 2 p.m., followed by Charlie Manuel at 2:15 p.m. Rays manager Joe Maddon, a native of Hazelton, Pa., will talk at 2:30 p.m., followed by the Rays' Game 1 starter (expected to be Scott Kazmir) at 2:45 p.m. The Phillies' clubhouse will be open to reporters from 2-2:45 p.m., and the Phillies will work out at 3 p.m.

Got all that?

We'll try to bring you any news, as it happens, throughout the day.

***
The Phils got a good feel for the Trop Dome -- and all its nooks, crannies and catwalks -- during a workout last night. When it was over, Jimmy Rollins told a few reporters that his career won't be complete without a ring. Tom Gordon, the forgotten man on the Phillies team, paid a visit to the clubhouse yesterday. Gordon underwent surgery on his elbow last week, and odds are, the Phillies won't pick up their $4.5 million option on his contract next year. Within the notebook, David Montgomery has been trying to talk Pat Gillick out of retiring, without any luck. Martin Frank writes about how the DH gives the Rays a distinct home-field advantage. Back home, Kevin Noonan caught up with Mitch Williams, who says the '08 Phillies are better than the '93 vintage. The Rays, exhausted from their Game 7 celebration after vanquishing the Red Sox, took yesterday off. And not even the spiraling economy can stop folks from supporting the Phillies.

More later.