TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rays Catching A Ride On Destiny Train

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 2, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Might as well give in and wallow in the madness. Things are happening at Tropicana Field that you can't explain, that make you wonder if what you just witnessed is really true.

It really is true, though, and it keeps happening game after game.

The Rays have that look blessed teams get. The kind of look that makes the mind drift to October and possibilities that once would have seemed laughable. Nobody is laughing now.

Yes, it's only June and they are about to embark on a three-city road trip through the dark alleys of the American League. But then you watched Gabe Gross touch home plate with the winning run Sunday - no easy feat when you're walking on air - and the celebratory scrum that has become a regular part of Rays baseball.

"It's a blast," first baseman Carlos Pena said.

Pena then apologized for a scratchy throat. He strained his vocal chords shouting encouragement during the game and pushed them over the edge when Gross cranked an 0-2 pitch into the right-field seats for the Rays' sixth walk-off win of the season.

It's not so much that the Rays are winning. Or even that, at 35-22, they're halfway to equaling the highest number of victories in their history - and June just got here. It's bigger than that. It is how they've gotten here, with different heroes each game. Some of them are so anonymous they might as well be in witness protection.

Gross was 6-for-63 against lefties (.095) for his career before Sunday when, naturally, he finished with a triple, homer and three RBIs against them. A managerial hunch? Or is it bigger than that?

"I'm not that smart," Manager Joe Maddon said.

He doesn't have to be. This kind of stuff happens if you've caught a ride on the destiny train.

On The Road

The Rays are about to go somewhere they've never been.

I'm not talking about the three-city trip that will take them to the home parks of the Red Sox, Rangers and Angels - without their closer, Troy Percival. The Rays have been to those places plenty of times. Not like this, though, not as a contender that has made it to June in first place.

Certainly not as a team that believes it belongs right up there with baseball's best.

This is a chance to prove just that, starting Tuesday in Boston, although you can't put too much importance on a trip like the Rays are about to take. Can't put too little on it, either.

"It's huge only for us and confidence," designated hitter Cliff Floyd said. "When you've won the World Series and you're the world champs, nothing much bothers you in June.

"But for us, it's a stepping stone in the right direction. If you want to be considered a really good team, you have to win on the road. It's part of business. Guys are gunning for us now. This thing was going to change sooner or later if you get enough talent. People should have been expecting this."

June is when many a pretender is exposed and many dream seasons get their wakeup calls. That's one way to look at this trip. Another is that it's a chance for a young team to fully prove it belongs.

"We're not sneaking up on anybody. Everybody is ready for us, the planning is going to be there, and the intensity is going to be turned up to be playing against us. I like that, actually," Maddon said.

Ride The Wave

It happens like this in baseball sometimes. Teams can come from nowhere, as the Rays are doing. When it happens, it is a summer-long thrill ride that needs to be enjoyed more than it needs to be explained.

"We expect to win all the time," Pena said. "We don't concern ourselves with who we're playing or where we're playing."

They just finished an 8-2 homestand and took three of four from the White Sox, who lead the Central Division. They have swept the Angels, who lead the West. They are 24-10 at home. They are 21-12 against the East.

They win with pitching. With defense. With clutch hitting. It's not a mirage. This has gone on long enough.

"Good teams I've been with believe in themselves late in the game," Maddon said. "And we believe."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT