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Floyd Shows Young Players What To Expect

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - When the Rays' young players talk with Cliff Floyd these days, it's not about batting tips or things like that. They're looking for a history lesson.

He was a member of the Florida Marlins when they won the 1997 World Series. He has been in the playoffs two other times since then.

"They all want to hear that stuff," he said.

What was it like? What will postseason play be like for these Rays? How different is it, really? Floyd was brought to the Rays this season for the young players, to show them things they hadn't yet learned about the game of baseball. Those lessons will never be more important than in the coming days and, maybe, weeks.

A young team sometimes can be overwhelmed by the moment. It doesn't take much for the postseason to get away from you - a bad pitch, a bad hop, or maybe a hot pitcher for the other team. In a five-game tournament like the division series, which the Rays begin Thursday at the Trop, a loss or two that would be shrugged off in June can take on avalanche proportions.

By the time they begin play, the Rays will have had three days of pep rallies and back pats by fans starved for something like this. Floyd has been there.

"I didn't really know what to expect. You go into it and you know it's meaningful. You see a lot of media and a lot of people you haven't seen - celebrities or whatever the case may be," he said.

"Then you start to realize how big this is. Every eye is watching you. It can be overwhelming, but you have to get back to basics."

Must Take Advantage

The basics of this situation are simple.

The Rays might seem like a cuddly Cinderella story, fresh-faced and all that, but they are really a 97-win team and champions of the American League East. They are a legitimate threat to win the World Series, and that's an opportunity that has to be grasped, starting Thursday. You don't know when that chance will come around again.

I mean, just ask the Chicago Cubs.

Or ask Detroit. Two years ago, the Tigers won the American League pennant only to be swept by St. Louis in the Series. Not to worry, everyone said. Detroit's great young pitching staff would have the Tigers back on the national stage again really soon. Didn't happen. They missed the playoffs last season. They finished in last place this year.

"I think the one thing that the Rays haven't even given a thought to is how much winning the World Series can impact their lives, for the rest of their lives. What happens is, you come back 10, 15, 30 years from now - whoever is alive keeps coming back until they're dead to take their bows. People will recognize them forever as being a part of this," Manager Joe Maddon said.

"And you impact the fabric of a city. You change lives in a positive way by being in the playoffs and competing to win the World Series. You can change the entire attitude of an area."

Out On A Limb

So it begins, with stakes the Rays have never faced. Floyd can tell them what it's like, but until they've gone through it - each pitch, each at-bat, watched and dissected, everything magnified - there's no way to fully understand what's about to happen.

"For the most part, I try to eliminate as much thinking process from this game as possible and just go out there and play," Floyd said. "That's the type of team we have. We're not the type of team that plays by the book."

The last chapter of this book is going one of two ways - either the completion of a story no one could have fathomed, or a feeling that as good as it was, something is missing.

What's it going to be?

"If I was speaking about this team, I wouldn't care if my foot went in my mouth. I would just say how great of a team it is, considering what we've went through adversity-wise, losing your studs," Floyd said.

"I know every team has injuries during the course of a season, but this type of turnaround is remarkable. If I was speaking about this team, I would go out on the limb every time."

And what is that limb? Floyd just smiled.

"The limb is winning the World Series," he said. "I think this team will."

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