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Going From The Cellar To Stellar

Tribune File Photo

The Rays drafted Crawford in the second round in 1999 and Baldelli in the first round the following year.

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2008

Updated: 10/05/2008 12:11 am

CHICAGO - Five thousand meaningless at-bats.

If the ultimate measuring stick in sports is winning, that was all Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli had to show for their Devil Rays careers entering this season.

They had played in a combined 1,235 games in a Tampa Bay uniform, none of them relevant. They had totaled 4,999 at-bats with nothing at stake but personal pride.

All along, they had yearned for a taste of October. They wondered if it would - really, if it could - ever happen at Tropicana Field.

It finally did Thursday afternoon, as Crawford and Baldelli stood proudly along the first-base line with the rest of their teammates before the first playoff game in Rays history. Today, both likely will be in the starting lineup as the Rays try to finish off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox and advance to the American League Championship Series.

Even after a season in which they helped Tampa Bay rocket from last place to 97 wins and a division title, it took some time for their new reality to sink in. It hit Crawford as he chatted with fellow outfielder B.J. Upton before Thursday's game.

"We were standing there and it was like, 'Can you believe this?'" Crawford said. "We just had to look around for a moment because we definitely couldn't believe it. It was like we were in another place."

Their lingering disbelief is understandable. Find yourself in the same rut for the better part of a decade and it takes a while to climb out.

The Rays drafted Crawford in the second round in 1999 and Baldelli in the first round the following year. The idea was for the two supremely gifted outfielders to form the core of a group that would lift the franchise from laughingstock status at long last. But there was only so much they could do.

Crawford reached the majors for the first time as a 20-year-old in 2002, and 2003 was the first full big-league season for both. The Devil Rays lost 99 games that year and would average 96.4 defeats over a five-season span heading into this spring.

Along the way, Crawford and Baldelli turned in some stellar individual performances, alternately holding the dubious distinction of being the best player on what was usually the majors' worst team. They just didn't have enough help to move beyond that point.

"The six years I've been here, I saw a lot of people that came through and played hard, gave it everything they had, and we just weren't a good team," Baldelli said. "It wasn't from lack of effort. We went out there and did everything we possibly could to win games and we just weren't as good as we wanted to be."

Rays reliever Dan Wheeler understands what Baldelli is talking about. An original draft pick by Tampa Bay in 1996, he made his big-league debut for the Devil Rays in 1999 and bounced between Triple-A and the majors the next two years before moving on to happier places.

"I don't know what they went through," Wheeler said. "Well, I do a little bit, but I just had a small taste of it - nothing as big as they had. It's probably one of those things where it's such a satisfying feeling that, 'Hey, finally, we're here, we're competing, this real major-league baseball.'

"Instead of just being in last place and waiting for the season to be over, now you don't want the season to be over. You want to keep playing and experience that special moment."

The possibility of moving on into the postseason provided ample motivation for both Baldelli and Crawford as the season unfolded.

Crawford suffered an injury to a tendon in his right hand in August and underwent surgery that likely would have ended his season in any other year. But he defied his doctor's expectations for how long the recovery should take and proved to the Rays he was healthy enough to make the playoff roster.

Baldelli's situation was far more serious. A litany of tests last season that stretched into the winter revealed he was suffering from an energy-sapping mitochondrial disorder, which keeps him from recovering after exertion like a normal person would. Diligent work by the Rays' medical staff, led by head trainer Ron Porterfield, has helped Baldelli get a handle on his condition and return to the field - and just in time.

"This is the only team that I've ever been able to have the opportunity to play on," Baldelli said. "I knew I wanted to be out there and representing our team when it mattered."

Friday night, Baldelli and Crawford were in the starting lineup together for the first time since May 15, 2007. As the Rays pulled away in the eighth inning, Baldelli singled to center to drive home Crawford.

Just like old times? None that these two ever knew.

"It'd be one thing if you left or were traded and won on another team," Baldelli said. "But to start with one team and start at the bottom and work your way all the way to the top is a pretty rewarding feeling."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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