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A Conversation With Rays DH Cliff Floyd

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 5, 2008

Born in Chicago on Dec. 5, 1972, Cliff Floyd personifies the City of the Big Shoulders. The Rays' mountain of a designated hitter is back in his hometown this weekend, hoping to help Tampa Bay end the season of the team he rooted for as a kid.

Returning to the Windy City means plenty of family and friends will be on hand for Floyd, including his mother, Olivia, who still lives in the city. Her presence is especially important to Floyd. He lost his father, Cornelius Clifford Floyd Sr., last year, and his younger sister, Shanta, to cancer two years ago.

October appearances in Chicago have become a habit for Floyd, who was with the Cubs for their short-lived playoff run a year ago. He would like nothing more than to help the young Rays team he has urged along - very much as a surrogate father at times - put its first stamp on postseason play by finishing off the Division Series this weekend.

Saturday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, he answered a few questions from The Tampa Tribune's Marc Lancaster:

What do you remember about baseball in Chicago from when you were growing up?

I was a big White Sox fan, only because I wasn't fond of the day games. My idol was Harold Baines, and I remember watching him and trying to imitate everything he did. And I watched the 7 o'clock games, which was the White Sox. They had a lot of studs - Carlton Fisk was here, Ron Kittle was here. It was good baseball, and I always thought that this is something I wanted to do when I was growing up. And having two teams in the city that you lived in made it a lot easier for me to pick a sport.

Is there one family member or friend you're most looking forward to watching you play this weekend?

Having my mom here is huge for me. It's been a long time since I haven't had my dad around for a big moment, but to have mom here definitely relaxes me and allows me to feel good about being back home.

Can't come to Chicago without indulging in the local cuisine. What's your pizza?

Deep-dish, always. Mine is sausage and pepperoni deep-dish at Gino's. If you come here and don't get that ... it's like, you get that the first time and then you start trying to find good restaurants after that.

If the Rays finish off October with a World Series championship, will you retire and ride off into the sunset on top?

That's the million-dollar question. Ninety percent of me has said yeah, and 10 percent of me has said, "Do I really want to go out this way?" I feel like I've got something left in the tank, but what I'm basically telling you is I'm beating around the bush. I'm beating around the bush. I think we'll see in December. I figure you call me in December, we should have a definite answer for where I'm at.

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