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Once Again, Rays Rise To The Occasion

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 7, 2008

Updated: 10/07/2008 12:12 am

CHICAGO - Joe Maddon said it after his team lost Game 3 of the American League Division Series, and he repeated it more than once before Game 4. He was not at all concerned that the Rays' first setback would linger, and he was proven right Monday.

"I told ya, man!" said the sodden manager in the middle of the clubhouse celebration. "I thought we rose to the occasion very nicely."

He could have tacked "again" on the end of that sentence, because each time the Rays encounter something for which they have no frame of reference, they manage to handle it like they've been there and done that a dozen times over.

"I don't really think they realize what's going on," Carl Crawford said of his teammates. "We're just out there having fun like we always do. We don't change, we don't worry about the big moment, we just play the way we play."

It has certainly worked so far. The Rays advanced to the second round of the playoffs after brushing aside a far more experienced opponent, methodically dispatching the White Sox with the same old, same old.

Entering the series, the players on Tampa Bay's postseason roster had a combined 53 playoff games to their credit. Chicago's Jim Thome alone had 55 postseason games to his credit, and the White Sox roster boasted 223 games total.

Before Monday's game, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen asserted the pressure was actually on the Rays to close it out, not on his team to avoid elimination, but if Tampa Bay felt that way it certainly didn't show.

"To be able to do it is actually surprising, but we've been doing it all year," Carlos Pena said. "So that's exactly what I expect out of my team, out of my teammates, out of myself. Regardless of what's going on, regardless of the storm that's going on around us, we focus on this pitch. That's why maybe it looks like we've been here before. But believe me, we appreciate this. This is so special for us."

That youthful exuberance spills out in a big way when the Rays let their guard down following milestone wins, but it's difficult just about every other day to tell whether they won or lost based on the postgame clubhouse mood.

It is a bit quieter after losses, but it's never long before the wisecracks and needling begin. And the following day, it's back to work.

"We've gotten to watch it for 162 games and now into the playoffs," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "They've been remarkably consistent in terms of slowing down the game and being able to elevate themselves in big moments."

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