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Rays' Maddon Sticks With Turn-The-Page Philosophy

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Jed Lowrie (12) exults as Boston's Kevin Youkilis scores a stunning game-winner, forcing Game 6.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

It was utterly predictable what Joe Maddon would tell reporters in Boston after his Rays crashed to earth in a fireball early Friday morning. Most of us tend to concentrate on the bad stuff at a time like this, such as the fact that's Boston's 8-7 win represented the largest postseason comeback since 1929.

Or the Rays' largest postseason collapse, well, ever.

But we all know Joe Maddon by now. Mr. One-Day-At-A-Time.

Mr. Turn-The-Page.

Of course, that's a page you want to turn, and quickly. Instead of a fourth champagne party to celebrate winning the American League pennant, the Rays have let Boston back into the series. What once seemed won is now an uncomfortable 3-2 Rays lead.

"… If we had won it, we'd be in the World Series by now. We'll just have to wait one more day, hopefully, to get that done," the Rays' manager said shortly after the game. "Listen. It is what it is. I don't dwell on it. Nobody feels worse than the guys out of our bullpen right now. Nobody feels worse. They've done a tremendous job all year. I thought we played a great game.

"They just came back and beat us tonight. That happens sometimes. We're going to go home, take tomorrow off and come back, and Shields will pitch in Game No. 6. But you can't dwell on it. Again, we'll lose for a half-hour or so, and then we'll move on. We have another game to play."

If there's ever been a time to test that belief system, this is it. The Red Sox are back in the series, and we know what they can do once they get rolling. But the Rays have also gotten this far by doing precisely what Maddon just said – dwelling on the result for a half-hour, then moving on.

When they looked all gooey-eyed in the opening loss to Boston in this series, Maddon said that, yup, they looked nervous, but they'd play better the next time. They responded with three straight wins.

When they lost to Chicago to let the White Sox back into the AL Division Series, Maddon said that, yup, they were outplayed but would turn the page. They clinched the series the next day.

They've been doing it all year.

"Of course, we're upset," Maddon said. "Of course, we don't like losing that game, of course. But to dwell on it does no good whatsoever. We'll lose heart for about a half-hour or so, get on that plane, go home, and then we'll come back out for Game 6 and roll it out there again.

"I'm a firm believer in that. The more you dwell on something in a negative sense, the more it can permeate your whole existence, so we're not going to do that."

This would probably be a good day for Maddon and his team to lose the TV remote and leave the radio off, and if they must read a newspaper then focus only on the comics. There is much to question about what happened, but mostly that's because of the way things turned out and not because of any weird moves that backfired.

In fact, Maddon's most controversial move – starting Scott Kazmir over James Shields – worked brilliantly. Kazmir was outstanding, throwing six shutout innings before departing after 111 pitches. He was cruising, for sure, but that's about as far as most any manager would take a starter.

No one would have noticed had the bullpen, which was so reliable, not imploded. Grant Balfour just didn't have it. The three-run homer he allowed to David Ortiz in the seventh inning got the Red Sox back in the game.

"Grant has been very good in that situation, actually. [Ortiz] just got him tonight," Maddon said in his postgame news conference. "If you had been watching us all season, that's the situation where Grant has really done well. He's been kind of like that middle closer guy, and I felt pretty good about it. Papi just got him."

You can also argue that with three lefties in the bullpen that Dan Wheeler should not have pitched to J.D. Drew in the eighth.

Drew actually hits five points higher against lefties than righties, but Trever Miller is devastating against lefties and about the only thing that would have gotten Boston back in the game at that point was a home run, which is what Drew delivered.

And the ninth inning turned on an Evan Longoria throwing error, which extended the game long enough for the Sox to push across the winning run.

Later today Maddon and some Rays players will gather at Tropicana Field to discuss the turn of events again and preview Saturday's Game 6. I can tell you right now what he'll say. They're looking forward, not back. They have Shields ready (although Maddon will call him Shieldsy).

He'll say that Game 5 was just one loss. He'll say the Rays are still in good shape.

All of those things are true.

The Red Sox are alive when they shouldn't be, but Maddon won't dwell on that. That's how the Rays have gotten this far. There's another game, and that's where their head will be. That's the way it has been all year.

My guess is it won't change now.

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