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Maddon, Rays: 'Let's Move On'

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 18, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Before everyone conked out on a long, late flight home from Boston that kept many of the Rays from walking through their front doors until 7 a.m. on Friday, Joe Maddon saw what he wanted to see.

He watched his players get on the plane not long after coughing up a seven-run lead with seven outs to go and noted their demeanor. Carlos Pena looked normal. Carl Crawford, normal. J.P. Howell, as normal as he gets. It was at that point that Maddon decided he didn't need to worry about his team dwelling on being on the wrong end of the second-largest blown lead in postseason history.

"Everybody was talking, nobody was overtly quiet," Maddon said. "I heard J.P. giggle, so I'm thinking, 'This is good.' Carlos gets on, he's talking to everybody and he's smiling. C.C. just sashayed down the aisle. Everything was normal. These guys are good, man."

That drumbeat continued Friday afternoon as a handful of Rays made their way to Tropicana Field to work out on their own, get some treatment in the training room or meet with the media.

The team had a day off, with Maddon hoping they would make use of it by going to the beach or doing whatever needed to be done to forget about that 8-7 loss in a game that could have sent them to the World Series.

"Why just glom onto it forever?" Maddon said. "As you're driving home, just throw it into the bay and let's move on."

While admitting the obvious - that they were as floored as anyone else about what transpired between the seventh and ninth innings Thursday at Fenway Park - the Rays seemed to have locked back into that one-game-at-a-time trance that served them so well throughout the season and into the playoffs.

"I haven't been in this league forever and a day, but this is by far the most resilient team I've ever been on," Gabe Gross said. "We've got a bunch of NFL corners on the team. We've got short memories, we really do. When things go bad, we take it for what it's worth, try to learn a little something from it and then press on."

Of course, it goes without saying that the Rays haven't suffered a loss of that magnitude this season. They were on the receiving end of some astonishing meltdowns in their previous incarnation, but nothing tangible was at stake in any of those games.

This was a trip to the World Series they let slip through their grasp, and even though they maintain a 3-2 lead as they return to Tropicana Field tonight, you never know when such an opportunity might be your last. In the Rays' minds, though, there was no reason to dwell on such hypotheticals. So they did their best to laugh it off - even appreciate it.

"To be part of that was cool," said the eternally sunshiny Pena. "We would rather be on the winning side, but that was amazing. That really was something else."

Added Howell: "We started joking, 'Don't be scared of Game 6!' That's what we kept saying. We were bummed out, man - it was a terrible way to lose a game. But now we've got Game 6, and it's going to be another chapter of this book."

The ending remains in the Rays' hands after winning two out of three at Fenway Park - a rarity in itself. Maddon reiterated several times Friday that he was extremely pleased not only with his team's composure, but also the way they were playing.

The Rays' offense has produced at heretofore unseen levels over the past week, and the starting pitching has been very good throughout the series. It only went bad in the end with an unexpected collapse by the Rays' bullpen. If the Rays can put themselves back on track, Maddon feels good about their chances.

"For me, looking at the whole thing, I couldn't be more proud of this group," the manager said. "I know where we've come from, where we are right now, and I have total faith that we're going to finish this thing off."

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

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