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'08 Rays A Team For All Seasons

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2008

Updated: 10/20/2008 01:28 am

ST. PETERSBURG - They came to Tropicana Field on Sunday, the new Rays and all their new fans, not knowing whether it was the end or another beginning.

They came to the seventh and deciding game of the American League Championship Series against the reigning World Series champion Red Sox.

The AL pennant and a trip to another first, the World Series, seemed to belong to the Rays late Thursday night at Fenway Park.

And then, in a blink, it didn't.

Could it really end like this?

Could this miracle of a baseball season be consigned to the dungeon of great postseason collapses? Could the '08 Rays go from being the '69 Mets to the '03 Cubs in 72 hours flat?

It would be like those '69 Mets blowing a 3-1 World Series lead to the Orioles. It would be like the Soviets scoring two late goals to beat the U.S. Olympic hockey team at Lake Placid in 1980. It would be like Mike Tyson getting back up to knock out Buster Douglas.

It would be a shame if this season was judged by how it ended.

Flaming wreckage is no way to end this. No way at all.

For this was a season from nowhere.

This was amazing history from a franchise that had been a laughingstock for all its life.

It was made of 103 wins after 972 losses in 10 years. It was made of comebacks, walk-off wins, fearlessness and mohawks. It was made of Rays Renaissance manager Joe Maddon, who taught a new kind of math.

9 = 8.

Nine players playing hard for nine innings every day gets one of eight playoff spots. Then they went out and lived it.

"Corny eventually becomes cool," Maddon said.

Unleashing The Underdogs

Money was no obstacle, not even in the treacherous AL East. No matter. They became the Little Team That Could, rising to the top, past the Yankees, past even the Red Sox, though the world champs never quite disappeared.

Along the way came too many moments to count. Along the way a community discovered it had a baseball team because it finally had a baseball team to discover.

"When everyone comes together, anything can happen," Rays outfielder B.J. Upton said.

They picked up believers along the way. If you loved underdogs, this was your team.

"This is exciting," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said at the Trop last month. "They're the story of the year. If it wasn't for us, I would be a fan of theirs."

Among the converts were a group of senior citizens who, 39 years ago, shortly after men first walked on the moon, made the miracle by which all baseball miracles are measured. The 1969 Mets, who after seven hapless seasons came from nowhere to win 100 games and beat the Orioles in the World Series, well, pulled for the '08 Rays.

All underdogs are lap dogs.

"They're one of the teams whose box scores I read every day," said Ron Swoboda, an outfielder for the '69 Mets.

"We could always use a few more Davids with all the Goliaths out there," said J.C. Martin, a reserve catcher for the '69 Mets.

The Long Honeymoon

"I think we've become that international group that I've been wanting us to become," Maddon said. "You go to Japan, everybody knows who the Rays are right now. You go into South America, I think even into Europe - I'm going to find out in a couple of weeks."

Maddon will honeymoon in Europe after he marries in November.

Will the Rays' honeymoon last?

"Absolutely, we're on the map right now," Maddon said. "It's a great first step and it's only the beginning."

The Rays return a young pitching staff, with a budding star on deck in left-hander David Price. Evan Longoria, the team's rookie third baseman, appears on the verge of long-term superstardom. The Rays have Upton and Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford.

There is young talent, upside everywhere.

No matter what happened Sunday, the AL East isn't what it once was; the rules have changed, and we know just the Davids that changed them.

Truly, anything can happen.

Yes, Game 5 proved that.

The 2008 Rays proved it first.

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