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Henderson: Baldelli Script Comes Straight From Hollywood

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Rocco Baldelli singled to left, scoring Willy Aybar with the go-ahead run in the ALCS Game 7.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The game was tied late Sunday night in the bottom of the fifth, and the next innings were going to bring either euphoria or despair for the Rays. That's when Rocco Baldelli walked to the plate to face Boston's Jon Lester in the deciding game of the American League Championship Series.

Baldelli was 0-for-6 lifetime against Lester with five strikeouts, but if we know nothing else about this season, it's simply that numbers don't mean a thing. So it followed the script that Baldelli singled to left, scoring Willy Aybar with the go-ahead run. The Rays led for good, and four innings later they finished off a 3-1 victory that clinched the pennant and put them in the World Series starting tonight against Philadelphia.

We'll stop here for a moment and let that moment sink in.

Happens all the time, doesn't it?

Lights … camera …

A guy like Baldelli is diagnosed with a potentially career-ending medical condition in the spring and spends most of the season on the sideline. It was something close to a miracle when he returned to the lineup Aug. 10, but he still couldn't play every day.

But the Rays put him on the postseason roster and, of course, he comes up with the game-winning RBI that puts his former-doormat team in the World Series for the first time. And, of course, the hit beat the team he grew up watching and idolizing, the defending World Series champion Red Sox.

If this isn't a movie, what is?

"It sounds so much nicer when you say it that way," Baldelli said.

"I hope someone makes a movie about it, and I hope I get to play my own part," manager Joe Maddon quipped.

We've run out of adjectives to describe this season for the Rays (and folks, we've got a LOT of adjectives here), but of all the feel-good stories on this team, Baldelli might be the best. He has come to terms with the mitochondrial abnormality that leaves his body extremely fatigued after exertion. Through rest and medication, he is able to perform spot duty for the Rays, and with the lefties Philly can throw in the World Series, he could be a valuable asset.

Just to get here, though, is something of a miracle. It would have just been wrong for him to miss all of this magic season with the team he labored so hard for during the bad times.

"It's just really rewarding to know you started at the bottom and were a running joke for all those years. It was very difficult and tough for a lot of years. To say that you went from the bottom to the top is something no one will ever take away from us. It's about as rewarding a feeling as you can have," he said.

He has chipped in five RBIs during the Rays' postseason run and can still contribute in right field on an occasional basis. One look at his face tells you how important it is for him to not only be in the clubhouse for all this, but to contribute as well. Few players can have a better appreciation for how far the Rays have come than Baldelli.

"Early in this year we had a feeling the way we were playing that it could be a very good season. We didn't know how good we could be; I don't think anybody did. But we could definitely envision this team playing late and into the playoffs."

"I'm trying to enjoy this and have as much fun as I can and go out there and win the World Series. I've never had this much fun playing baseball before."

Fade the lights. Print it.

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