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The Miracle On FieldTurf: Amazing Rays Really Did It

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

To answer a question posed by Al Michaels, who broadcast the U.S. Olympic hockey team's monumental upset over the mighty Russians in 1980, yes, we believe in miracles.

Heck, we'll go a couple of steps beyond that: Pigs can fly, and someone, at least at this day and time, must be able to walk on water.

How else do you explain the Tampa Bay Rays going to the playoffs?

It's worth repeating: The Tampa Bay Rays - the laughingstock of Major League Baseball for a decade - are going to the playoffs for the first time.

In a magical season sprinkled with pixie dust, the Rays clinched a "wild card" spot in the postseason on Saturday evening with a victory over the Minnesota Twins. And they did it at home, under the roof of St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field, in front of a raucous sellout crowd that felt as liberated from losing as the players on the field.

So, T-shirts do come true.

The "9=8" message that manager Joe Maddon has been preaching, the one on T-shirts worn by players after Saturday's win, rang loud and clear: Nine players - actually more than that, but only nine can take the field at a time - worked together, hard, for nine innings every game so their team could become one of eight to make the playoffs.

It could get even better. Entering Monday night's first of four games against the Baltimore Orioles, the first-place Rays' "magic number" for clinching the American League East Division title was six games. That means any combination of Rays wins and Boston Red Sox losses that equal six will give the franchise its first division championship. Seven games remain in the regular season.

We need to pinch ourselves. This team, which was born March 9, 1995, when Major League owners decided to expand, has never before won more than 70 games during the 162-game regular season. But in their 11th year in the bigs, the Rays won an incredible 92 games before Monday night. Yet its $43 million team payroll remains dwarfed by its division rivals, the Red Sox ($133 million) and the New York Yankees ($210 million.)

The Rays are just the second team in MLB history to make the postseason the year after having the league's worst record (66-96). And it's just the third team to qualify after 10 straight losing seasons. Holy cow, as Harry Caray used to say.

Principal owner Stuart Sternberg told us before the season that this was the year the Rays would turn the corner. They did more than that - they turned several, none bigger than an impressive increase in attendance. Next to the amazing turnaround in wins, the biggest thing was the unprecedented local and national interest in a team of good guys.

Many people scratched their heads, even laughed, when the Rays rolled out their "We are one team" theme during the winter. But the message is clear now: Working together, individuals, none a superstar, can make great things happen.

And that's what the Rays did while battling through injuries to third baseman Evan Longoria, outfielder Carl Crawford and other key players.

From this inspiring success story comes a strong message for the people of Tampa Bay.

By working together, we can get things done. By taking the Rays approach, we can finally realize, after more than 20 years, a mass transit system. We can better manage growth and work harder to protect our environment so our grandchildren have a better area to enjoy.

We can bury our differences, eliminate parochialism and work for a common good.

Anyone who witnessed Saturday's clincher against the Twins shared the ecstasy this exciting team has given our region. Neighbors became closer. Strangers became friends. The Rays are winners now, and after 10 years that felt longer than the decade they represented, nobody can laugh at us now.

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