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Rays' winning streak not going by the book

The Associated Press

Indians closer Kerry Wood twice tried to hit B.J. Upton for a violation of the 'unwritten rule book.'

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2009

Updated: 05/19/2009 05:00 am

ST. PETERSBURG - I spent most of Monday looking for the book.

You know, the "book" of unwritten baseball rules.

I tried all the local stores. They had nothing in stock. Borders did a computer search, but it was nothing doing. I called the Major League Baseball offices in New York. They didn't have it. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown had no clue, either. Maybe someone lent the book out. Or you know how a good book is - or a bad one: You put it down and forget where you put it.

Good. It's time to lose the thing. Or it's time to Fahrenheit 451 it.

That much is apparent after Sunday's bench-clearing at Tropicana Field after Indians closer Kerry Wood twice tried to hit Rays center fielder B.J. Upton in the bottom of the eighth inning of a decidedly wild 7-5 Rays win, all because three nights earlier, Upton stole third while the Rays were down 9-0 in an eventual 11-7 loss to Cleveland.

The book, at least the book Tribe manager Eric Wedge read, said bring in the big, bad Wood, who huffed and puffed, then threw behind Upton, just missing him, then in front of him, just missing him, clearing the benches, getting Rays manager "Jungle Joe" Maddon hopping mad. Upton would walk on four pitches before Wood struck out Carl Crawford.

We're not making this part up: Wood, apparently upset over not striking out Upton, grabbed a bat in the hallway after he came out and went to town on anything that was handy, which technically made him the second pitcher to pick up a bat Sunday, besides Rays starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine.

But back to the book.

This one has to go, Maddon said Monday - a lot.

But first, consider the source.

"I love books. I love books. I'm a man of books," Maddon said before the Rays crushed the A's at Tropicana Field.

But this baseball book, well … since when is the team that's losing 9-0 not allowed to steal a base?

Who are the clowns who wrote this thing, anyway?

Consider this: After Upton stole second and third, down 9-0 in the sixth inning Thursday, the Rays scored six times in the inning to pull within 9-6. They eventually lost 11-7, but the point is, why stop trying, especially if running is what you do, seeing as the Rays lead the major leagues in stolen bases.

Consider also that these very same Rays, on the very next night, came all the way back from 7-0 down to win on Upton's walk-off homer. Would someone please give Wedge a wedgie and remind him of that?

"The part of the book that should always remain part of the book is the part of the book you believe in. We all believe in different books," Maddon said. "Had [Upton] been thrown out, I'm sure everybody would have been calling us dumb, and they would have been very happy about it."

He went on:

"The part of this that has gone unanalyzed is the fact that that one play turned around that entire series. After that, we scored, what, six or seven runs, and that made them get into their bullpen that night, which impacted the next night, when we were able to come back from a seven-run deficit, which impacted the next night, when we were able to win that game, all from that one play.

"Everybody is talking about the book. I just like the fact that the Rays won three games. I like the fact that the Rays play hard every night. I like the fact that the Rays don't have an on and off switch. Again, it's based on whatever book you believe in."

The Rays would seem to be sworn book burners in some regard. Just last season, they went against the book when young Elliot Johnson crashed into the Yankees' non-Posada catcher during spring training to score a run.

The catcher was hurt on the play, which wasn't the intent, but it set the Yankees off, and the next time the teams met, Shelley Duncan slid hard into Akinori Iwamura and benches cleared, and when all was said and done, the Rays had stood up and said this is how they were going to play baseball, and they did all the way to the World Series.

Granted, the great unwritten book also has some good unwritten rules, like Thou Shalt Not Have Two Third Baseman in Thy Starting Lineup Card, a rule Maddon and staff overlooked ever so slightly Sunday, a cause of embarrassment, but not much else, given the game's outcome - and the fact that No. 4 pitcher turned No. 3 hitter Sonnastime doubled in a run. Just call him The Whammer.

Even so, Rays players kept coming up to Maddon early in the game, asking how he was, how his son Joey was, you know, as if Maddon was a flood victim or something.

"Everyone was very supportive," Maddon said after the game. Almost to the point where it was getting syrupy and disgusting."

On to Monday.

And back to Maddon's book review:

"Here's the part that I think people are confused about. This book I think was written back in the early 1900s, maybe 19-Aught-7 or something like that. And when the book was written, the game was different in the sense that the ball wasn't nearly as lively; I think there's a year when Home Run Baker led the major leagues with 12 home runs in one season. At that point, they pretty much had to hit pretty much 15 singles in a row to catch up to a seven-run deficit.

"Today, you can get two guys on, homer; two guys on, homer; and all of a sudden it's a different game. I remember last year in a playoff game when the Rays were beating the Red Sox 7-0. And all of a sudden we lost that game and that was kind of a bad moment."

Don't you love when he talks about his team in the third persons?

Where were we?

"That book needs to be burned because the game has totally changed since that particular moment," Maddon said. "To me, rewrite the book. Do what you think is right as an organization. ... And it's not necessary for another organization to tell the other organization how to do their business - ever."

Honest to goodness: He loves books.

"I love books," Maddon repeated. "I pack one every place I go. I'm a book packer."

"There's definite clamor to be raised if we were winning 9-0, no doubt. I'd be the first one standing in line. But when you're losing 9-0 … when the other team stops attempting to score runs, then we will also.

"I'm telling you, man, it's weird, but we won three out of four games based on that one play, and I'll argue that with anybody."

And another thing:

"The book I was just reading today, it was something from Mark Twain in reference to the English, this written in 1883, I believe, I hope I get it right. The English, at that time, he thought, did things based on the way things were supposed to have been done in the past, where the Americans did things based on how they thought they should be done. So we do things based on how things are supposed to be done."

In conclusion:

"Move it along, guys. Do you watch a flat-screen TV, high definition? Do you have air conditioning in your vehicle? Do you like your microwave? Do you like your car windows to go up and down with the flip of a switch? If you're on board with that, let's get on board with everything else."

So says the book packer.

By the way, the Rays beat the A's 13-4. And they didn't steal one base, snapping a streak of 19 consecutive games with at least one stolen base.

Pack that in your baseball book and smoke it.

Or burn it.

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