Rays Youngsters Savor The Moment

Not yet 25 years old and already a World Series champion.

With a few more wins, several Rays would be able to claim that distinction. If it happens, Scott Kazmir, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton, Matt Garza and David Price undoubtedly would envision their lofty place in the game not as a final destination but as a jumping-off point.

Cliff Floyd has been there. At age 24, he was a reserve for the 1997 Marlins' World Series championship team. A group that had a heavier veteran presence than the 2008 Rays, they nonetheless were brimming with youthful talent and apparently set up for years to come.

"You definitely think that," Floyd said. "You definitely do."

What the Marlins didn't know as they celebrated their seven-game triumph against the Indians that fall was that their team was about to be unceremoniously yanked out from beneath them. After an overhaul that stands as one of the most stunning in sports history, the Marlins lost 108 games the following year. And Floyd had to wait another decade after that before getting another crack at the World Series.

"I look back on that opportunity and go, 'Damn - that was about as good as you can have,'" Floyd said.

Should any of the young Rays take this World Series experience for granted, they need look no further than Floyd for a reality check.

He knows how the game works, how assumptions can dissolve into disappointment. And he knows part of his job as a clubhouse elder is to spread those cautionary tales.

"You have to appreciate every opportunity you get in this game," Floyd said Friday. "Right now, this team is appreciating it. That's why we're here. We worked our tails off to get here and at the end of the day we will hopefully understand that this is precious moments, this is precious times, that everybody can be healthy and be excited about the fact that we got here and this is going to be something great for the next five or six years.

"Yeah, we can win the next few years. You can win 80, 90 games but that doesn't mean you're going to be in the playoffs. So this is something that we've got to treasure and hopefully we can take this thing home."

Floyd pointed out that his teammates don't need to listen to his story in particular as an example of what can happen. Look at how the Tigers have fallen to last place just two years after they reached the World Series behind a bevy of strong, young starting pitchers in 2006. Or last year's Cinderella story out of the NL, the Rockies, who dropped 88 games this season.

"You can have the same team with the same guys and go out there for spring training and everybody's healthy and you start the season and it's just not there," Floyd said. "Ask the Colorado Rockies. You just don't show up. You get guys hurt, the scouting reports change, guys are more ready to play you, they want a taste of you now, you're good in their eyes, they want what you have. Everything changes. So you have to appreciate every opportunity that you get in this situation because it ain't a lock."

Manager Joe Maddon has used that notion as a talking point for his young team since around the All-Star break, when it first became clear the Rays might be onto something special. Even as they maintained their lead throughout the dog days of summer, he warned them to keep their foot on the gas because nothing could be assumed.

So as much as most around the game expect the Rays to remain a major player in the American League in the coming years - something the Rays, naturally, expect of themselves - their focus has to be on maximizing the chance they have right now.

"Some guys have never even tasted it," Floyd said. "I've got a ring at home and every day I look at it I go, 'Wow - my kids are really going to get a kick out of this, hopefully, one day.' Let alone let me get two!

"So I definitely think about it and also that makes me understand how precious this is for not just me, but definitely for all my other peers in here. I would be very happy if these guys got a taste of having that ring ceremony come Opening Day next year."