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Vision beats the devil out of the Rays

Planning makes once-cursed team contender without selling its soul

Gerry Fraley, Special to the Rocky

Published September 30, 2008 at 9:38 p.m.

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Shortstop Jason Bartlett arrived in Tampa Bay from Minnesota when the Rays needed to bolster their defense.

Photo by Paul Sancya / Associated Press

Shortstop Jason Bartlett arrived in Tampa Bay from Minnesota when the Rays needed to bolster their defense.

Free-agent closer Troy Percival signed with the Rays for one reason. "To win," he said. His veteran influence is invaluable.

Photo by Mike Carlson / Associated Press

Free-agent closer Troy Percival signed with the Rays for one reason. "To win," he said. His veteran influence is invaluable.

Long the whipping boys of the Red Sox and Yankees, the Rays - including Jonny Gomes - decided they'd had enough.

Photo by Michael Dwyer / Associated Press

Long the whipping boys of the Red Sox and Yankees, the Rays - including Jonny Gomes - decided they'd had enough.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As a free agent last winter, closer Troy Percival picked Tampa Bay.

"I didn't sign here for any other reason but to win," Percival said.

On the first day of spring training, Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir made a bold proclamation.

"What's possible?" Kazmir asked on that February morning. "Play in October. That's possible."

Kazmir and Percival are seers. They anticipated something that precious few others did.

In their 12th season, the Rays became an overnight success.

The team that had won as many as 70 games only once previously took the American League East and opens the playoffs at Tropicana Field on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox. The team with the second-lowest payroll ($43.8 million) in the majors outclassed the blue bloods of the East, Boston and the New York Yankees.

Miracles might happen in other sports, but not in baseball, with its 162-game season.

The Rays reached the playoffs because of a superb home record (57-24), a pitching staff that had the league's second-best ERA (3.82) and a collection of dynamic young talent painstakingly nurtured in the minor league system.

Much like the Rockies last season, these playoff-crashing Rays are the result of a plan that was doggedly stuck to after being put in place several years ago.

Stuart Sternberg, a Wall Street investor, took over a mess when he assumed control of the club from Vince Naimoli in 2005. Under the mercurial Naimoli, the Rays were noncompetitive and unappealing. Playing in an ill-fitting dome (Tropicana Field), the Rays had an average attendance of more than 20,000 only once in Naimoli's seven seasons as owner.

Sternberg established a philosophy: Build the infrastructure of scouting and player development. He brought in bright young executives and let them do their jobs without interference.

The result was two more tough seasons before this year's breakthrough.

"We wished there was a magic button, but we recognized there wasn't," said Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay's vice president of baseball operations. "We felt we had to do what we did to put us in a position to take that next step. To the credit of our scouting and player-development staff, these guys have gotten here as quickly as we could have hoped."

Why did it come together this season for the Rays? Every step was significant, but three moments stand out.

The trades

After last season, the Rays decided to ease their glut of outfielders. They traded Delmon Young to Minnesota and sent Elijah Dukes to Washington.

Young was the riskier deal. As a 21-year-old rookie last season, he hit .288 with 93 RBI.

The Rays needed pitching and defense. Minnesota offered both, right-hander Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett. The Rays jumped.

Bartlett has steadied the infield defense. Garza (11-9, 3.70 ERA) and right-hander James Shields (14-8, 3.56 ERA) rank among the AL's top 15 in ERA. Kazmir (12-8, 3.49 ERA) finished 92/3 innings short of qualifying.

The Rays wanted Young and Dukes out of the clubhouse.

Young was a daily melodrama as to whether he would play, Rays outfielder Carl Crawford said this year. Dukes had well-publicized anger- management issues, in addition to run-ins with the law.

"We had some guys who thought they were on scholarship," said Rays manager Joe Maddon, refusing to give names. "There wasn't any accountability. They thought they were owed something. We had to change the attitude."

In case anyone didn't get the message, Maddon twice pulled talented center fielder B.J. Upton from games this season after he gave halfhearted efforts.

The free agents

Tampa Bay often had dabbled in free agency, usually with disastrous results. Who can forget the "Hit Show" of Vinny Castilla, Jose Canseco and Greg Vaughn in 2000? That team finished last with 69 wins.

The Rays approached free agency differently this season. They wanted veterans, not as key players but as wise elders who could counsel the younger players and help them learn how to win. The Rays hit the jackpot by signing Percival and outfielder Cliff Floyd to low-risk deals.

With Percival closing when his ailing knees allow, the Rays bullpen went from among the worst to among the best. A year ago, Rays relievers were 21-34 with only 28 saves in 49 chances and the highest bullpen ERA in history at 6.16. This year's bullpen was 31-17 with a 3.55 ERA and 52 saves in 68 chances.

Floyd served as a threatening left-handed bat. Floyd and Percival together gave the Rays a grounded veteran presence that the club had always lacked.

"That's an invaluable part of the game - getting that insight into what it takes to be a winner," Percival said. "When you've got a group that's never won, it's very valuable to have guys who have won, even if they're not what they once were. I don't know if I'm going to throw 98, but I do know how important I can be in the clubhouse."

The fights

During spring training, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi objected when a Rays runner, minor leaguer Elliott Johnson, left catcher Francisco Cervelli with a broken wrist after slamming into him during a play at the plate.

The new and no-longer-meek Rays responded.

Maddon said Girardi was full of fertilizer. When the teams met a few days later, Shelley Duncan went into Rays second baseman Aki Iwamura with a spikes-high slide to trigger a melee.

In June, the Rays stewed over what they considered a cheap slide by Boston's Coco Crisp into Iwamura.

They didn't wait to respond. In the next game, Rays starter James Shields drilled Crisp with a pitch, starting a vigorous, multiplayer brawl.

From the beginning, the Red Sox and Yankees had bullied the Rays in the East.

Maddon's response to Girardi and the fights were the Rays' way of saying they would not take it anymore.

"I loved the way our guys reacted," Maddon said of the Boston dust-up. "I thought it was tremendous. The unity that was displayed, it's part of us growing as a group."

The group is in the playoffs. Scott Kazmir and Troy Percival were right all along.

BUTT OF JOKES

As the Devil Rays, Tampa Bay was a staple of David Letterman's "Top 10 lists" on his CBS show. A "Top 10 list" of Letterman's most memorable shots:

* Signs your team isn't ready for the regular season: Team name contains words "Devil" and "Rays."

* Signs your team is on drugs: Your first baseman demanded a trade to the Devil Rays.

* Good things about a baseball strike: Have you seen the Devil Rays?

* Complaints of the average baseball player: A certain percentage of us have to play for the Devil Rays.

* Signs you're dumb:You're a Tampa Bay Devil Rays season-ticket holder.

* Questions most asked at a 99-cent store: Do those Devil Rays sweat shirts come in medium?

* Least impressive David Blaine tricks: Sleeping through a Devil Rays doubleheader.

* Signs you have too many kids:Family whiffle-ball game has larger attendance than Devil Rays' games.

* Signs you're talking to a bad phone psychic: Insists you put all your money on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

* Best things about being the mother of someone famous:"When they're playing the Devil Rays, Derek lets me come in for a few innings," said Dot Jeter, mother of the New York Yankees shortstop.

Comments

  • October 1, 2008

    5:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    1somelikeithot writes:

    I have the utmost respect for Joe Maddon. He has instilled the right attitude in his players and staff. I wish them the best. They have been bullied by the Yanks and Sox, and they are NOT going to take it anymore. The Rays are now the THE team most of America will be rooting for. I will be one of many.