Column: Rays are in first

By JJ Stankevitz
July 9, 2008

Apparently, Joe Maddon never passed first grade math.

Or he’s just a genius.

The manager of the first place — yes, first place — Tampa Bay Rays cooked up the Matt Foley-esque motivational slogan of “9 equals 8” before the 2008 season began, reminding his players that if they gave their best effort for all nine innings of a game, they’d be one of the eight teams that make the playoffs.

Now, I’m sure it was beaten into your head throughout grade school that nine does not equal eight. Nine minus one does equal eight. If you want to get even more technical, nine plus negative one equals eight — but don’t tell that to Maddon.

Even if he didn’t pass first grade math, he’s done something no manager of the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays could do: He’s led his team to first place in a division that also houses the Yankees and Red Sox.

Tampa Bay had always been the doormat of the American League East. The early years with the Technicolor logo were an epic failure, as Jose Canseco, Vinny Castilla, Wilson Alvarez and Greg Vaughn all failed to bring anything but a last-place finish to the franchise that played its first game in 1998.

The Rays have had their fair share of promising young players, but for the first half of their existence, none of them panned out. Josh Hamilton was once a first-overall selection by the Rays, but he ran into drug problems and ended up out of the organization. Rocco Baldelli had early success, but always lost at the “disabled list is made of lava” game. Tony Saunders had his left arm literally snap in half while throwing a pitch in 1999.

The tide started to turn in 2004 when the Rays (Mets fans, look away) traded Victor Zambrano to New York for a promising young left-hander named Scott Kazmir. That same year, one Bossman Junior Upton made his major league debut and Carl Crawford was coming into his own as one of the best left fielders in the game. 2005 saw Kazmir make his debut to the tune of a 3.77 ERA. Evan Longoria was selected in the first round of the draft in 2006, and James Shields made his MLB debut in Maddon’s first year. And, in 2007, a slew of current Rays took their lumps but got valuable major-league service.

The Rays made two moves in the off-season following 2007 that have really keyed their run to first place. First, they traded Elijiah Dukes, who had a penchant for sending picture messages of guns to his girlfriend, to Washington for a minor leaguer. Second, they sent Delmon Young, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 draft, and Brendan Harris to Minnesota for starter Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett.

These moves purged the Tampa Bay clubhouse of “bad attitude” players (Young and Dukes) and brought in a top-of-the-line starter in Garza, who had teamed with Kazmir and Shields to form one of the best 1-2-3 starter combos in baseball.

There are many more exploits of this team that I’d love to delve into, but I’m running out of column space. Just know this: the Rays are here to stay, and they’re going to be a power in the AL East for a long, long time.

And, if they end up making the playoffs, human history will be changed, as the number nine will then equal the number eight.

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Column: Rays are in first

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