THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PETERSBURG - The manager wears thick-rimmed glasses and listens to everything from the Rolling Stones to the Four Tops. Mohawk is the haircut of the moment. Inspirational quotes decorate the walls of the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse - and we're not talking conventional baseball wisdom.
Albert Camus weighs in with a thought, although it's not clear if the French existentialist had any advice for hitting a split-fingered fastball. Economist Alan Greenspan is represented. The words of college basketball coaching great John Wooden are cited.
"Integrity Has No Need Of Rules." - that's Camus.
"Rules Cannot Take The Place Of Character." - Greenspan said that.
"Discipline Yourself So No One Else Has To." - that's all Wooden.
"9=8." Now, that one belongs to Joe Maddon, the unconventional skipper who sold his young players on the motto that's become the club's mantra during an improbable run to the World Series.
"I didn't know what the hell it meant at first," designated hitter Cliff Floyd said, recalling a speech Maddon delivered on the first day of spring training.
Some players rolled their eyes. Others stared straight ahead with blank looks on their faces.
Floyd, a 14-year veteran who signed last winter to add leadership and stability to the clubhouse, gave Maddon the benefit of the doubt.
"It was a different speech than what you're accustomed to hearing when you come to spring training. It's usually, 'We've got a good team, you've just got to believe it.' It was different. So when he said it, people perked up. 'Whoa. OK, let's figure out what this means and try to accomplish it.'"
The rest, as they say, is history.
"9=8" essentially translates to nine players playing hard for nine innings every day equals one of eight postseason berths.
Maddon also sold the concept that the Rays, who won 66 games and finished with the worst record in the majors in 2007, could make the playoffs if they got nine more wins because of hitting, an additional nine because of pitching, and another nine because of defense.
Turns out he was prophetic. The Rays, who had never won more than 70 games in a season, clinched a postseason berth for the first time with their 93rd victory - exactly 27 more than a year ago.
"I'm so used to the eye roll. I'm so used to the scoff," Maddon said, looking back on that first day of camp. "I'm so used to it, and I'm really immune to both. … At some point, corny can turn into cool."
While much of Tampa Bay's success can be attributed to young, talented athletes such as Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Scott Kazmir, players say Maddon's insistence that things are done "The Ray Way" is responsible too.
