Maddon merits kudos for Rays' rise

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - To fully grasp why Tampa Bay hasn't even sniffed the postseason until this year, consider what the organization went through just to come up with someone from its past to throw out the first pitch before today's ALDS opener.

They started by scanning their old rosters looking for stars of the past.

Wade Boggs?

Nah, he was a shell of his former self in Tampa.

Fred McGriff? Only if Tom Emanski comes along.

Jose Canseco? Really?

Davey Martinez? Enough already!

Finally they settled on none other than senior vice president John Higgins, who was the first employee to join the organization in 1995.

"I don't want to get in trouble, but I think they didn't know what direction they wanted to go," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, when asked why it has taken the Rays so long to reach the promised land.

"They signed a couple of kids, they signed veterans, obviously they signed me - the wrong guy - and they really didn't know what to do, what they wanted.

"I think they wanted to win so fast they forgot how to build, how to do stuff."

But with relatively new ownership and the steady hand of manager Joe Maddon, things have really turned around.

"I think the new people around here did a tremendous job putting this team together," Guillen said.

"They grew up with a guy who is a baseball man, grew up in a great organization with the California Angels.

"You don't win games without your players, but that manager has a lot of things to do with this organization."

And that manager, Maddon, is loving the playoff atmosphere in the Tampa area.

"Just driving in today and seeing the 'Trop' with all the bats on the outside and stuff and just thinking to myself the building's got to be pretty happy right now," Maddon said.

"There's going to be a lot of folks inside of it for some very special moments.

"Walking into the clubhouse is fun. It's absolute fun."