9=8

  When the Tampa Bay Rays reported to Spring Training the motto that Manager Joe Maddon adopted for this season was 9=8. He wanted his players to know that if they played nine hard innings every game they could be one of the eight teams in baseball's post season.

  To say I've been shocked by my hometown Rays all this season would be an understatement. If we didn't have the history of the Cubs we'd be considered the lovable losers of baseball. I always described the Rays as every other teams Triple-A club. 

  I was here when the Rays throw out the teams first pitch in 1998 and tonight had a similar energy. By the seventh inning it was like a giant party inside the Trop. People were cheering as if the game on the field was a mere formality.

  After the final out the team erupted in celebration on the field and I ran after. Apparently I was a stand-in sideline reporter for Fox. My Dad informed me that it looked as if they were focusing on me and the team celebrating at the pitcher's mound. 

  Once the initial field celebration concluded I and the rest of the media pack headed into the clubhouse for the obligatory Champagne/beer spraying pictures. Players were spraying one another and innocent bystanders with the bubbly. I think I caught a secondhand buzz off all the fumes in the locker room. 

  Players went back out to the field to celebrate with the fans and get them wet. I ran around the field getting shots of players high-fiving fans before heading to my computer to transmit. 

  After transmitting my jubilation shots I decided to see what was happening in the locker room. I couldn't believe that the players were still spraying one another as well as family members. Even the players' kids were grabbing beers and shaking the cans before having it explode on one of their friends. 

  Ahh Victory.  And in all the melee I stayed dry as did my camera. But I did celebrate with the team and had a beer. Go Rays!!