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By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 16, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- It has been obvious in the past few months that Hal McRae and the Rays have gotten better results by using different players. But it also is important to note they have been playing differently.
Call it National League style, call it (for lack of a catchier slogan) McBall, call it a product of necessity.
But also call it an improvement.
The Rays are a better team, a more productive team, when they put their offense in motion. Speed thrills, and McRae can't get enough of it. He wants his men to be on run. They'll steal, and they'll double steal. Bunts, hit-and-runs and sac flies are all important. So is hitting the ball to the right side of the field with a man on second.
Some AL teams are content waiting for the three-run home run. The Rays, however, have to be able to do the "little things," and do them right most of the time, to succeed.
"We're not a big come-from-behind club," McRae said of a team that is 4-73 when trailing after six innings. "There's things we like to do, and try to do, that are different from some other clubs. We're not able to attempt to do things if we're down. We seem to be a better club if we can do things.
"When we have to play it straight, we're not as effective. And I wouldn't care to play it straight because we're undermanned. We don't have the firepower of some other clubs."
The Rays are last in the league in runs scored, and their average of 4.03 is a .83 runs below the league average and an amazing 1.66 behind AL-leading Seattle.
In a league in which teams routinely post double-digit numbers, the Rays have scored 10 or more runs four times. They have given up 10 or more 24 times.
And that's the catch.
For the Rays to succeed offensively, they have to play good defense and they absolutely, positively must pitch well.
Their entire attack is premised on the pitching staff keeping them in games. Not necessarily in front, but close enough that they can catch up.
"We're playing some tough clubs," McRae said. "If we pitch well and play our game, we've proven we can win games our way. We can't play their game. If we fall behind early, we sort of get stuck into playing their game, where you don't want to give outs, where you can't do certain things offensively, where you've got to sit around and wait for base hits, bunches of base hits, and hope someone hits a home run. We haven't been successful that way. We get our long hits when we're doing things."
CAUTIOUS STEPS: Before the events of last week, the only way the Rays likely would get national media attention would have been to eliminate the Red Sox or to either postpone or facilitate the Yankees' division clinching.
But the world has definitely changed, and the Rays are going to be in the national spotlight. They have to travel Monday to Boston, where two of the hijacked flights originated, and resume the season at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
Then Sept. 25 in New York, they are scheduled to play what will be the first post-attack game at Yankee Stadium.